America is experiencing increased division. It’s not just political, but in many different arenas. The polarization is growing. And it’s so hard some days to discern the real nature of a matter amidst media bias and the hatred and antipathy that is prevalent among the masses. What I would like to do is just boil it down to the title of this post: TRUTH, CHOICE, and CONSEQUENCE.
What is the TRUTH for America? It was founded (excluding the Native Americans that preceded us) as a Christian nation. It was guided by Christian principles. These “founding fathers” were far from perfect, and they made many mistakes. But it seems from their speeches and writings that a belief in God and a desire to obey Him was the driving force behind their actions. It merely takes a quick Google search for you to confirm this.
Generally speaking, in our republic we elect the candidate who gets the most votes, and we obey the majority rule. Judges are appointed by the people we elect. As a CONSEQUENCE of elections and appointments over the last 60-plus years, America has made a CHOICE of turning away from its Judeo-Christian roots at breakneck speed. See this devotional from Terminus about the Supreme Court decisions that have undone Christian principles. It would seem that now a majority of the American public also support ungodly practices like homosexuality and abortion. Both have been made legal as well. (There are, of course, several other issues in addition to these.)
This CHOICE of turning away from TRUTH did not begin overnight. For years, we have bent our arguments to justify our viewpoints, misquoting Scripture and twisting the First Amendment. Our lives are more self-centered, apathetic, and just plain carnal. And through it all, the church has only grown quieter instead of acting as a loving force for godly change.
Repeatedly throughout the Bible, God promised blessing to His people (TRUTH), so long as they followed and obeyed Him (CHOICE). Doing otherwise resulted in war, slavery, and even extinction as a sovereign state (CONSEQUENCE).
Here is my point: what we say, what we believe, and what CHOICES we make don’t affect TRUTH, and specifically the TRUTH of God’s Word. As a result, there is CONSEQUENCE, a cause and effect. We turn away from God? He turns away from us. We cease to obey Him? He ceases to bless us. It won’t be a happy ending for America, no matter what you or I think or hope.
To be sure, there is still a faithful remnant of God’s people in America. I believe that. May He give us the strength to endure and to help others as this country reaps the whirlwind. It looks to arrive soon. In the meantime, we all need to get right with God – you and me. We need to stop judging people while the plank is in our eye. We need to pray for our politicians instead of demonizing them. We need to love others as Christ loves us. Repentance and revival must begin with the church and then spread to our nation. The question is whether this will take place before or after America’s downfall…