Corporate Repentance

Corporate repentance.

I am not sure that is the correct term for it but it is the best I can come up with right now.

What I mean by "Corporate Repentance" is the idea of a group repenting of sins.

The Old Testament is full of examples of this. The Israelites turned often from God and He called them back. They had to humble themselves and turn again to God to find His favor. The Ninevites also repented as a nation (Book of Jonah).

As individuals we are told to repent. I think that it is also important that when a church or other body sins and doesn't follow God the body as a whole needs to repent. I need to repent of my sin as a part of the body, but the body also needs to acknowledge that they have fallen short of God's will.

This is a tough thing to do especially if the group or its leaders think that they are operating in God's will. But I think all too often we confuse what we can do in our humanness and own abilities with God's provision and plan.

And when we do that we have sinned.

And when we sin we need to acknowledge that sin and ask for forgiveness.

Whether it is as an individual, a small group, a church, a denomination, a city or a nation.