Being “nice,” of course, is not ultimately what the Christian walk is all about. But neither is it just a low-level option for those who are commanded by Scripture to “speak the truth in love.” Even the order of that commandment—truth first, love second—suggests that being “nice” can’t happen unless such behavior is rooted first in the Truth. My suggestion is that that order is just as true for nations as it is for individuals. That’s a sober thought for citizens of a country that has forfeited so much of its inheritance of God’s eternal verities. Could we, in the process, also have given up our ability even to be “nice”?