Seeds of Shalom

Stephen Burris serves as the editor for the Urban Leadership section of the WCIU Journal. He is the Senior editor at Urban Loft Publishers and founding editor of two journals: International Journal of Urban Transformation and New Urban World. He is a charter member of the International Society for Urban Mission, now the Urban Shalom Society.

WCIU Journal: Urban Leadership Topic

November 10, 2021

 by Stephen Burris

Introducing the editor of the new Urban Leadership section of the WCIU Journal: Stephen Burris is the inaugural editor of the Urban Leadership section of the WCIU Journal. He currently serves as an Urban Mission Research Missiologist working on a variety of projects. He is the founding editor of the journal, New Urban World, founding editor of the International Journal of Urban Transformation IJUT (published by Urban Loft Publishers), a charter member of the International Society for Urban Mission, now the Urban Shalom Society and is the Senior editor at Urban Loft Publishers. He was the Director of the Institute for International Studies and led the development team that produced the original version of the World Christian Foundations curriculum for WCIU’s M.A. in International Development , now the M.A. in Development Studies.

Jesus told the parable of the sower. An individual went out to sow seeds—that is what landowners do, plant their fields. Jesus used this basic agricultural example to show each of us that sowing seeds is important kingdom business, regardless of the outcome of the sowing or even the field being planted. Jesus also taught us that God gives the increase, our job is to sow seeds. While the world in now much more urban than rural—and the rate of increase in urban population is accelerating—Jesus was using an agricultural example to show that the priority of sowing seeds remains. As our fields have changed from agrarian to become more urban, so our methods of sowing must also change.

Perhaps a modest proposal is needed as we look at the urban areas of our world. A starting place is to sow seeds of shalom. This most basic of human interactions, at the core of Jewish society in the Hebrew Bible and Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God in the Christian Bible, is so vital in our world today. Shalom brings wholeness, justice, restoration, reconciliation, and peace into relationships and structures corrupted by sin, and affects the lives of people. Shalom is needed now more than ever. This is why Jeremiah instructs slaves in Babylon to “seek the good of the city.” In spite of the reality that their own city had been plundered, burned, and left in ruins—as they watched, God instructs the new slaves to seek the good of the city, the home of their captors, and their home for the next seventy years. Can we do less? This is the golden rule in action and our changing world urgently needs what we have to offer in the name of Jesus.

In the parable of the sower, good and bad seeds are allowed to grow side-by-side. At the harvest the landowner separates the good from the bad (wheat from the tares). In the same way, the seed of shalom is planted, grows, and has an effect even as light dispels darkness, salt preserves meat, and yeast leavens bread. So Christians, living in a strange land, sow good seeds and make a difference in the city. This incarnational presence in the city may take on many forms. It may involve many activities. We start where people are hurting the most, and we bring reconciliation and hope. We seek the good of the city wherever God has called us. Is there a seed of shalom that we can plant today?