The Righteous in the City

For Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Proverbs 11:10

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

Is this proverb really true? It seems to us that the city mocks the righteous and exalts the wicked. But then, what we have in mind is the city mocking our morals. Righteousness, of course, includes morality, but the focus here is on that aspect of righteousness in which the welfare of the city is being sought. A righteous mayor is one who is striving for the good of the city. He is resistant to corruption and shows justice to all, diregarding any citizen's social or financial status. The wicked mayor is one seeking his own gain, who favors the rich over the poor, and does not take care to defend the city.

The question for us is how well we display such righteousness. Do we as a city church demonstrate that we love this city? That we desire her prosperity? That we, as a church, will play our role in being a blessing to the city? Do we as individual neighbors practice being good neighbors, taking personal interest in our neighborhood? Or are our speech and actions conveying disdain for having to live where we do?

Our neighbors may laugh at our morality; they may look askance at our social views; nevertheless, they ought to be able to attest to our being good neighbors who are there for them in their troubles. They should know that we care for them. They should see in us neighbors who like the city.

Remember God's words to Jonah: "Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left...? May we, the righteous, pity Philadelphia.