The biblical challenge of Shalom is one which ought to draw all Christians together in a common struggle so that God\'s will might be done and God\'s kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven.
Shalom love is suffering love because it is militant love struggling for human liberation, justice, and shalom, which is God\'s will for our world..
Shalom love is not love at a distance, not love in the abstract, not love in the rocking chair--it is the love of confrontation, of strike, of protest, and of disobedience to the structures of violence.
If we struggle for shalom, we shall suffer because we are actively confronting and resisting the structures of oppression and working for the liberation of powerless and oppressed people.
This conversion, based on God\'s love for them in Jesus, frees them from old patterns of thought.
The Shalom maker, as a result, is involved in a mission of conversion--converting people to a new understanding and way of life.
People who are caught in oppressive structures need to be liberated from the values and perspectives inculcated by these structures.
People, as well as structures, need to be transformed.
The biblical challenge of Shalom is one which ought to draw all Christians together in a common struggle so that God\'s will might be done and God\'s kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven