In Which God Do You Trust? 2-8-09
Our country has always been a “Christianized” nation, having been founded (by Christians – not Deists) upon Christian values with laws based in Christian morality. The Declaration of Independence made reference to “nature’s God” and the “Creator” and the Articles of Confederation mentioned the “Great Governor of the World, both referring to the God of the Bible. The motto “in God we trust” has roots back to the Civil War, in which it was understood that history may be unkind to that generation and the concern was that they not appear “heathen” – in the midst of a bloody war, they wanted their descendents to know that they were Christians!
Now we live in an age that markets clothing emblazoned with such witty slogans as “porn star” and “objects under shirt are larger than they appear” to pre-teen girls. Our kids go to schools that will suspend or expel them for speaking too freely about God, but will actively promote sexual perversions as normal and acceptable. Our nation grants murdering Islamic jihadists the rights of US citizens, while it denies the right to life of millions of babies. What does our generation hope that succeeding generations know about us?
Richard Dawkins, the celebrated atheist scientist and author of “The God Delusion” said (and referenced in the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed) that it was a study of Darwin’s theory of evolution that convinced him to become an atheist. As he is not the only person to make such a claim, it should outrage Christians that Darwin is taught as incontrovertible fact, sanctioned by the school and with no other alternative allowed to be brought forth. Instead, many Christians foolishly reason away the absolute incompatibility between evolution and the Bible and move on with their lives.
There is an orchestrated assault on Christianity today that combines the full panoply of the enemy’s forces, including atheists, practitioners of witchcraft, and other religions. In addition to this outside threat is the more severe threat that comes from within: apathetic Christians. Much of the problems of today can be laid at the feet of yesterday’s church, whether it is declining attendance, the aging of the population, or the marginalization and isolation of many congregations from their neighborhoods. But if that is the case, then the problems of tomorrow are being created by the church of today.
Look at the beginnings of the church:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NIV)
You do not see them fighting over allocation of resources, teaching the Bible, or personal preferences! Look at what they devoted themselves to: the teachings of the apostles, fellowship, communion, and prayer. Now some will pick apart things such as they “broke bread in their homes” and will take that as an edict from God that no meals must be associated with the assembly (this is just one example of this kind of thinking); it is this kind of legalistic and pharisaical thinking that causes the church to be marginalized as “whacko” in the eyes of the unbeliever, who cannot reconcile this line of thinking with reason. Our focus should be instead on the fact that they ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people! No wonder God added to their number! They were ready to receive his lost sheep because they were a loving family; and only a truly loving family can properly take in a wayward child and raise him up properly.
This is a lesson worth taking to heart. I opened this talking about what is wrong with this country. The problem with the country is that the church is having less of an impact on it that we should. The problem is not with the country abandoning God, but rather the church is not engaged in telling the country about God, and so we are allowing the country to fall away.
It is the Christians who must answer the question: in which God do you believe? If you know the answer, why not share it with someone else!
-Charles Peterson