Forming Faith Blog

Justice and God’s Kingdom (Kingdom Come)

Posted on August 19 2025 by Gregory Rawn

A community built on love is a community in shalom (God’s peace). How do we reach for that? By working for justice. God’s will, God’s kingdom, can be glimpsed in true justice.

A sign from a protest march saying "Fight today for a better tomorrow." God's kingdom requires justice.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com
God’s Kingdom Come Series 

Each summer, I take time away from commenting on the upcoming Narrative Lectionary Bible passage to explore other topics related to faith formation. Last month, I explored the topic of immigration, inspired by our most recent product, Learning Together: Travelers (Immigrants and Refugees). In August, I’m reflecting on the kingdom of God, one of my favorite concepts in Scripture. Over the last two posts, I looked at how the concepts of hesed and shalom are inextricably linked to the kingdom of God (some of my favorite biblical concepts). Today I’m reflecting on the last point in this series: justice and God’s kingdom. 

As I mentioned previously, the idea of the kingdom of God has become more central to my faith over the years rather than my previous focus on individual salvation. And central to the kingdom are the concepts of hesed (covenantal love), shalom (God’s peace), and tzedakah (justice). These are necessarily communal, relational terms.

Love and the Kingdom of God

When asked what the greatest commandment (singular) was, Jesus answered with two commandments. These boil down to loving God and loving others. These are less two different commandments and more a double commandment. As the author if 1 John writes:

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

1 John 4:20-21

And we can love because God first loved us. Love—God’s love for us, our love for God, and our love for others—is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling; it is active. 

Naming something the greatest commandment is to say that it represents God’s will, God’s intention for all creation. And where God’s will is done, that’s where God’s kingdom is. So, God’s kingdom is a reality where everyone is perfectly fulfilling these commandments, not because we are forced to, but because that’s the best way to live—ever. [Note: I am not claiming that we can establish a transformative relationship with God with our actions, or even change that relationship, because I’m not.]

Shalom and the Kingdom of God

In my most recent post, I discussed the concept of shalom (God’s peace). This shalom is much more than a lack of conflict or state of quietness; it is the reality of wholeness, especially in community. It is when all people have everything they need to thrive. Shalom is the world as God intends it to be. A world with perfect shalom is a perfect world. It is the state of the kingdom of God. And if you look closely at a community in shalom, you will see a community saturated in God’s love and practicing love toward each other. You cannot have shalom (God’s kingdom) without love, and love in action is movement toward shalom.

A Broken and Unjust World

If you paused right now, I bet you can come up with a long list of examples of a lack of love in the world around you without much thought. Our world is far from the state of shalom. Human society is broken, and so are we individually. To oversimplify, humans are often selfish. Selfishness is the opposite of self-giving love, and so selfishness is a root cause of brokenness (and sin). And selfishness always causes harm, even if it is just harm to the one being selfish.

This selfishness shows up in society and becomes baked into the systems and institutions (including thought systems, etc.) that society creates in order to function. These systems and institutions both cause harm and perpetuate harm. This is what we call systemic injustice.

Justice: Loving Neighbors in the Face of Injustice

We often think about loving our neighbors on an individual or community basis. And our thoughts most easily think about fulfilling needs, whether that need is hunger, illness, loneliness, or even frustration. It can be anything from providing shelter for people without stable housing to giving a smile and holding the door for someone with a stroller. This love-in-action is how I define service. And service, indeed, fulfills the commandment.

But what happens when the need is caused by a system or institution of society? As in the metaphor attributed to Desmond Tutu, we need to figure out why people are falling (or being pushed) into the river—and put a stop to it. Justice is what happens when we work to change a harmful system, small or big. In other words, justice is love when it encounters injustice.

We cannot reach (or even reach for) shalom without working for justice. So, justice is an intrinsic part of the kingdom of God.

A Future Hope: God Promises a Reality Transplant

Our world is broken. In fact, the very fabric—the foundation—of human society is broken, built on human selfishness. We are also broken in our inward being. Standing within this brokenness, we cannot achieve shalom. And we certainly cannot create the kingdom of God on our own, or even with the empowerment of God’s own Spirit. Our world—and our selves—must be rebuilt from the ground up. The fabric and foundation must be replaced. We are in need of a “reality transplant.”

Blessedly, that’s exactly what God has promised. That is the good news on a cosmic scale: a new heaven and a new earth, whole and perfect. If you can get past the confusing imagery and scariness of the Book of Revelation, that’s what you will find. A promise that God will remove all the “bad” and replace it with everything good.

But, if shalom, the kingdom of God, is not possible for us to achieve, why should we bother? We must “bother” because we can make a difference in some people’s lives. We are called to love our neighbor not simply because God tells us to, but because our neighbors need our love

God calls us to be faithful workers, not perfect ones.                      

Go, work for justice and peace.

In Christ’s love,

Gregory Rawn (Publisher)

Order Faith Formation Resources

The 2025-2026 program year is almost here! Do you have all the faith formation resources you need? Our Narrative Lectionary (Year 4, 2025-2026) and Revised Common Lectionary (Years C & A, 2025-2026) resources are online and ready to order, with the Fall, Winter, and some Spring lessons available for immediate download (with the remaining Spring lessons coming very soon)! If you don’t have much time for full-length children’s Christian education, then check out our Kids Mini Lessons for the NL and RCL. If you don’t use a lectionary, check out our non-lectionary Living the Word: Classroom (PK-2nd, 3rd-6th).

Are you looking for resources for topical Sunday school, family/intergenerational events, retreats, and more? Check out our newest Learning Together unit: Travelers (Immigrants and Refugees).

Our unit Celebrations is a recommended VBS curriculum by Building Faith (and the only curriculum they reviewed from a small, independent publisher)!!!

Learning Together is a series of five-lesson units on a variety of topics. You can read outside reviews on both our Do Justice and Created to Care units! Our faith formation resources are easy to use, theologically sound, and inclusive.

I am very honored to announce that I was a guest on the premiere episode of season 3 of the Around the Table podcast! The topic: how faith formation is different than Christian education. Check it out at Around the Table S03E01.

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