God vs America?

The original idea of democracy comes from the Greek societal concept of a polis (“city” or “city-state”), which was developed under the assumption that humankind could rule itself autonomously.

Free market capitalism added fuel to the fire of man’s search for individual significance, and a proliferation of this worldview went global at a truly astonishing pace. Pride in our tremendous abilities had become a contender for the souls of men on the world’s stage through a Darwinian-based ideology of its own.

In our efforts to be a tolerant people, Christians have allowed ourselves to be delegated to the backseat of the bus.  And while we are told we must not give a voice to our beliefs lest that be considered intolerant, there is no similar message being doled out to the militant secularists or the radical Islamists.  And so they take the opportunity handed to them on a silver platter and use it to their advantage.

With its irreligious, amoral veneer, militant secular humanism may have won the most “converts” of all;  and there appears to be no end in sight.  In terms of numbers, secularists, non-religious people and atheists come in third place, just behind Christianity and Islam, accounting for 16 percent of the world’s population (approx.  1.1 billion).  It offers no system of moral absolutes. It is a relativistic paradigm that attempts to develop morality from the situation at hand, relative to the needs and wants of the individual perspectives involved.   

To those who do not believe in good and evil, the actions of suicide bombers and Holocaust –deniers do not register for what they are.  They naively reason there must be valid social factors motivating this behavior. Poverty is the most common explanation this rationale has to offer. When everything is relative to circumstance, there is always a way of justifying any action, however heinous. 

They (militant secularists) ridicule or dismiss as extremist any who refuses to throw in the towel on absolutes and join them in their relativistic, “anything goes” malaise.

Christians must use the democratic platform for freedom of expression to speak the truth in love – at every opportunity living out their faith, being salt and light in the culture and manifesting godly character in government, media, the arts, religious settings, education, business and finance.  Jesus admonished His followers to be a light on a hill and not to hide or retreat (see Matthew 5). America was founded by Christian believers to be that “city on a hill.”  Yes, such activity will be attacked and ridiculed by the other two houses (radical Islam and militant secularism).  The battle for the minds and souls of citizens will be unremitting, requiring tremendous sacrifices of times, resources and energy. In the end, we have the sure hope that truth will eventually prevail.

Christians must give up our false idol of America and instead use the opportunity God has given us to spread His gospel by speaking the truth boldly.  We have no problem waving the American flag, raising banners that speak of patriots and freedom yet fall short of thanking our God in the public square.  We are bold when it comes to speaking out for our country yet timid when it’s time to speak about our God.  Have we developed an unhealthy pride in America?  Our God is a jealous God (Ex 34:14) and will not tolerate false idols.

Perhaps we Christians have been lulled into complacency by the lifestyle we cherish so much.  Perhaps we have become lazy and unwilling to sacrifice.  Are we so comfortable that we no longer desire to seek God’s will for our lives but instead do the minimum and tell ourselves that is enough – that He doesn’t require anything more?  Would God have asked so much of our forefathers and so little of us?  How we love to quote Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson and the rest, yet dishonor the sacrifices they made by doing so little to keep the vision they had from God alive today.

It’s time to stop blaming everyone else – the radical Islamists, the illegal immigrants, the militant secularists, the feminists, the humanists, politicians – for our lack of commitment.  We have been given opportunity after opportunity – chance after chance – and yet, like God’s chosen people, we throw them away.   Start today by praying for hearts that will repent and beg God for mercy.  And then pray every day that we would once again be the light of the world – the city on the hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14).

Seek his will in all you do,

And he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:6

Brown type from Robert Stearns No, We Can’t