In a Just World

Reflections on 'Vision,' in the document From Every Nation

Today, I read a section of the From Every Nation (FEN) document, which was released in 2004 as a "comprehensive plan for racial justice, reconciliation, and cross-cultural engagement at Calvin College."  The particular section I perused is called 'Vision,' and focuses on a vision of shalom in a multicultural community.

Each day as I stroll into work, I pass a poster representing the Multicultural Student Body of Calvin College.  There are faces in shades of peach, tan, olive, and golden-brown smiling widely at the camera, attached to bodies with arms wrapped around shoulders and waists.  They are unfailingly happy, perfect in community with one another.  What I'd like to tell you is that in this poster, I see a realized vision of the Kingdom of God.  Instead, I see an attempt to portray a Calvin College that does not exist.  We are not a community in which every person, no matter their ethnicity, culture, race or background, is accepted without difficulty.  Calvin is just like any other human institution: even with good intentions, it cannot achieve the perfection portrayed in that poster without a considerable amount of dedication to a goal, and the determination to complete it. 

In order to work toward the Kingdom of God, in which justice and shalom reign, we must first see ourselves not as we wish to be, but as we are.  By our nature as human beings, we are flawed.  Sin corrupts all we do.  Knowing this, we can address the conflicts, tensions and negative emotions that arise within the diverse community at Calvin College.

There are two ways to address tensions within a community.  The first is in the relationship between two individuals.  Even sincere and wholly self-aware Christians can fall into racism or prejudice when they fail to let go of pride in favor of cherished personal identities.  For some, this is due to a feeling of cultural superiority.  This feeling leads to prejudice against those perceived as 'inferior.'  In order to heal this prejudice, we must learn to take each person as they come.  This does not mean that we ignore the color of their skin or the background from which they have emerged - it simply means that we set aside preconceived notions in order to have an unclouded lens through which to see another person.  For others, a sense of injustice due to racism or other forms of prejudice plays into an inability to work toward shalom between individuals.  In both cases, these feelings must be put aside in order to truly engage with people from every tribe, language and nation.

The second way to work toward a just community is to grapple, as a unified group of believers, with the conflicts that arise.  We must together affirm the strengths of diverse traditions and cultures, and work to strengthen the weaknesses of the community in hope and preparation for change and renewal.  No single person or ethnic group can fully represent the Kingdom of God, and so we must become a diverse yet unified community always working toward a more just society.

Julia Hawkins
Summer Office Intern