Are you proud of your country?

I am a Canadian, and this question came up in the midst of an upwelling of patriotic fervor in Canada. The fervor is a response to insults, threats, and tariffs directed at our country from the American president. Polls show that, as a result, an increased number of Canadians are proud of their country.

Am I proud of my country? I decided it was the wrong question to ask.

I had just been studying through the Bible book of Jeremiah, preparing a series of devotional meditations. Was Jeremiah proud of his country? His country was the nation that God had chosen to model His laws and to be the guardian and proclaimer of God’s revelation. But Jeremiah was not proud of his country. Judah at that period was characterized by poor leadership, religious confusion, and crime. Kings, prophets, priests, and other leaders were corrupt (Jeremiah 2:26). The kings were erecting idols in Jerusalem and even God’s temple, as the prophets and priests cheered them on. The poor were being oppressed, and there was so much crime and violence that it was reported that Jerusalem was filled with blood (2 Kings 21:16, 24:4).

Was Jeremiah proud of his country? Jeremiah was aware that Judah was no worse than many of its neighbors and maybe slightly better. But it was hardly a nation to be proud of. Jeremiah knew that God would soon punish the nation for its sinfulness.

Jeremiah was not proud of his country. But he loved his nation deeply. He begged the nation to repent and avoid the coming judgment. He has been called “the weeping prophet” because he lamented how far his nation had fallen. He faithfully remained in a dying society, prayed for his nation, and offered guidance right to the bitter end.

Jeremiah loved his country, grieved over it, prayed for it, and sought to make it better, and that is what Christians should do.

Should we be proud of our country? Let’s look at the question from another angle. Should we be proud of ourselves? Should I be proud of myself? I celebrate my achievements, of course, and I recognize my strengths and gifts. But I am also well aware of my weaknesses, failures, and sins.

We should not be proud of our country. Pride is the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins. Pride leads us to destruction (Proverbs 16:18). Jesus denounced the Pharisee who thanked God that he was better than other men (Luke 18:9-14).

The New Testament teaches us: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment” (Romans 12:3), and that is what we should do. That teaching applies both to ourselves and to our nation. We might think that ours is the greatest nation on earth, but it might be helpful to ask what people outside our nation think. We might be surprised by the answers. The poet Robbie Burns wrote, “Oh, would some Power the gift give us to see ourselves as others see us!” He suggested it would save us from much unjustified pride and foolishness.

We should look at our nation and assess it realistically. We should certainly celebrate its strengths. But we should also recognize its sins, failures, and weaknesses. We should mourn its failures. We should pray for its redemption. We should obey its laws (1 Peter 2:13-14) unless they command us to break God’s higher law (Acts 5:29). We should seek the good of the country where we live (Jeremiah 29:7). And we should love our country, which is one element in loving our neighbor—and sometimes even one element in loving our enemies. Even when we are appalled at the condition of our nation, we should never give in to hating it. We should continue to love it.