Holistic Peace

In our last “Musings4Mission,” we looked at the first phase of God’s plan of redemption – the calling of Abraham and the people of Israel to be a special nation which would display His glory. We saw how the ‘instructional manual’ – the Torah – that God gave to the Israelites provided detailed guidelines regarding all the roles/responsibilities of humanity – worship toward God, relationship within human society, and stewardship of the natural order. Together, these instructions point us to a model of human redemption which I like to call ‘holistic peace.’ We can best illustrate holistic peace with a diagram, as follows:


This diagram encapsulates God’s intentions for humanity – stewardship of the natural environment which God created, healthy and just relationships in human society, and genuine worship of the one true God expressed through Christian discipleship.

In order to live in holistic peace, humanity must recapture his role and responsibility to take care of the environment and use it in an appropriate way to sustain human health and livelihood. I have ‘filled out’ the concept of healthy human society through the identification of seven key ‘pillars’ that support wholesome personal interactions and development. These seven pillars include the provision and protection of Democratic Rights, the Family, an Equitable Economic System, a system of comprehensive Education, provision of Health Care, the protection of Public Safety, and a Balanced Legal System. (As we noted in our last Musings4Mission, these seven areas are at least touched upon within God’s Torah guidelines for the people of Israel.) Finally, while those of all religious faiths would appreciate the value of environmental stewardship and healthy society, as evangelicals we must recognize that holistic peace is not complete until people are rightly related to God as disciples of Christ – fulfilling their Biblical functions of worship, instruction, fellowship, evangelism, and service. Christian Discipleship is thus the pinnacle of holistic peace, and holistic peace is not complete without it.