Wedding and justice are
two words that are hardly ever used in the same sentence. You can likely think
of situations in which these words could be used together, but it's certainly far
from common parlance.
So you might be
wondering, why are Marie and Chris so focused on incorporating justice into
their wedding? "Isn't their wedding supposed to be a celebration of their love
for each other?" "Shouldn’t we be focusing our attention on them?"
The answer is no—at least
we hope you don't—and here's why.
In an individualistic
culture like ours, we like to distinguish ourselves from each other. The expression
of our individuality is of utmost importance to us. With respect to weddings,
we customize almost everything to fit who we are. And, if we're honest, we
often try to outdo the weddings of other people we know—with help from the
wedding industry, of course. I admit that even in our planning I've had
thoughts like that, but then I have to rein myself in and reflect on what this
wedding and the marriage to follow means to me, to Marie, and to us as a
couple. What is it that we really value? Do we value the way our wedding can be
different from other weddings we've attended in the past, or do we value the significance
behind the wedding?
I'd like to think we
value the latter. Our wedding is the public display of our commitment to love each other, but for us it's more than that. For us, the end goal of our relationship has never been to "complete" each other and feel warm, fuzzy, romantic feelings, but it has been about supporting and empowering each other
to be the best selves that we can be. We believe that our marriage is a
covenant before God and before you in which we will aim and work to bring about
shalom, both inside and outside our relationship.
Most of us have heard shalom
translated as "peace," but it’s much more than that; in fact, shalom is "the
way things ought to be" (Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin). Justice, or giving to each what she or he is due, is essential
to bring about shalom. Unfortunately, it isn’t something we can do through
our own power—even though some days I'd really like to have that superhero ability, especially
in the field I work in. Working for justice and shalom takes all of us and God, who is the source of justice, to make
things "the way [they] ought to be," and that doesn't and shouldn't stop on a
wedding day.
So, while Marie and I
will be in the spotlight at our wedding, please don't lose sight of the fact
that our wedding is so much more than just a white dress, a suit, and rings. Our
wedding is a celebration of our covenant with each other and our commitment to
work alongside you in bringing about shalom in our world.
