Confessing my country’s sins

Lord of heaven and earth,

You know what’s going on in my country.
You know our sins are enormous.
Sickening.
Despicable.
Unfathomable.
Unrelenting.

We exploit the naive, the weak, the old, the poor, and the traumatized.
We kill babies, no matter what their size.
We decide who has a chance to live and what life should look like.
We devalue human identity and created purpose, confusing our children and adults about who they are and how you created them.
We ignore the handicapped unless they do something amazing that fully-functioning people don’t do.
We execute criminals, whether they’ve had a fair trial or not, and we say “Good riddance.”
We waste our natural resources.
We mass-murder our own countrymen and look for someone to blame for it.
We desecrate our healthy bodies through dangerous lifestyles, immorality, substance abuse, and food addictions. We call it our personal right to do so.
We waste our time. Oh, such a valuable commodity. We act as if it will never run out.

We elect corrupt politicians merely because they tell us they’re for something we’re for–
even though they are also for many things we are against.
We visit churches and read articles and buy books
by people who tell us we deserve a better life and we’re special people, instead of reminding us that God has designed us to suffer for the gospel.
We bestow friendship and support on the demographics who look like us, act like us, and make us feel comfortable; and we ignore everyone else.
We pit the sexes, generations, and races against one another by confusing equality with similarity.
We give second, third, and fourth chances to the rich and famous when their sins are great–we even publish their memoirs and celebrate their mini-victories before they fall again into the same patterns. But–
We punish the poor and marginalized and tell them they’ve had enough time to get their act together.
We change our theology whenever something we’re doing doesn’t line up with your commands. If necessary, we change churches or stop going altogether. We avoid guilt at all costs.
We read secular philosophies and gravitate toward a perspective that exalts mankind and minimizes obedience and worship of God.

Please forgive us.
I confess my country’s sins to you. I live here. I am a part of what’s wrong whenever I don’t stand for what’s right.
Grant us your mercy and grace.
We don’t deserve your love or favor, but we desperately need it.
Fall on us, Holy Spirit. Let us be the light to the who don’t know you.
Help us light their way instead of pushing them into deeper darkness.

Convict me of my own sin–
of my inclination towards self-righteousness and condemnation of others.
Convict me to live boldly for good instead of boldly criticizing people who do evil.
Or excusing myself when I do evil.

Heal our land.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from theirwicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive theirsin and will heal their land.”–2 Chronicles 7:14