As a believer I have to also believe in the Kingdom of God. It cannot be an optional extra for enthusiasts. Maybe part of the problem is that we each have in our minds what exactly the ‘Kingdom of God’ looks like? Whatever, the Kingdom of God is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching and as Christians we deprive our faith greatly if we sideline it. I think a good way to start to think about the Kingdom is to consider some its marks. So for instance in the Beatitudes Jesus claims that the poor in spirit will receive it while the meek inherit the earth. This how our Father’s business is to be done.
Others will argue that to get anything done in this world we should instead buy into the Machiavellian ethos. Here the ends justify the means and a good prince must learn to be bad, supposedly for the common good. Give all your hit jobs to your deputy and keep friends close and your enemies even closer. It is better to rule by fear than seeking to be loved, etc, etc. So much of this poison has infiltrated our public conscious for centuries. Jonathan Powell’s Tony Blair’s chief of staff has written a sort of self-help book for the political animals called ‘the New Machiavellian’ which argues for this. Is it me or is the modern leaders he mentions all ones that either fell on their swords, pushed out, or concluded their careers with a terribly legacy? Do we really want our governments, hospitals, town halls, industries, universities, churches, etc, to be run by a rising class of faceless Malcom Tuckers (Peter Capalidi- Thick of It) who scream ‘Omnishambles!’ when things get off message.
For me the Kingdom of God has to be a pledge from God that if we act justly and do the right thing, even if that seems like not like the most politically savvy thing to do, then He will guarantee his grace. In a sense he had pre-programmed the Kingdom to work this way. Is this naive? Maybe people will say I am very naive. Look at the political power plays that lie in the Vatican. If the Holy City works by the Prince rather than the Bible then should we not all get real, grow up and follow suit? But what has been the fruit of all those dark arts in the Vatican? The new Pope has called this behaviour a kind of leprosy. No one has gained anything much and a big part of that central organisation is systemically in poor health. If I believe in the Kingdom I have to believe that God will reward Pope Francis’ honesty and that divine grace will give a boost to reform.
I suppose what has come over very strong this weekend has been how Nelson Mandela’s presidency could have gone in another direction in the 1990s. He could have rightly argued for a recrimination and a blood bath cleansing of the old regime. Instead he took the route of reconciliation, truth and justice. This was excruciatingly painful for perpetrators to have to face the perpetrated and this national process is by no means over. This was no sweet ‘kiss and make up.’ it was reconciliation by the narrowest of roads.
The more I learn of this tortured Medici spin master the more I realise that Machiavelli must be opposed. I find myself becoming increasingly subversive to his teachings. This does not mean that we should underestimate the cost, even personal cost, of living honest Kingdom values. We cannot be naive. We should be ‘wise as the serpent and innocent as the dove’ but never ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing.’
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