Wise Up, America

 If you read this blog regularly, you know I have begun to consider God’s judgment of Israel as a warning for America. In the same way that humans need a sense of self to be fully human, a culture needs touchstones, markers, perhaps a history to remain vital. If America were a person, we would be in the midst of an identity crisis right now. That may be the best explanation for what is happening to America: we are losing a sense of who we are. In the two- and one-half centuries since the nation’s founding, there have been many dramatic changes. Although some of the changes were by choice, many were the inevitable result of societal pressures that stemmed from global human development.

The industrial revolution was just getting in first gear when the colonists decided to break the bonds of imperialism and strive for independence from England. The first couple generations of independent Americans saw the country move from primarily agrarian to early industrial, especially in the northern states. The war between the States proved the supremacy of the industrial over the agrarian society—among other things. As people moved farther from the land that supplied their basic necessities – food, water, shelter – they became less dependent on individual effort and more dependent on a societal system to provide for them. Instead of being the producers of their needs, they became the beneficiaries of the collective efforts of many people. In effect, they became cogs in a giant, constantly growing machine without which they could not survive.

Alongside this societal development, a revolution of sorts was taking place in theological circles as well. Many of the variants of orthodoxy which still exist today had their beginnings before the young nation had its hundredth birthday. The earlier reformation that had split Christendom into Protestants and Catholics was being repeated, this time splintering the existing protestants into further sub-groupings. The global disappointment that infected the church in the aftermath of the First World War led many theologians to rethink their concepts of God and society.

Probably the most damaging result was what has come to be called theological liberalism and included various degrees of doubt about the validity and authority of the Bible. There are few things that incur the wrath of God as surely as misusing the office of His prophets. When people in Old Testament Israel claimed to speak for God but had no connection or authority to do so, God became irate. This situation was at the core of why first Israel then Judah were allowed by God to be taken captive and removed from the land of promise.

I am not equating America with Israel; God no longer deals with a nation as His own. In this age, God deals with a church universal and with people individually. Even so, America once had a grounding in the Scriptures, laws that reflected Judeo-Christian principles, and churches that preached the Word of God. Over the course of the last century, America has lost its foundation, repudiated Christian principles as law, and become infested with churches that deny critical elements of the Word. If the majority of its citizens wish to live in a pagan society, America’s representative form of government makes that possible. If the church is willing to accept false prophets, that is a more serious matter.

If God chooses to deal with nations as He has done in the past, America is in trouble. In the following excerpt from Jeremian 23:15-39, I have substituted preacher for prophet, which is an acceptable translation of the Hebrew concept.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the [preachers] who are [preaching] to you… Behold, I am against the [preachers],’ declares the Lord, ‘who use their tongues and declare, “The Lord declares”… ‘They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination not from the mouth of the Lord… Therefore behold, I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers.’”

Again, I repeat: the city given to the fathers was the biblical promised land. It is not America. But applying the principle of God’s judgment of apostate Israel to the church in America is valid. The church, the bride of Christ is going to be presented “without spot or blemish.” I believe God will do whatever is necessary to bring that to pass. America never was a Christian nation in the biblical sense; we never had a theocracy where God ruled directly. However, there was a time when you could detect a biblical foundation to most of the laws and practices of this nation.

In the same way that America has drifted away from her founding principles, the church has drifted away from preaching the whole Word of God. America is in the midst of an identity crisis; scarier still, so is the church. As a nation, we may never again find our identity in the community spirit and respect for individual effort found in the former agrarian society. Unless you are one of the few farmers left in America, that is lost. In the church we have our identity in, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” I pray with Paul that we may, “Let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom.” The Psalmist says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” America needs to wise up.

Related posts: What’s the Deal With Nineveh; America Held Captive; Today’s Chaldean Chastisement; The Winnowing Fork of God