A Walk Alongside

In our counseling practice, we speak in terms of "social emotional stewardship" within the context of the creation/cultural mandate, rather than "balance" or "social emotional learning." A "steward" is someone who takes care of something valuable that they do not own and "brings out its potential" (making it the best it can be). A "steward" takes the personality, relationships, experiences, strengths, and limitations the Lord has given and manages them well.

We can equip children to live with purpose, to "cultivate," enjoy, and steward God's good creation (including themselves and their relationships) within vocations/spheres suited to their God-given gifts and interests. By transforming rather than accepting popular narratives, we can wisely shape and feed children's minds and draw upon the helpful insights in the SEL framework. 

We also develop the tension between "sustainable stewardship" and "risk-taking sacrifice". All the areas of our lives belong to the Lord. The choices we make need to have a mix of "What does it take to sustain myself over the long haul?" and "What can I give freely, trusting the Lord to provide?" Additionally, we work in the realm of "practical theology" - joining the themes and narrative of scripture to the themes and narrative of our lives.  

“In the beginning, God created …” Out of darkness and chaos, He brings order and light.  He creates a world saturated with beauty and teeming with life.  It is in creation that we receive our core identity - made “in the image of God”. In some senses, this is a ‘noun’ – there is a connectedness and something fundamentally similar between us.  We share in His dignity and honor.  In others, it is a ‘verb’ – we have capacity to grow to be more like Him.  We represent Him and reflect His communicable attributes.  Furthermore, we image God not just in our actions but also in developing a deep relationship with Him - God is “personal” - He speaks to us and invites us to speak to Him.  He tells us of himself and invites us to know Him truly, even though we cannot know Him fully.  There exists between us a back and forth relationship of knowing and being known, of being affected and moved by one another. 

 In creation, we also receive purpose.  We are stewards – vice regents - ruling “coram Deo” - before the presence of God.  Many theologians expand on this “creation mandate”, noting the unfolding (rather than static) nature of creation as humanity is tasked with putting the finishing touches on creation and bringing to fruition the possibilities implicit in the work of God’s hands. It is a call to create spaces where humanity can thrive, so that God may be glorified throughout all creation.  

Creation speaks of “shalom” – a profound and comprehensive well-being and universal flourishing.  “Shalom” is living under God’s blessing and wise rule, with harmonious and responsible relationships with God and others.  “Shalom” speaks of peace and delight, of safety and justice.  It is the personal and relational wholeness God intended for His creation.  Part of imaging God is this fundamental yearning for “shalom.”

 Restoration, the act of putting creation back to what it was intended to be, is the end purpose of redemption (Rev 21-22).  The restorative mission of God is a holistic undertaking, one in which we are invited to participate.  

We are invited to personal restoration -- communion, nearness and fellowship with a holy God -- and to restored worship - adoration, thanksgiving, repentance, and petition -- as well as to growth in personal holiness.  We are invited to participate in interpersonal restoration.  The Lord empowers His people to be His witnesses - to go out into the world inviting people to live under His blessing and wise rule, working toward harmonious and responsible relationships with God and others.  Johnson and Bartholomew/Goheen expound upon yet another a piece of this - cultural restoration.  We are to be busy within the creation, and our work should reflect the character and activity of God.  We develop the potential hidden in creation in ways that honor God, and work to bring every type of cultural activity within the service of God.  We are invited to participate in “societal restoration”.  From the Genesis mandate to “subdue,” we can trace themes of justice and mercy through scripture (through passages such as Micah 6:8), and find our call to mercy ministry, working to create systems and spaces where humanity can thrive, and God’s mercy flows through us into a suffering world.

God calls His people to be active in restoring what is broken in this world.   We are “people of shalom” - working to restore the wholeness of creation - the wellbeing and universal flourishing intended by God - so that God may be glorified throughout all creation.  the kingdom is real and present, a source of hope, not a ‘solution’ per se.

In all of this, we must be careful not to narrow ‘participation’ to solely personal actions that yield some measure of change.  God invites His people to biblical lamentation - to speak truth and “name” evil - and to speak with Him about it, beseeching Him to keep His promises.  God calls His people to ‘participate’ in His grief and anger at the intrusion of evil into “shalom”, and the havoc wreaked by sin.   He invites us to ‘participate’ by bringing our own personal struggles and suffering to Him, lamenting our pain and growing in the certainty that He cares for His people in an uncertain world.  This participatory lamenting expresses honesty and trust in the character of God, and it hopes.   We can groan in protest - in pain - and groan in hope and move from there to compassionate and purposeful action. Billings describes this compassionate action as a lament that witnesses to the fact that things in this fallen world are not the way they are supposed to be.  When we lament and act with compassion even when we are overwhelmed with the magnitude of the problem, we bear witness to another kingdom, one of justice and mercy.  

Langberg speaks of our role in restoration as “resurrection work.”   She states, “We enter into atrocity in the name of Christ”, that others may be brought out.  Though our work is “resurrection work”, we are not the power behind that work. We enter in to do “ordinary things”, but the work is done by the Lord. We are infused with His life, that through us He might bring life to dead places.  Our hope is grounded in the reality that if God can turn the murder of his Son – the ultimate travesty of justice - into the redemption of the world, He can bring beauty to the brokenness and dark places of our lives.

Through this ‘participation’ in the restorative mission of God, another category is added to our view of the person.  We are ‘responders’ - available for God to work through us.  As we watch for where He is working and join Him in weakness and dependence, He is glorified, and His holiness is on display throughout the earth.

Sources Cited:

Bartholomew, Craig and Michael Goheen.  The Drama of Scripture:  Finding our Place in the Biblical Story.  Grand Rapids, MI:  Baker Academic, 2014.  

Beale, G. K. The Temple and the Church’s Mission:  A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God.  Downers Grove, IL:  IVP Academic, 2004.

Beale, G.K. and Mitchell Kim.  God Dwells Among Us:  Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth.  Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2014.

Billings, J. Todd.  Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ.  Brazen Press, 2015.

Dow, Philip E.  Virtuous Minds:  Intellectual Character Development.  Downers Grove, IL:  IVP Academic, 2013.  

Graham, Donovan.  Teaching Redemptively. Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications, a division of ACSI, 2009.

Holcomb, Justin S. & Linsey A.  Rid of My Disgrace.  Wheaton, Il: Crossway, 2011. 

Langberg, Diane.  Suffering and the Heart of God. Greensboro, NC: New Growth, 2015.