Millions of Christians prayed the title of this blog yesterday around the world. It is–of course–from the Lord’s Prayer. It is our fervent hope that we can bring God’s Kingdom to this world. But, in our society, how can we do that?

We are dealing with such acrimony on so many important issues today. Abortion, same-sex marriage, Obamacare, the deficit, and gun violence just to name a few.

Both sides of these issues tend to come off very rigid in their stances. They take hard-line approaches and then chide the other side for their faulty thinking.

Sometimes, to bring about the Kingdom of God we have to step back from our rigid positions and work in the muddy and messy trenches that are in between the two extremes to bring about the changes that will advance the Kingdom.

Jesus did this. The Pharisees were technically correct when they told Jesus that the Law said that you shouldn’t work on the Sabbath. But Jesus was about advancing the Kingdom, not just following a set of rules. He answered the Pharisees by pointing out that David and his companions ate the consecrated bread–which was forbidden to do. He also pointed out that if one had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t he go get it out? Then, to prove His point, Jesus healed a man’s hand right then and there on the Sabbath! And the Kingdom was advanced!

William Wilberforce also understood that sometimes to move a nation closer to the will of God, you have to meet with those who are on the other side. He knew that his ultimate goal was to get the slave trade stopped in the British Empire. But, he knew he would have to work with some shady characters in the House of Commons to make this happen. So he worked with anyone who could help his cause. He formed coalitions with all sorts of characters to finally build a consensus that killed the slave trade. Granted this took years, but it wouldn’t have happened if not for Wilberforce. He was a praying man for sure, but he also knew that God required action from him.

For those of you who have seen “Lincoln” or read the book “Team Of Rivals” you know that Abraham Lincoln had to do implement some “creative tactics” to get the 13th Amendment passed.

Jesus told His disciples as He sent them out in Matthew 10:16, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

Make no mistake it is easier to just stay in our corner and say that we are right and they are wrong. But, I believe that God calls us to follow the path that Jesus paved for us. The path of talking with people and forming relationships with those who we don’t agree with. It is more difficult to be sure, but this is how we can advance His Kingdom!

More to come,
Jeremy