Righteousness makes a nation great, but sin degrades any people (Prov 14:34 CJB).
This article is my unvarnished, plain contribution to the current discussion on the question of, “What will make America, or any other nation for that matter, great again? The philosophical pundits will pump out their chests and say, look no further than our pondering on knowledge, reality, and existence, though such exercises are not without their merits. Science will point to its formidable strength in empirical data and formula. However, all these proffered solutions are impotent on their own to make a nation great again, without an external aid, if that nation was ever great at all.
Greatness, shall I say, “good success” is achieved when either a nation or an individual begins to “thirst and hunger for righteousness” and truth (that is, doing what God considers “right,” Matt 5:6). But we find ourselves in a conundrum pointed out by Blaise Pascal, the 17th century French Mathematician and Catholic theologian who rightly said, “Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” No wonder, the Roman statesman, Pontius Pilate mired in this confusion asked Jesus Christ (who was truth personified), “What is truth (Jn 18:38)?”
Before I go any further, let me clarify that I am not an expert on governance or public administration nor am I an American citizen, but I know Jesus Christ who can help make things right. I am writing as a concerned admirer of this once great nation (as the slogan “Make America Great Again” seems to imply) that countless numbers of people from all over the world have come to love and make their home. They came in search of hope encapsulated in the American Dream the likes of which has eluded them in their own countries of origin.
So, to answer the earlier question of what will make a nation great again, I think another quote from Blaise Pascal (remember Pascal’s triangle in Mathematics?) is very instructive for us. He writes, “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” The answer calls for a return to the old principles that once made that nation great in the first place. Or, as God explains it to the prophet Jeremiah, it is to
Stand by the roadways and look.
Ask about the ancient paths, “Which is the
way to what is good?” Then take it
and find rest for yourselves.
But they protested, “We won’t (Jer 6:16 CSB)!”
There are elements in America who are bent on removing all links with the past and erasing the last vestiges of godliness in the nation’s psyche. But, as it is mostly the case, human self-pride usually stands in opposition to God: “We will do whatever we want, however we want it, and whenever we want to. C. S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist, in his book The Great Divorce says, “Thy will be done” will be God’s response to the above recalcitrance (p. 59).
Military might does not exalt a nation insofar as our present conditions have unraveled letting us know that no kingdom lasts forever but God’s. Force of arms do not constitute true greatness. A nation with worldly wealth, mighty in military and tactical warfare but with rapidly devolving morality is not an epitome of greatness. It portends impending calamity if there is no introspection on faulty actions, and a momentous cry: “Babylon the great has fallen!”
The insightful prophet Isaiah who lived some millennia away seemed to have, eerily, looked down into our world today. He saw our corrupt justice systems, equivocation at all arms of government. He cast his spotlight on the oppression from those tasked to uphold the rule of law. He watched with incredulity the trampling upon, with impunity, the fundamental human rights of the governed (holed up in a “chicken coop” by draconian lock-downs), the same people whom their elected officials swore an oath of office to serve and protect. Isaiah’s comment reads like one of today’s newspapers, at least one that is still unswerving in its adherence to truth and to the ethics of journalism:
Justice is turned back, and
righteousness stands far away; for truth
has stumbled in the public squares, and
uprightness cannot enter (Isa 59:14 ESV).
A nation in which the lack of equitable justice is rapidly becoming the order of the day, notwithstanding, its pretense to dealing with a cultured virus is not on a path of greatness. A nation cannot be great again without God, seemingly, without a godly sorrow or heart-rending repentance. This much was made obvious to the church in Ephesus whom the Risen Lord Jesus gave an ultimatum: return to “your first love… repent … repent” or perish (Rev 2:4-5)!
The nation’s leaders need to dust up their history books in the National Archive for the founding principles on which their nation was hewed and progressed into statehood. Read about what became of ancient empires that abandoned justice and equity and learn the truth in the aphorism that, “No condition in life is permanent” and, also, that kingdoms come, and kingdoms go, but our God reigns forever over the affairs of men because He is the King of kings and the Lord of Presidents and Prime Ministers whether they acknowledge it or not. And, moreover, He puts whomever He chooses in the place of power, and He removes them without lifting a finger when they get too big for their breeches.
I have sounded the alarm and warning America, Canada, China, Iran, Russia, and every nation state, what does the LORD require from you? It is to “Fear God and keep all His commandments then your nation will become great again, not simply in economics but in breeding honest citizens and politicians. Today, when you hear His (God’s) voice harden not your heart (Psa 95:7-8; Heb 3:15; 4:7).
Repent!