Shalm In Multicultural Counseling

The Role of Sin & Shalom in Multicultural Counseling

As a Christian, it is believed the creator of all things and the giver of life is the Almighty God. For the Bible states, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…” (Genesis 1:31 New International Version). Along with the heavens, earth, mankind and all of living things being wonderfully made, order was also created, which cultivated a dynamic combination of a perfect harmony called shalom. The Bible’s common interpretation of shalom represents peace, universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight (Plantinga, 1995). Therefore, according to Plantinga (1995) shalom “is the way things ought to be (p. 10).” While God intended for shalom to reign over all things that he created, there

Plantinga (1995) states “Sin is a plague that spreads by contagion or even by quasigenetic reproduction….sin is an evil tree that yields corrupt fruit (p. 53).” The injustice of racism, prejudice and bigotry has spread and has separated society against each other; which is the complete opposite of what God had intended in his creation and shalom. In the film “Interview with Dr. Kenneth Clark”, he addresses how racism could be tackled by self-respect. Dr. Kenneth Clark stated “You don’t hate the other human beings if you have a positive sense of your own being.” In other words, there would not be much of racial issues in society, if children were taught to respect and love themselves. As parents implement this positive teaching, self-respect places value on who they are and how to view others as well; which is face of

By embracing social justice and being an advocate against oppression in a nontraditional counseling setting is one avenue to challenge structural change towards fairness and equal opportunity (Toporek, Dodge, Tripp & Alarcon, 2010). Other ways to promote social justice is to increase multicultural awareness as an individual and as a society. By exposing the diversity and the value of having different ethnic/racial groups and its cultures as part of society, may encourage unity and an understanding of one another. A form of increasing multicultural awareness could be done in counseling and during community gatherings such as social clubs, lectures at universities, or even the workplace. For the goal of social justice is to be involved and making a difference in prevention than remediation. As the body of Christ is made from a diverse and multicultural population, finding avenues to be in one accord was the purpose of God’s creation, for it is the sense of