Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Does praying the Lord’s prayer make us all ‘Transformationalists?’ There is a certain streak in Fundamentalism (and I’m no stranger to that label myself) that says seeking ‘social justice,’ racial equality, the eradication of poverty, and the like is nothing but leftist propaganda. I wonder if they have ever prayed the second petition of the Lord’s prayer and meant it. I wonder if I have as well.

Indeed, we get part of the petition right. We want God to be praised and worshiped as he is in heaven – this is certainly his will. But we forget that in heaven all national and racial boundaries have been perfectly demolished, that all men live in God’s house (and some would say mansions), that no man there has want of food or clothing – for Christ feeds him and clothes him. And this is all God’s perfect will.

Is it then not for these things also that we are praying when we repeat the words of Jesus, ‘Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven’? Are we not praying for the unity of all nations and races? Are we not praying for the eradication of poverty? Are we not praying for the eradication of disease, of sickness, of sorrow, of anxiety, etc?

And if we are praying for these things, and meaning it, will we not seek after them in the here and now?

Certainly we await the dawning of a new day and the arrival of the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells. Certainly we seek after that city which is to come. Some will quickly remind us – ‘the kingdom is not yet!’

But the kingdom which is ‘not yet’ is also ‘already.’ God’s perfect will, his heavenly will, has broken into this disaster area in history and in the already that is present. Should we therefore not see glimpses of it, and seek after the reality of it now?

I do not believe that we can redeem culture. Only Christ redeems. But can he himself not redeem it? He is redeeming it and will redeem it. And so we pray, ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’ And we pray it in hope, and act upon it in faith.