Rector’s Reflections
Tuesday 12th November 2024
Thy Kingdom Come, O God
In yesterday’s reflections, I outlined the traditional Christian understanding of what we might mean when we talk about the “Kingdom of God”. But I finished by mentioning that not every Christian is happy with this traditional understanding. There are various reasons for this, and we shall be exploring some of these reasons in the days ahead.
To begin with, some Christians would take the view that the whole concept of seeking “the Kingdom of God” is completely out dated in the modern world. Why is this?
I think most people would accept that when we look around our communities and our world, there are issues that need to be tackled, for example extreme poverty and injustice. But I think few people would look to the Church to tackle them. In our largely secular world, we look to the State to tackle pressing social issues. Only the State has the resources to make a significant difference. And only the State has the political legitimacy to make the necessary changes to the laws and regulations which govern so much of our behaviour.
Furthermore, we are society which acknowledges that social issues are often complex, and that solutions to pressing problems should usually be left to the professionals – to the men and women who have the necessary expertise and experience to know what they are doing and why they are doing it. There is no room for the well-meaning amateur in our modern world. If we have a legal problem, we go to a legal expert. If we have a medical issue, we seek advice from a suitably qualified medical expert. If we wish to build a bridge that won’t fall down, we instruct a Civil Engineer. Given our reliance on experts in so many fields of our life, why should we leave the resolution of social issues in the hands of well-meaning amateurs?
Of course, although we look to the State as the main provider of effective and efficient interventions in areas of social need, this does not preclude the possibility that there is a role for non-State organisations, in particular situations. For example, many independent charities supplement the work of the National Health Service, and there are charities working with the homeless and the most vulnerable in our society. There is no reason why Churches should not also play a similar role. But at the end of the day, we rely on the State to meet the social issues we face.
And in some cases, the issues we face are too great to be dealt with even by the resources of any single Government. In such cases, we rely on Governments working together, at regional or international level, to solve the problems we face. For example, we might think of the United Nations and its various associated bodies.
So there would be those who would say that the whole concept of “the Kingdom of God” is frankly outmoded. This is not how things how things are done in the modern world. If we are serious about bringing about change for the better, we have to mobilise the resources of the State, at the national level or international level.
Of course, there would be some who would challenge this concept of the State. Does the State really have the resources to make a difference? Can we really leave everything in the hands of “the experts” - the Social Scientists, the Economists, the Social Workers, and the like? And isn’t the State just another way in which powerful elites seek to impose their will on others, feathering their own nests at the expense of the Common Good?
People have different views on such matters. They also have different views on other issues relating to the Kingdom of God, and we shall look at some of these in tomorrow’s reflections.