Proverbs 14:34 ESV
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
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How do we assess the nations we live in, the governments we live under, the peoples we are born amidst? We could run calculations and figure out the local or national GDP; we could consider how much we like our governmental representatives; we could assess how much we enjoy the culture we interact with. These measurements aren’t even all subjective; like and dislike are the definition of subjection, but GDP is a cold, hard number (if one vulnerable to manipulation in the way all complicated statistics are). In the end, though, our assessment on these factors is only peripheral to our understanding of our society, sub-factors in the truly important measure of a society or nation or even a private institution: virtue.
For some societies, the second half of this verse pops right to mind. Ancient Rome had slavery (significantly more brutal than American slavery in its institution, whatever public schools say), cult prostitution, and a remarkably tyrannical government which came to explicitly claim the worship of its citizens. North Korea’s dictator oppresses his subjects with impressive cruelty and efficiency. Modern America systematically slaughters children in the womb, glorifies in anathema and abomination (Lev. 18:22), and herk-jerks ever closer to revealing its pervasive government corruption and senility. These nations are easy to condemn. Calling these nations ‘sinful’ takes very little perception, though quite often a lot of courage.
Ultimately, though, no nation on earth is without sin. Every nation has encoded sin into its law, has dispensed injustice both in the success and failure of its systems. Every nation is made up of sinful men. Thus, the second part of this verse applies to every nation, in every time, in every place, of every size. All nations deserve reproach; all nations deserve reproof for the sins of their governments and their people. America is a prime example of this. Take the pervasive secularism of our society over the past century, for instance. Do we have a good reason to simply assume that God should stay out of public life, should confine His interference to at most a few anodyne morals like “Be nice” and “Don’t go on murderous rampages”? No, we don’t, yet our society insists on just that (or worse). For this repentance is meet.
What is the remedy for a nation which sins, as all nations do? Two parts: repentance of remorse and repentance of action. The first part of the solution is to recognize, abhor, and condemn the sin of the nation. No individual, unfortunately, can repent for the whole of the nation. He can intercede (Ex. 32:11-14), but he cannot single-handedly, without changing the hearts of others, bring the nation to remorse. For the individual, then, who lives in and is perforce a part of the sinful nation, his duty is not to singularly repent for the sins of the whole nation. He is instead to pursue righteousness in his own dealings, to lead others in pursuing righteousness, and to persuade the nation of justice by example and by teaching. Further, he is to lead the nation in repentance, repenting of those parts of the sin which are his (Acts 2:38), repenting of the evils which the nation he is covenanted to commits (Is. 59:12-13), and seeking to guide that nation to join him in that repentance. Thus, is found the repentance of remorse; next lies the repentance of action.
Repentance of action is the difference between a very well-made pickle jar full of pickles and an equally well-made jar full of plastic replicas of pickles. Repentance without action can have much the same appearance, at first, as true repentance, but it lacks sincerity. Just as the faith which does not produce works is thereby shown to have always been a dead faith (James 2:14-17), so the repentance which is succeeded by a facile return to sin is thereby shown to be a false repentance. The people of Israel faced his condemnation in Isaiah 58, where God asked of them a question: “Is this the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself…?” (v5). Unfortunately for the people of Israel, God had already declared what type of fast- what type of acted-out repentance- they had undertaken: “Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist” (Is. 58:4). Thus, if a nation is mired in sin, its response must not be merely remorse but a wrenching of itself from the mire. In other words, the nation must turn towards righteousness if it is to prove its repentance genuine, if it is to reach the blessing of God.
This goal is not an ephemeral, impossible goal. On this earth, unfortunately, man’s righteousness and the righteousness of his nations will never attain perfection. God, however, calls man to righteousness and therefore calls the nations to righteousness, calls the government to be “God’s servant for [His people’s] good” (Rom. 13:4). We will not on this earth be sinless (1 John 1:8-10), but we can seek His glory ever more. Righteousness on this earth is not a steady state but an ascension, from imperfection to lesser imperfection, always awaiting the final glorification after which we will cry with the angels, in perfect harmony and righteousness, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty” (Rev. 4:8).
God bless.
Written by Colson Potter
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
