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When you think about building God’s kindom, what sorts of metaphors come to mind? Paul uses gardening imagery: we plant the seeds and care for the plants, while God provides the growth.[1] Several of the prophets use a marriage metaphor to describe how God works together with the people,[2] and Jesus talks about the kindom of heaven in terms of a master entrusting his servants with his money.[3] In each of these images, the act of bringing God’s kindom to earth is depicted as the joint effort of partners. Now, granted, these partners have varying levels of responsibility and authority in each metaphor, but the general dynamic seems to be one of colleagues or teammates working together to accomplish something.