Isaiah (9)

Once a Bride, Now a Prostitute

How the faithful city has become a harlot,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
Your drink diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves a bribe
And chases after rewards.
They do not defend the orphan,
Nor does the widow’s plea come before them. Isaiah 1:21 - 23

The picture that God through Isaiah paints of Jerusalem should give us pause, if this could happen in the capital city of the Covenant People it can happen anywhere, with people with a lesser pedigree, with people of a lesser spiritual heritage. The people of Judah boasted of their heritage and deceived themselves into thinking that God would give them a pass on their idolatry and myriad sins - they were wrong. God calls them Sodom and Gomorrah - His judgment is coming if they do not repent.

Christopher Hall, author and theologian, has a concept he calls “corporate flesh”. I don’t know if he borrowed the term from others but it is helpful to me. What he argues is that while we all have our own individual “sinful flesh” to deal with in Christ, that when we come together as groups of people that a dynamic occurs in which we collectively constitute a “corporate flesh” in which the group manifests sinful flesh in a collective fashion.  He applies this concept to nations and regions. Corporate flesh looks different in North America than it does in Africa, it looks different in the US than it does in Canada (though due to cultural proximity there are similarities).

The challenge is, when we live in a nation or region in which we’ve grown up it is difficult for us to identify the elements of our corporate flesh because it often seems so good and natural. As I ponder this I can see how we can deify corporate flesh and use it as a criterion for patriotism and civic duty - it is difficult to resist.

Yet, the Church must ask, “Are the values of my country the values of the Kingdom of God?” Certainty “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are not the same as, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me…”

Being formed into the image of our society, our culture, our earthly heritage, is not the same as being formed into the image of Jesus Christ. God will not give our nation, whatever nation that might be, a pass on sin and on corporate sinful flesh anymore that He gave Israel and Judah a pass on their corporate flesh, sin, and rebellion. Let us not deceive ourselves or others - even if it means misunderstanding and ostracism.

Jerusalem became a harlot; she had intercourse with the idols of the surrounding peoples. She was once the bride of Yahweh, now she was a prostitute. What about us? What about our nation? What about the church? Are we seeking pleasure and unbridled gain no matter what the cost? Do the ends justify the means? Is the dollar the rationale for our decisions? Is fame and fortune our lustful desire?

Have we become a nation of murderers? Not simply murderers in the sense of guns or knives, but in our economy, our health system (and there are many possibilities here), our foreign policy (both acts of commission and omission) and policies regarding those fleeing violence from other countries? What about our churches? Do we close our eyes to the plight of others and buy into our national corporate sinful flesh? Do we build greater and grandeur facilities while those around us suffer need? What does the corporate sinful flesh of the church in the US look like? How much do we give to missions? How many of us serve the disenfranchised home and abroad? How are we protecting our children from elements of public education designed to destroy their morality, the image of God within them - not to mention the spiritual life?  

“Everyone loves a bribe and chases after rewards.” Does this not portray much of government - from the Federal to the local level? Doesn’t this portray much of corporate American? What about within the professing church? Workers say, “If the corporate executives are like that, if they are out for everything they can get, then what is wrong if I do the same on my own level?” Then there are elements of the professing church that teach that life is all about us, all about a bank account, a car, a big house, and bulging retirement plan. American Christianity seems to think that bigger is better - not realizing that we are building a bigger and better prison of self-indulgence to live in - we are our own jailers, can we not see the irony?

We are fools to think that if Jerusalem could not escape God’s judgment that we can; fools as a nation and fools as a church.