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March 19

Concerned for All

Christianity is sometimes cast as a world-denying religion with little relevance for the issues of our time. The fact that Christians are called to pray for government and for those in authority already suggests an engagement with society that could have great consequences.

One of the great martyrs of the post-apostolic church, Polycarp, called Christians to pray for all. He writes, “Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings and magistrates and rulers, and for those who persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, so that your fruit may be evident among all people.”78

Thus, as an absolute minority in the hostile world at that time,

Christians were challenged not simply to be concerned about themselves and their heavenly reward. They were called to pray for the very people who sought to do them harm. Their suffering was to be the seed for a new world.

What is particularly noticeable about Polycarp’s call to prayer was that he believed this would have an effect. He believed good fruit would come from the suffering community that was willing to forgive and pray for their very tormentors.

This poses a significant challenge for us in the contemporary world where so often we no longer see God at work, where we doubt the efficacy of prayer and where we tend to see the political realm as self-contained and therefore beyond the reach of our prayers. Polycarp’s vision calls us to be a faithful and intercessory people.

Thought

A Christian recovery of prayer may yet revolutionize our world.