I know this may sound heretical to some, but I think this article makes some accurate statements. The journalist believes not that the United States was a Christian nation at its founding but that the United States was a nation of Christians at its founding.
I believe that the distinction is critical. If we believe that the United States was a nation of Christians and was blessed of God for that, then our goal and desire will be to see our nation as 300 million individuals turn back to God. If the nation is predominantly or overwhelmingly Christian, prayer will be returned to our schools, Biblical principles will be upheld in our courts, and godliness will flourish in the town square. We will once again see God's blessing on our families, our churches, our economy, our foreign policy, etc.
However, if we believe that the United States was a Christian nation our goal and desire will be to see laws and rulings that conform with our interpretation of Scripture. If the hearts of citizens, however, remain outside the power of the Holy Spirit how will they keep the laws that a legislature passes. Is not prayer in schools a mockery if the hearts of the children are not participating in a reverent way. Are laws against adultery, homosexuality, and all other perversion a band-aid on the blood-gushing wound of sinfulness and evil unless there is a Holy Spirit to change the hearts of men that are corrupt and deceitful above our imagining?
Our nation will never be one nation under God only because there are certain laws in place. Our nation will be under God when American citizens as individuals are under God. By this I do not mean that we should not try to legislate morality. I think we should. I think murder should be against the law and adultery and theft and perjury (all of which are in the Ten Commandments by the way). But simply having the laws on the books does not make our nation righteous.
Two Biblical examples spring quickly to mind. The first impacts our understanding of what makes a nation righteous. Josiah was very zealous for the LORD God of Israel, and the Bible commends him for it. The story of his reforms is found in I Chronicles 34. Near the end of the chapter God through the prophetess Huldah gives Josiah a very interesting message. Let me quote it for you before I make my observation.
2Ch 34:24-27 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: (25) Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. (26) And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; (27) Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.I have highlighted the words that are critical to our understanding of this passage. God contrasts the wickedness of the people with the righteousness of the king. Although Josiah was righteous and very thorough in purging Judah and even Israel, the actions of the people only changed superficially - their hearts remained unrepentant. Consequently, I believe that they chaffed under Josiah's reforms, and the Bible is clear that as soon as the king died they honored his corpse and immediately went back to doing evil.
Laws do not change hearts. In fact, in a society with a representative government like our own, laws reflect the state of society. While there are circumstances where the laws can not reflect society exactly, such as an unusually vocal minority or a swiftly changing society, the laws and judicial processes of our country show what kind of society that we have. What we Christians have failed to come to grips with during the previous decades is that the reason we are losing political and judicial battles is because we have lost the heart of the average American. Even church-going Americans (and by that, I simply mean Christians that attend any church) are often content to let abortion stand, to allow pornography to proliferate, to watch homosexuals join the military, to drive by a bar without praying. In short, we are happy to criticize and complain, but we are not willing to take the steps needed to make a difference.
The second Scripture God reminded me about while recently reading through Ezekiel. God is showing the wickedness of the people of Jerusalem to Ezekiel in a vision. In the vision God calls six men to Himself. All of them have slaughter weapons and one also has an inkhorn. The one with the inkhorn is told to go through the city first and mark those who hate the abominations that God hates. The others are then instructed to go through the city killing old and young, men, women, and children. "And begin at My sanctuary," God commands them (Eze. 9:6). What a reminder that true revival in any country begins in the church! I Peter 4:17 echoes this when it states, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God."
I think one obstacle to change in American society at large, change that will truly make our great United States a nation of Christians, is churches. By and large, churches think that everything is fine with them, and it is the world that needs our help. This is particularly true of a large number of independent Baptist churches. Our attitude can most often be summed up as, "We're okay - it's everyone else that's messed up."
The truth is that all of us need the help of Jesus Christ. Only through Jesus Christ can Christians live lives that are truly different than the world. All Christians have to offer the world is Jesus Christ. Our job as Christians is to point the way to Jesus Christ.
Over forty years ago a wise preacher said, "To me there is nothing more tragic or shortsighted or lacking in insight than the assumption, made by so many, that [churches are] all right and all [they must] do is to evangelize the world outside. Every revival proves clearly that men who are outside the church always become attracted when [churches begin] to function truly as the Christian Church, and as individual Christians [should act]." This same preacher said, "I am never tired of saying that what the church needs to do is not to organize evangelistic campaigns to attract outside people, but to begin herself to live the Christian life."The moral degradation of our country begins with Christians who look at their neighbors and say, "I am not as bad as they are." We now watch on TV and through the Internet shows and programs that Christians decades ago would have shuddered at. The same movies that made Christians in the 50's boycott movie houses are movies that today Christians consider classics. As a missionary I am often invited into American Christians' homes. I am constantly amazed at the videos that Christians have sitting openly on their shelves - not movies from the 50's either.
Instead we as Christians ought to examine ourselves to see if our lives are reflecting Jesus Christ. Only then as our lives reflect Jesus Christ and our words point to the Savior can we expect true change to begin in America. The great comfort of this truth is that we do not have to vote for a new President or a new Congress. We are not waiting for the pastor to be a better preacher or the Sunday school class to be more interesting. We are not dependent on judges to rule righteously or conditions to change, instead we are focused on changing ourselves to be conformed to the image of God's Son. We can start now to make a better America.
Let me end with one more quote from the same preacher whom I quoted earlier. "The glory of the gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it."
