The Measure of National Greatness
 It
is true that one of the last bastions of the biblical
world view of life is the United States, but she is
in dire trouble, crumbling fast into the dust pile of
once-great nations. Some people will take issue with
that statement, but their defense is mostly built upon
emotion that has little semblance to reality. No American
relishes this thought, and for some of us it is so hateful
it is difficult to even think about. Yet, if the moral
health of our country were put on a graft the line would
show a definite downturn, perhaps even a freefall in
the last few years.
Any number of questions might be asked
regarding the situation, such as how is this moral dereliction
happening, why is it happening and what is the answer?
Most such questions are open-ended which means there
is no end to opinions that might be offered. Still,
an objective examination will reveal a disturbing fact
about our national life — we’re dying spiritually.
That does not mean we have no religion in America; it
means it has little to do with God.
Presently some political candidates,
talk-show hosts and other celebrities along with any
number of people are touting our national greatness.
There is no question whatsoever that our country is
great in many ways with the invention, production and
distribution of goods and services that are nothing
less than indispensable for the comfort and welfare
of not only our own citizens, but many the world over.
Our national benevolence is unprecedented. There is
no tragedy anywhere on this planet that does not see
the immediate and wholesale response of our country
with food, water, clothing, fuel, temporary housing,
medicine and anything else we have that might be needed
— all free! Add to that our efforts to protect
and provide for the weak and needy through numerous
treaties that have cost us so much in both blood and
money. If Europe and Asia would repay our country for
their blood-bought freedom and affluence, the Marshall
Plan, etc., our national debt would be seriously curved
and our dollar would be the earth’s top currency.
And, you can add to that everything we have done for
Africa, South America, the Caribbean, etc. Further,
such debts to our country are often forgiven by us,
and, unfortunately, forgotten about by those who benefit
from our generosity.
And all this benevolence is happening
in spite of the fact the value of our dollar is dropping
like a rock. Further, many American jobs are now being
done by enemy nations sorely hostile toward us; nations
that export their mostly cheap products to us in mega-volumes
in our nations largest retail stores. Just try to find
a jacket, drill bit, radio, C-clamp, etc., in just about
an American store that is not made by those who would
destroy us...and the list could go on.
All of this is to say that our country
is not without greatness and benevolence. It cannot
be denied.
Try, however, to look at this at another,
and perhaps deeper level. Try to see us as God sees
us. Try to imagine what really makes a country and her
people great. Is it wealth and benevolence? To be sure,
at least to some degree, but is that all? Might there
be something of greater value than those things? There
is. And, it has to do with the spirit and soul of a
nation’s people. By God’s standard generosity
is trumped by godliness. The cliché is true that
a person can be generous without being godly, but cannot
be godly without being generous. Yet, the crux of all
this goes far deeper than a simple cliché. Along
with Madison Avenue’s full-color portrayals of
our affluence and television news pictures of our charity,
there are other indicators that show a far different
picture. To the heart that is sensitive to the biblical
worldview these indicators are dark and vile; heavy
with foreboding and impending judgment.
The evidence is clear that our country
is immersed into a culture that is lower than that of
simple lasciviousness. Immorality is no longer the descriptive
term; amorality is a better word. From what is displayed
in film, music, literature and television it is evident
our culture is no longer ashamed of shacking up, illegitimate
children, homosexuality, public nudity, gutter-filth
profanity, etc. When you add violence in the form of
murder, mayhem, rape, abortion, robbery and intimidation
there can be no doubt as to the depths of our degradation.
When middle-school girls take pictures
of themselves in the nude and send them to boys as sort
of an adolescent match-making service something is wrong.
These kids have probably never blushed even once in
their lives. The question is not where did they learn
this, but how did they come to view this as something
they would even consider doing?! Scandalous pictures
of nationally known “beauty” pageant winners
are distributed on the web for multitudes to see. And,
there is no shame.
Spring break on our nation’s
beaches is the scene of antics that seemingly set new
precedents for low-life conduct each year. As portrayed
in some news reports the revelers function as catalysts
among themselves producing infectious lewd behavior
that quickly escalates and spreads to become the norm.
Nothing is hidden or withheld. And, there is no shame.
That their conduct might very well
be displayed on the web, that it might be seen by their
parents and grandparents, that their future spouses
and children might see it, that it might destroy future
opportunities are not concerns of the moment. In short
they willingly act with the morals of mongrel dogs with
no remorse at all. And, there is no shame.
The executive, legislative and judicial
branches of our “great” nation are tainted
and fouled by philandering, homosexual and lesbian perversion,
corruption and every sewer-bottom level of life you
might imagine. The national inclination in education
is to dispense with science and accept the ridiculous
theory of evolution that teaches we came from a slime
pit, there is no God, no heaven, no hell and no accountability.
There are no longer any absolutes by which we might
live; every thing is relative to the moment. It is not
about what is inherently right or wrong, but how you
feel about it.
It is now religiously fashionable to
say everybody is going to heaven. Nobody may offend
the heathen by saying the Bible is the sole and final
authority on the subject. Oprah Winfrey, proud advocate
of 21st century new ageism, and who says Jesus is just
one of many ways to eternal bliss, is now God in the
minds of some of her followers. And, for heaven’s
sake we must not be judgmental of those who follow paganism
in any of its sordid forms because everybody is right
and nobody is wrong. Toleration, you see, is the key.
Yes, America seems to be the last refuge
for the faithful practice of Christianity, but that
is rapidly changing. How long before an American preacher
will be arrested, prosecuted, sentenced and imprisoned
for a lengthy term under some so-called hate-crimes
statute because he quoted the Bible regarding sexual
promiscuity and perversion? Soon, perhaps? How long
before the government, by congressional or judicial
fiat, removes what has always been the sacred right
of parents to oversee the education of their kids and
to teach them the biblical worldview? We are presently
seeing the foundation for that with the politically
liberal push for US ratification of the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
It is true there is still a remnant
in our country that has not capitulated, but that group
is growing smaller, is having less national influence
and is living under progressively more stringent opposition.
When you get to the analysis of all
this, however, an interesting question begins to develop.
At what point will God finally get enough and drop the
shoe of punishment? Perhaps when God makes His move
it might come in the form of something of more consequence
than mere punishment; it might be in the form of a judgment
as was the case with the world in Noah’s day,
or Sodom, or the Egyptian Pharaoh, or the Amorites.
Will it come in the distant future? Is it imminent?
Or, maybe we might ask if it is past due? No one can
say, but it should be very clear to every Christian
that God does have a limit and that He is no respecter
of persons or nations when it comes to dealing with
blatant amorality and the in-your-face attitude many
have toward Him.
Benevolence, even sacrificial benevolence,
can in no way even approach the point where it can equate
to, or substitute for righteousness. Not that the secular
aspect of America is attempting such an agreement with
God (for they could not care less what God thinks),
but this should serve to wake up the “Christian”
aspect of America to the fact that God is not impressed
with our good deeds, national or personal. If that were
the case then His sending Jesus as the sole sacrifice
for our sin was a terrible mistake. Perish the thought!
What is the answer? Many things could
be said, but space will not allow it. So, perhaps we
might take a cue from President Abraham Lincoln and
the US Senate 145 years ago. Lincoln’s “Day
of National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” is
reprinted for your consideration. Would that President
Bush might follow suit. Don’t look for that to
happen, though, because I do not believe he (or the
U.S. Senate) has the spiritual depth and the political
will necessary to do it. And further, it seems abundantly
clear those wishing to soon be president fall short
by an even greater degree.
The eternal truth is that God will
not be mocked by any nation or person. What is planted
is what is harvested. DLM
A Day of National Humiliation, Fasting
and Prayer
in the United States of America on April 30, 1863
Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly
recognizing the Supreme Authority and Just Government
of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations,
has by a resolution, required the President to designate
and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation:
And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as men,
to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of
God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble
sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance
will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the
sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and
proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed
whose God is the Lord:
And, in so much as we know that, by His divine law,
nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments
and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear
that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates
the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us
for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our
national reformation as a whole People? We have been
the recipients of the choicest prosperity. We have grown
in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has
ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten
the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied
and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly
imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all
these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom
and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success,
we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity
of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray
to the God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble
ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our
national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and
fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by
this proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday,
the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation,
fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the
People to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular
pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public
worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day
holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge
of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us
then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine
teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be
heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less
than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration
of our now divided and suffering country, to its former
happy condition of unity and peace.
In witness thereof, I have here unto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this thirtieth day of
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United
States the eighty-seventh.
By the President:
Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward, Secretary of State
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