On July 13, I was eating dinner with my extended family at Garden City Beach when we saw the breaking news out of Butler, Pa., that former President Donald Trump barely escaped an assassination attempt. I found myself reflecting on the state of our fractured country and thinking, “How did we get here?” I believe the prophet Hosea may have captured it best when he wrote, “For they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind” (Hos. 8:7). Our nation has made sowing the wind into an art form, and we are only reaping what we have sown.
We have sown seeds of discord by dismantling our spiritual foundation as a nation, rejecting truth by doing what is right in our own eyes, trading objective morality for tolerance of all ideas, and kneeling at the altar of convenience rather than at the feet of Jesus. What did we expect? Many have said what we saw at that Pennsylvania rally is not who we are as a country, but I disagree. This is precisely who we are: a nation at odds with hate-filled rhetoric and violence as our preferred path for dealing with differences. We have sown the wind, and we are reaping the whirlwind.
Beyond the would-be assassin who pulled the trigger, who is at fault? Who do we blame for the state of our union? Many people and groups surely share responsibility for what we have become, but what about us? Christian, I believe we are guilty because we have neglected our responsibility to put to death the deeds of the flesh, to live as salt and light, and to bring the kingdom of Light to bear against the kingdom of darkness in this world. We have traded the cruciform life for a life of conformity.
Psalm 11 captures the reflections of King David during a trying time when his advisers were urging him to flee Jerusalem. They pointed out that the enemy was there to kill him, saying it doesn’t matter how righteous you are, all hope is lost. They said, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps. 11:3).
What should the righteous do when the foundations have seemingly crumbled? Should we flee to high ground? The answer is no, primarily because the Lord is not in flight. David says, “The Lord is on His throne.” God has not abdicated, so we can trust that His sovereign will shall prevail. In fact, He sees what’s going on. One version of the text records verse 4 as, “His eyes see!” You may be tempted to believe that God is not interested in the affairs of men, that He turns His head away from our wickedness and is blind to what is going on. But the psalmist says He sees and He examines both the righteous and the wicked.
We know that the wicked unbeliever will produce wickedness. That does not shock us. But the righteous in Christ should live upright lives. Our nation doesn’t need more patriots, progressives, pacifists or protestors. This country needs peacemakers — believers in Jesus Christ living upright lives, doing justly, loving mercy, walking humbly with God, spreading the hope of the gospel, and sowing seeds of righteousness. Till All Have Heard, it is our Christian responsibility as citizens of heaven living as sojourners in this country to sow seeds of righteousness, justice, mercy, and humility.