<\/p>\n
Our Father who art in heaven.<\/p>\n
Hallowed be Thy name.<\/p>\n
Thy kingdom come.<\/p>\n
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven<\/em>.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know that God\u2019s kingdom on earth will ever be as it is in heaven. We are not God and humans are sinful. But Jesus taught His follows this <\/em>prayer. It must be important. Is it possible before Jesus returns?<\/p>\n When I look at the world today, I see how far we are from Jesus\u2019 mark. Russia isn\u2019t giving up on attacking Ukraine, Israel continues to bomb innocent people in Gaza while Hamas continues killing innocent hostages, the rise of the Islamic State, North Korea testing nuclear weapons, and \u201cChristian Nationals\u201d add to the angst as the world seems to get angrier every day. Those areas do not even touch on the personal shortfalls that we experience regularly. There is a lot<\/em> to worry about in our present day.<\/p>\n Then, violence in civilization is not new. Throughout human history there has been violence and wars. The Bible is riddled with wars, conquests, pillage, and so much more. I struggle with the book of Joshua, chapter 10 in the Bible where God tells Joshua that he will deliver the Amorites to Joshua \u00a0and not one would remain standing. Even during Jesus\u2019 life, the Romans ruled, and it was not easy for the Jewish people living under control. Christians were not exempt from blame regarding \u00a0violence through colonialism, slavery, and abuse \u00a0of power.[2]<\/a> Do these first couple paragraphs sound disjointed? It is intentional because I think our world has a lot of chaos.<\/p>\n Theologians and authors, Wright and Bird argued that all Christians have a responsibility to build for the kingdom. This is different than building the kingdom, God does that. However, humans were made in God\u2019s image so that humans have the ability to reflect God\u2019s image to the world.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n As Christians, we are called to emulate Jesus\u2019 non-anxious way of living. Because he knew who he was and why he was on this earth, the powers of the rulers were not threatening to him. He maintained a non-anxious presence and spoke truth to power. That can be life threatening. It was for Jesus. Jesus knew that Pilot\u2019s authority was granted by God. Jesus\u2019 expectation though was that the person in authority needed to act responsibly. [4]<\/a><\/p>\n Wright and Bird are not the only authors that understand that the earth does not belong to us but to God. We are God\u2019s creation that has been given responsibility to rule with accountability. In The Soul of Politics, Beyond \u201cReligious Right\u201d and \u201cSecular Left,\u201d Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, <\/em>talked about the \u201crole of the biblical prophets to be bold in telling the truth and proclaiming the justice that is rooted in God.\u201d[5]<\/a> The prophets of today must live believing that real change is possible and within the political realm is an important place to start.<\/p>\n Give us this day our daily bread.<\/p>\n And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.<\/p>\n And lead us not into temptation.<\/p>\n But deliver us from evil.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n These verses confirm that for us to build for God\u2019s kingdom, we need to include our need to rely on God for physical and spiritual nutrition, as well as recognizing the temptations we face as humans.<\/p>\n One of the things that surprised me most in Jesus and the Powers<\/em> was authors discussion on God\u2019s intent for human beings to share in the ruling of the kingdom on earth portion of this prayer. Initially, it would be in the form of Jesus. Jesus who while divine was fully human and a perfect servant leader, taught by word and action how real leadership should look. So often, Jesus is simply portrayed as \u00a0the meek and mild image that Sunday schools promote, especially to little children. Jesus was bold in speaking truth to power throughout his life.<\/p>\n For Thine is the kingdom<\/p>\n And the power<\/p>\n And the glory.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n Wright and Bird espouse that power of governmental leaders is God given. Yet that means the political leaders will also be held accountable to God for the way they lead and how they treat those under their rule. To be sure, there is a lot of evil in the world. Following the prayer Jesus taught, it seems we humans forget that.<\/p>\n Is heaven on earth really possible?<\/p>\n How does all this relate to leadership? In Failure of Nerve, Author and Rabbi, Edwin Friedman held that an important step in good leadership was to be self-aware and well-differentiated[8]<\/a>. This frees the leader to take responsibility for personal actions rather than get sucked into drama and power struggles. A well-differentiated leader is able to go about working\u00a0for God\u2019s kingdom within the world where we live.<\/p>\n I haven\u2019t seen anything in scripture that hints at Jesus doing anything by chance. He prayed that prayer when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray. I do believe that Jesus wants His followers to model his non-anxious presence and speak truth to power as we seek to build for the Kingdom of God in a world that left to itself chooses poorly.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n Oh, how I wish I could have been there sitting at his feet, hearing his voice, learning from the master in person when he taught us to pray. Maybe I would be a better, more outward witness.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Matthew 6:9-10<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> N.T. Wright and Michael Bird, JESUS and the POWERS<\/em> (London, Zondervan, 2024), 176.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Wright and Bird, 84.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Wright and Bird, 42.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Jim Wallis, The Soul of Politics, Beyond Religious Right and Secular Left<\/em> (New York, Jim Wallis, 1995), 53.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Matt. 6: 11-13.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Matt. 6:13 NKJV, inspired by 1 Chronicles 29:11 NKJV.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Edwin Friedman, A Failure of Nerve (New York, Church Publishing, 2017), 15.<\/p>\n