creation - not perfect | sin - a vandalism of shalom

I have been reading a lot on Sin and creation. Here are a few of those thoughts. 


Sin
With entering of sin into the world, I would tend to lean to explaining this as a "vandalism of shalom." Cornelius Plantinga in his book Not The Way It's Supposed To Be, he explains sin as a vandalism of shalom. I love this! I think God's intent in creating this world is shalom. God left humans, creatures, and nature responsible and even empowered each entity to keep alive shalom. Somewhere along the line, this was disrupted, ending up with shalom being vandalized. I believe we as Christians are to help in the restoration of bring God's kingdom on earth back to shalom. I do not think we can bring it to a full sense of shalom, as thought we've been given power on earth, we are still limited. Either way I don't think that means we can use that as an excuse to do nothing about this restoration process. 

So why does this sin exist? I am not sure we can ever truly know, but this is how I have come to grasp the idea. 


Creation | not perfect
A summary of Creation Untamed begins with Terrence Fretheim’s identification of creation as a “good” result from God, that is, not perfect. In this sense, God created the world not perfect intentionally. By God creating the world good, God left space for humanity, nature and creatures to exist in the world and continue the process of Gods creation. This project was left into the hands of imperfect beings, humanity, along with the other creatures of creation and eventually, sin, as we know it entered the world. Thus, the existence of the world is a continual process of creation working with God to restore the world back to Gods original intent, shalom.
God created the world good, not perfect.” It is a common belief in evangelicalism that when God created the world as we have in the Genesis story, that created order was perfectness and exactly how God intended humans to live. Nevertheless, the creation story includes God saying that the subjects created were “good.” Fretheim also says, which I agree with, “Genesis does not present the creation as a finished product…for creation to stay just as God originally created it would constitute failure of the divine design…God continues to create and uses creation in a vocation that involves the becoming of creation” (p. 15).


This is not a perfect explanation, but I think it helps in understanding sin. It is not good enough to me to say God is sovereign. I've talked to enough people to feel that that explanation does not do the amount of evil and suffering justice. I think it gets God off the hook to easily for the evil in the world. Does it mean that God is to blame for some evil that exists? Maybe. But that doesn't remove the love of God or the presence of God in those times of suffering. At least that is my belief. 

Women in Leadership - Specifically Church Leadership

Recently I was given an opportunity to write a letter of encouragement to women entering into church leadership. It is meant to be a letter to women who may feel or have felt discouraged due to being told by men that women do not belong in leadership areas of the church. It is also a letter to any men who feel the church is not a place for women. In the end whoever reads this, we may not agree, but I was asked to post my thoughts to my blog and I proudly do so. I enjoy having these conversations and hope that we continue to do so until the need is no longer. Anyways here was my short letter:

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I would like to take this time to express to you my passion for empowering and encouraging women in positions of leadership within and outside of the church. However, the (big C) church seems to be a difficult place for women to gain respect, whereas many organizations and companies outside of the ministry world have adopted their support of women. Many even to the point where it is not even considered a conversation because it is not tolerable to think otherwise. However, this is still an issue we need to address. 

I read this recently for my Theology class where Justo Gonzalez said that it is a problem that " the North American male theology is taken to be basic, normative, universal theology, to which women, and other minorities may add their footnotes." For entirely too long churches have been dominated by white men. Most of church doctrines were and are established by white men as well. It's not a wonder why many churches do not want to adjust and change. Whether it's based out of fear because of the "feminist agenda" or because men are threatened that they might be "wrong", either way it's incredibly unjust for women to not have a place in the church outside of the three basic women endorsed roles: Missionaries, Sunday School teachers, or Choir directors. Even more so than women having a place in the church is the the tragedy that many women do not even have a VOICE. Women can no longer be silenced by these men (and other women who have been indoctrinated in a the system where men have the sole voice). 

This problem in the church will remain a problem until we can stop having the conversation. This will only happen when women have gained respect and empowerment based off their ability and gifting and not because of their gender. 

I would encourage any woman to stay in the fight if they encounter one. Do not let anyone or any man win in silencing your voice. You have a strong voice. Your voice came from the our Creator God and there is a reason God gave you your voice: You need to use it. For too long women with great talent and gifts have been marginalized and held back from doing what God created them to do. I will fight for you for as long as I live. I will be a resource, a listening ear, or a positive voice for you or any woman if they need it. 

Please stay strong and confident and my hope is that someday we will not have to worry about this even being a thought. But until that day comes, we are relying on the women and men who are willing to say something and work together toward true equality.

You deserve it. God created you to be a leader. God does not make mistakes in my opinion. Follow through with what you know God has gifted you in. Do not let anyone else tell you differently.