The days we’re living in feel so unfair and unjust, don’t they?
Basically everything costs more than ever before: Gas, food, clothes, vehicles, utilities, rent, mortgages, insurance… and the list goes on.
Politically, many of us feel cheated. Research and common sense tell us that the numbers just aren’t adding up to the results we’re being told to believe. But there’s really nothing we can do about it.
We no longer feel safe to send our children to school, as they are inundated with depraved and deeply concerning ideology.
Crime is on the rise and the need to be on guard feels ever present.
Our borders are in shambles and order has been lost, causing chaos and destruction.
Many in positions of leadership in our country are shamelessly lying to us and shirking the responsibilities they swore to uphold.
Those of us who hold to any Biblical standards have begun to feel the strong voice of disdain, along with the whispers of persecution which are likely to lead in only one direction.
The Desire For Justice
As humans, but especially as Christians, I think we long to see justice done. We long to see all of this made right. We want to see righteousness rewarded and wickedness punished.
For these past few years I’ve gone through seasons of feeling angry over the state of things. It simply doesn’t seem fair. Doesn’t God see those in this country who are seeking after righteousness? Deception and greed seem to be reigning supreme. When will it end? When will God bring justice and fix what’s been made so terribly wrong?
Now, it’s good to seek for justice. We’re called to it many times in the Scriptures. (Micah 6:8, Isaiah 1:17)
But, for the Christian, I’ve only recently realized that perhaps we ought to be careful when ask God for justice in our country.
You see, when we ask God to bring justice, we must realize two things:
1. America’s Rebellious Heart
When we ask God to bring justice… we need to remember the desolation of cities and nations in Biblical times who called good what God had called evil… when justice was served.
When we ask God for justice, we need to remember that we are a nation, whether we personally agree with the trajectory or not, of depravity and rebellion. We are a nation who has spat on the sanctity of marriage. We are a nation who has called children a curse rather than a blessing and in doing so have brutally taken millions of innocent lives. We are a nation who offer an education from preschool through university, training up the next generation to embrace the things that God hates. We are a nation in which adults are encouraging children to openly confide and explore things of a sexual and perverse nature. We are a nation of women trying to be men and men pretending to be women. We are a nation who refuses to acknowledge our own identity as image bearers of God. We are a nation of children with no respect for authority. We are a nation of abuse, divorce, and disfunction in numbers that are growing at alarming rates.
This is our country.
And we’re asking God for justice. What do we think that looks like?
2. America’s Stagnant Church
And if you’re thinking, “No! that’s not the America I love and know!” I don’t blame you. A big part of me wants to disconnect from what’s happening. I want to make it an “us and them” thing. Christians aren’t the problem here, are we? We believe the Bible, we know we’re sinners in need of a Savior, we don’t take part in all the mess that’s got America going to hell in a handbag!
But can we really say that?
Let me ask you: If, back in the “good ole days” as we like to call them, the church had been what the church ought to be, do we honestly and truly believe our country would be in this state?
Do you think that perhaps the downfall of our country wouldn’t be coming so swiftly?
Do you think that it might have made a difference if we’d spoken out earlier against what has now become the norm and perhaps it wouldn’t have taken such a foothold?
If the American church had been a church that embraced and zealously took hold of our freedoms rather than lazily sitting back and taking them for granted…
If the American Church had been a church that boldly proclaimed truth and dispelled lies, rather than striving to always avoid controversy…
If the American Church had been a church who raised children to be warriors for Christ no matter the cost, rather than raising them to stay safe, stay close, and pursue the American dream at all cost….
If the American Church had been a church of encouragement, discipline, accountability, and fellowship, rather than a social club or a clique that was no good to anyone…
If the American Church had been a church who had focused more on prayer than strategies and surveys…
If the American Church had been a church committed to God’s glory and power rather than self help, self esteem, and self confidence…
If the American Church had been a church who walked by faith and not by sight…
If the American Church had been a church who clung to the Word of God no matter what it cost them, rather than bowing to the desires of man for the reward of higher numbers and fuller bank accounts….
If the American Church had been a church that feared God rather than man…
If all of this had been consistently true of the American Church, do you not think we would be in a much different place?
I’ve realized myself in these past three years how many freedoms I’ve always taken for granted, how many times I’ve been silent out of fear, how little concern I’ve held for the lost, how little love I’ve had for my neighbor, how many times I’ve studied scripture but forgotten to live it.
So, Do We Ask For Justice?
I don’t mean to be a discouragement. I know many Christians who live daily by faith, who take seriously their role in the body of Christ, who strive for righteousness, love deeply, and walk humbly.
But I don’t believe that we can, with honest hearts, look at America, past and present, believer and unbeliever, and say that God would be unjust to allow us to fall.
When we ask for justice, we’re just seeing so much wrong around us that needs fixing, but if we don’t stop and ask if we’ve been part of the problem, we may not understand what it is we’re asking for.
We cannot earn restoration in this country. All good gifts are from above. Conviction is a work of the Spirit. Faith is gift from God. Redemption comes only in Christ.
And so I wonder… with the state we are in, and the part the church has played in it… ought we to ask for justice?
Perhaps our plea should be for mercy, for forgiveness, for grace.
In Closing
My morning devotions have recently been spent in Daniel. Chapter 9 contains Daniel’s prayer for his people who were being held captive in Babylon because they had rebelled against God. Now, America is not Israel… but I found his prayer encouraging and it resonated. Daniel was a righteous man. Daniel sought after God. Daniel pleased God at great cost to himself.
Yet Daniel did not plead his own case, make a defense, or ask for justice.
Here was Daniel’s prayer:
“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him …. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.… Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
Daniel 9:4-16 (Emphasis mine)
Yes, we are called to seek justice. And one day, ALL will be made right. There will be justice and we will see good triumph over evil once and for all. Christ’s victory on the cross will become all the more clear to us.
But when we ask for justice because we feel our country has dealt us a bad hand… we need to head to the Scriptures. And when we do we will quickly realize that we are a people who ought to be on their knees begging God for repentant hearts and unmerited grace. A renewed zeal and passion in the people of God, and redemption for those who have for so long turned away.
Not because of our righteousness, but because of his great mercy.
My Family Freedom 