Politicians, diplomats and intercessors from the Nordic and Baltic countries gathered in Helsinki for a prayer breakfast near the Finnish parliament on September 29, 2023.
They were following a tradition linking prayer and politics that dates back seventy years, from the first presidential prayer breakfast with President Eisenhower in Washington, DC, and the European Parliament prayer breakfasts in Brussels since 1998.
Even before these initiatives, in 1952, three of the “founding fathers of Europe”, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gasperi, had gathered to pray in a monastery near Koblenz on the Rhine on the eve of the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Union. European Coal and Steel Community. This was the first step towards ending recurring wars and creating a “community of peoples deeply rooted in Christian values”. They prayed for a Europe in which nations could build together.
“Building together” was the theme of Friday’s event. Those gathered had come with the aim of strengthening relationships and encouraging each other as they work through the ups and downs of politics. When asked to address this topic, I explored the analogy of Paul’s building project in his first letter to the Corinthians (3:10).
Jeff Fountain speaking at the Second Nortic-Baltic prayer breakfast, in Helsinki. / Photo: Jouni Lallukka
‘SO What are we engaged in construction?” was my first question. If the audience had been made up of bishops and pastors, the answer would probably have been: the Church. However, before me, there were people active in the public square – and not ecclesial institutions .
Where can young people go to be equipped in public theology as agents of the Kingdom in the public square?
Did Jesus ever tell us to build his church? Well, no actually. Surprisingly, Jesus said very little about the Church in his teaching. He he would build his church (Matthew 16:18); We had to seek his kingdom. From the prayer of the Our Father, we can deduce the kingdom as being the place where his will is accomplished: on land, in Europe, in the Nordic and Baltic countries, like in heaven. Wherever legislation has been adopted to promote Shalom, Wasn’t reconciliation and good relations – in families, business, foreign affairs, agriculture and between ethnic groups, for example – in some way an advance of the kingdom?
But isn’t this a blind spot that many of us seem to share? Do we really believe that Jesus is Lord of all? Not only of our personal spiritual life or the life of the Church, but also of the political, diplomatic, economic and media public square. Abraham Kuyper put it this way: there is not a square centimeter of human activity where Christ, who is sovereign over everything, does not say mine!
If we truly believed this in the evangelical world, it would surely be reflected in our theological seminaries! Unfortunately, it is not the case. Where can young people go to train in public theology as agents of the kingdom in the public square, to prepare for a career in politics, diplomacy or commerce?
‘How are we engaged in construction? was the next question. Paul reminds the Corinthians that Jesus Christ is the foundation. He is at the center of the prayer breakfast movement, the greatest common denominator of believers of all political persuasions. And the living Word reveals itself in the written Word, the book that has shaped Europe more than any other factor.
What do we know about the transformative power of the Bible in shaping our politics, our government, our democracy and the concept of Europe?
However, we have identified another blind spot here. Was the Bible simply a book meant to get us to heaven and save our souls? Or was his message much deeper and broader, pointing to the restoration and reconciliation of all things under heaven and on earth? What do we know about the transformative power of the Bible in shaping our politics, our government, our democracy, the concept of Europe, European culture, European integration and the European Union itself? even ? How to identify the spiritual idolatries behind all the -isms (nationalism, capitalism, socialism, liberalism, etc.) each of which absolutizes something of God’s good creation, as David Koyzis explains in Political visions and illusions (see also my Discussion Schuman with David).
Again, where can young aspiring politicians learn the biblical foundations of their vocation in the public square?
‘Or are we engaged in construction? was the third and final question, which led directly to the third and final blind spot. Most of us participate in construction at the local level. Evangelicals generally focus on the local church and therefore think locally. Protestant churches emerged from the Reformation as territorial churches, like the Church of England or the Dutch Reformed Church. They tended to think nationally. But Catholics have always considered themselves to belong to a universal Catholic Church and therefore have a broader vision.
Someone said: Catholics see the woods; Protestants see trees. To which I add, evangelicals see branches
Someone said: Catholics see the woods; Protestants see trees. To which I add that evangelicals see branches. We evangelicals have a blind spot when it comes to thinking about “Europe.”So thank God for Prayer breakfast movement as it aims to nurture friendships across political, philosophical and even religious differences, by organizing prayer events in the European Parliament and in the parliaments of several of the 50 European countries.
Jeff Fontaine, Director of Schuman Center for European Studies. This article was first published on the author’s blog, Weekly word.