Slow Kingdom Coming: Practices for Doing Justice, Loving Mercy, and Walking Humbly in the World. Library Section 7C: The Church in the World, Society/Human Rights/Justice.
In the Lord’s Prayer we ask that God’s kingdom come here on earth. This means, among other things, that we pray for justice and human rights. If we have the right practices, we can help God’s kingdom come. When we fight for human and civil rights and equality we help to bring God’s kingdom on earth.
This author introduces five tenets we need to participate in bringing God’s kingdom to earth. The first is Attention: Awakening to Justice. We need to awake to the injustice in the world and focus on it. If we assume that everyone’s life is just and fair because WE are treated well, we will not work to bring it about. A quote by Simone Weil encapsulates the chapter: “Attention is the purest and rarest form of generosity.”
The second tenet is Confession: the Posture for Engaging. This invites us to examine how our “hero complex” (pride in helping others), can cut short the credit those “others” deserve for acting in their own self-interest. In other words, when we act as heroes to bring justice to others, we overshadow the acts they may already have taken to end the injustice they experience. Confession produces freedom and restores right relationships, which allows God’s justice to roll down.
The third tenet is Respect: The Golden Rule of Helping. In this chapter he discusses how, in Haiti, people consider their yards, where the do much living and housekeeping, to be an extension of their private home. If one wishes to visit, one should stand at the edge of the yard and shout, “Hone,” meaning “honor.” If the resident wishes you to enter, they shout back, “Respe,” meaning “respect.” Giving and receiving respect is very important when working to bring God’s kingdom to earth. We show respect when we listen to others and imagine their lives. Listening is key to respect. Personal relationships are a primary way we move from sympathy to empathy to respect.
The fourth tenet is Partnering. The least lasting form of partnering is rescuing – giving money or aid in the moment, say, after a disaster. A better method is fix-it partnering, trying to fix root problems that cause the disasters. Higher up the scale is equal agency partnerships, supporting the ability of others to solve their own problems and finally, the best type, partnering together with God, participating together in the work and love of the triune God.
Fifth is Truthing. Truth must be the rudder that steers our love. For example, the prosperity gospel touted by Joel Osteen says that financial blessing and physical well-being are the will of God for Christians, and that donations to religious causes (mostly to these ministers themselves) will increase one’s wealth. These teachings exploit people. Speaking the truth about this exploitation protects people and helps God’s kingdom come. Truthing should always lead to protecting people from exploitation; seeking truth that will heal the world.
These five tenets are meant to be acted upon sequentially. In an appendix the author gives the internet link where readers can find free study guides and other resources for how to help God’s kingdom come. ( )

The vision of the Kingdom of God is one of justice—all wrongs put right, swords into plowshares, and all tears wiped from each and every eye. However, despite Jesus' claim (and ours) that the Kingdom of God is at hand, the work for justice remains exhausting work. We have a nation in the throes of debate over whose lives matter, systems still grind up the poor and the marginalized. The poor are always among us and the Kingdom of God is subject to violence. Lord have mercy. God's Kingdom is coming, but it often feels like it doesn't come fast enough.

9780830844555Kent Annan has written a hopeful book, extolling practices which will sustain us as we work for justice. Slow Kingdom Coming is rooted in Annan's own experience of working for justice, especially in Haiti ( he serves as a codirector for Haiti Partners). This isn't really a 'spiritual disciplines book.' Annan's practices are about reorienting ourselves so that our work for justice is lived from a right center. These practices bleed into one another and it is hard to say where one starts and another ends. In one way or another, each of these practices have to do with truth-telling.

Annan's first practice is Attention or 'awakening to justice'—learning to pay attention to the voices of those who suffer. It means really looking at people and what their experience (32). Yet injustice abounds and Annan advoctes that we focus our attention in one area (on an issue or a geographical area) so we will be able to work for change. He illustrates this with a Haitain proverb: Pise gaye pa fe kim (when your stream of pee hits the ground too widely, it doesn't make foam). "It's an earthy way of saying when our attention is too scattered, we won't make much difference" (33). Annan advocates setting aside time to discover what breaks our hearts to discover what we ought to pay attention to.

Confession is the second practice Annan discusses. In his focus on justice, he advises we confess our mixed motives in our work, our hero complex, our 'compassion fatigue,' our privilege, the pain we've caused and received, and our longing for change. This more than a personal confession but an honest look at systemic problems and our complicity in them.

The third practice is Respect. Annan describes the Haitian practice of greeting other when you pass their yard by calling out honé (honor). If they respond with respé (respect) you are invited in (64). This rhythm of honor and respect, means recognizing the personhood of others and serving them on their terms, not your own. When we take the honor-respect idea seriously, we listen to others to discover the best way to show mercy and we advocate for the rights of others.

The practice of Respect leads to Partnering. Instead of models of ministry and charitable work which promote a 'rescue partnership' or a 'fix-it partnership,' Annan encourages us to move beyond these to establish 'equal agency partnerships' where the people we serve have an equal share and stake in our work. This isn't an easy transition and involves, humble listening, an awareness of context and costs, a realistic view of sin, cleat expectations and mutual accountability, preparing the way for the others, commitment to the long view, mutual trust and shared credit (89-95). In this we are also partnering with the God, that is already at work wherever we are (98).

The final practice is Truthing. Annan borrows the concept of 'ground truthing' from environmental sciences. Ground truthing establishes the reality of truth on the ground, as opposed to an aerial view. Annan advocates we take the data about injustice, and check it against the reality on the ground (and vise-versa). He suggests a sky-downward and a ground-upward approach which will help us improve our work for systematic change (118).

This isn't a 'how to' book and the five practices Annan recommends will look different for each of us. This book is helpful and hopeful and an invitation to work for justice. I recommend this book highly and think it would be a good resource for non-profits, ministries and missions programs. I give it five stars ☆☆☆☆☆.

Note: I received this book from SpeakEasy in exchange for my honest review. ( )

Summary: From years of experience in justice work, Kent Annan commends five practices that both better enable us to serve and to sustain our efforts for the long haul.

One of the delights of working with collegians is that every generation has a fresh passion to change the world. The challenge is that real change is not simple and takes a long time. Often, change efforts end up not fitting the needs of those served, are culturally insensitive, reflect a good deal of hubris, fail to treat those served as full partners, and attempt to build on false premises. At best, the change is often superficial, sometimes it makes things worse, and often the change agents end up burned out and disillusioned.

Kent Annan has worked for a couple decades addressing relief and development work in Haiti, child exploitation in Haiti and southeast Asia, and worked with refugees in Europe. Out of this experience he commends five practices that sustain those who pursue justice for the kingdom of God's sake when that change is slow in coming.

The practices are:

1. Attention. Awakening to the need for change, focusing so we can help well, and renewing our commitment. I'm struck that individuals and congregations can have "justice work attention deficit disorder" running from activity to activity rather than attending to where we need to change, maximally focusing our efforts, and committing for the long haul.

2. Confession. Confessing mixed motives, desiring to feel good when helping, our public gestures, hero complexes, compassion fatigue, and privilege. "Confession helps us to humbly lift up the agency of others and be wary of being the hero of our own story."

3. Respect. This is the practice of the Golden Rule "through listening, imagining and promoting rights." Listening gives those we serve a voice in how we serve. Imagining frees us from cheap compassion and promoting the rights of others means being guided by the rights for which we advocate as we relate to those for whom we advocate.

4. Partnering. We come to recognize we work with and not for others. We move from rescue partnership to fix-it partnership to equal agency partnership and finally partnering with God.

5. Truthing. Without forsaking love, truthing looks long and hard at the real situation on the ground to best steward resources. Personal truthing gets on the ground rather than trusting in second hand reports. It uses data and research to find out how well proposed courses are actually working. It is incremental, recognizing that learning the truth is an iterative process.

Annan must like the number five, because his concluding chapter suggests five practical ways to keep moving forward in these practices, even when we are overwhelmed:

1. Leave behind what holds you back.
2. Step forward with faith.
3. Find opportunities for healing and reconciliation.
4. Renew a vision of mutual flourishing.
5. Find joy.

The appendix to this book has additional comments of how the five practices work together. These and the practical suggestions as well as model prayers at various points make this brief book full of spiritual enrichment as well as concrete help.

As I write, many of my friends are asking how they might pursue justice in a political climate where many at home and abroad are feeling left out and fearful that their rights will be eroded. I would highly commend this book as a handbook to all who desire to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in the world" (Micah 6:8) and to do it well for as long as it takes. ( )

We like things fast. Chrome now pushes Facebook notifications to the front of whatever page I am browsing so I get the message the instant it arrives (that is, until I figured out how to disable it). We lay massive transoceanic fiber cables under the sea to shave milliseconds off financial trades.

In a world that glorifies speed, how do we handle a 2,000 year old promise? How can we pray, "Your kingdom come," without expecting to see immediate results?

In Slow Kingdom Coming, Annan urges us to take the long view when it comes to kingdom work. Rather than frantically running around and throwing starfish back into the water (if you haven't heard that story, it's in the book), we need to focus on doing things the right way, even if it takes time.

Annan quotes Kierkegaard on this:

"He is not, therefore, eternally responsible for whether he reaches his goal within this world of time. But without exception, he is eternally responsible for the kind of means he uses. And when he . . . only uses those means which are genuinely good, then, in the judgment of eternity, he is at the goal" (125).

In sum: the means matter.

This is a wise and practical book that gives speed-addled Christians five practices to employ in their kingdom-work:

1. Attention
2. Confession
3. Respect
4. Partnering
5. Truthing

If you have ever been frustrated by the slow pace of change or question your ability to make an impact for the Kingdom of God, Annan's book will inspire and encourage you. ( )

Kent Annan is author of Slow Kingdom Coming (2016), After Shock (2011) and Following Jesus through the Eye of the Needle (2009). Visit www.KentAnnan.com for discussion guides, interviews, and more.

Kent is a senior fellow at the Humanitarian Disaster Institute (Wheaton College). He is cofounder of the nonprofit Haiti Partners. He is on the board of directors of Equitas Group, a philanthropic foundation. He speaks regularly to groups around the country. He is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University (B.A.) and Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He lives in Florida with his wife and two children. Kent has a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. (Amazon.com)