Is America a "Christian Nation"?

Nobody can speak as much as I do on a weekly basis and not say something every now and then that bears further explanation.   On Sunday, as I was discussing the Apostle Paul’s preaching of the gospel throughout the pagan world of the first century, I offhandedly made a comment that several have asked me about.  I referred to our own country, the United States, and commented on how similar it is to the world of Paul’s day.  I remarked that it has never been a “Christian nation” as some have supposed.  Here is what I meant by that.

A “Christian” is one who has submitted himself or herself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  By definition, a Christian is an individual, not a group or a nation.  In that technical sense a nation can be neither “Christian” nor “non-Christian” since a nation is made up of all kinds of people with all kinds of different beliefs.  America is a “Christian nation” only insofar as its citizens are Christians.  While many Americans have a background in “Christianity” that is not the same thing as personally submitting oneself to His Lordship.

In fact, our founding fathers ensured that the government of our nation could not be “Christian” in the principle of the separation of church and state implicit in the Constitution.  While that principle may have been misunderstood and even misapplied today, the idea very clearly is that the government is to stay out of the affairs of religion.  Therefore it cannot properly be called “Christian” can it?

This is a great thing, as it allows for the free exercise of my faith!  I love my country, not because it endorses Christian teaching, but because it allows me the freedom to actively pursue my Christian teaching!  I suppose England is “officially” a “Christian” nation with the Church of England as its national religion.  Early Americans fled that country because of the abuses inherent in that system.  Surely no one wants a state religion in the United States today.

I understand, though, that when many of us use the term “a Christian nation” we are referring to our background and heritage.  It is very true to say that our founding fathers came from a very similar Judeo-Christian background and that the values and principles they held dear were written into our founding documents.  Certainly, most of them were believers and unashamedly acknowledged God even in those documents.  I am very grateful for that and wish today’s leaders shared those same convictions.   However that does not make our nation “Christian” today.  The fact that my parents were Christians does not mean that I am.  I must have my own faith.  I must own my own relationship with Jesus in order to properly be called a “Christian.”  Just because our founding fathers were “Christians” doesn’t make our present government “Christian” does it?  What would it look like if they were?

When I look around our country,  I do see so much good and I see God’s people at work in so many ways, yet there is also much fallenness.  Our people laud and applaud what was once called evil and sin.  Our culture glamourizes infidelity and adultery and mocks purity and uprightness.  I can’t turn on the television without hearing the Lord’s name used in vain or seeing people treated as objects of someone’s sexual fantasies.  If you look at ancient Israel in the books of Joshua, Judges and the Kings… you find much the same thing.  Israel was supposed to be a “Godly nation.”  In fact, it was supposed to BE “God’s nation.”  Yet, it was unfaithful to that call and experienced the consequences of its unfaithfulness.  God was harsh enough to allow those consequences and even used other nations around them to bring His judgment on them.

So, when I say that America (the country that I love) is not and never has been a “Christian” nation, that is what I mean.  I pray for the day when all of its citizens will bow on their knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord… but until that day, it is my job as a Christian to faithfully witness to those around me that day is coming.

An Historic Week... what will YOU do?

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks. 2 Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 for he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Tim 2:1-4 NLT

 

This will be an historic week, not only in our nation’s capital, but also for the whole country.  All of the preparations that are going in to the inauguration of a new president on Tuesday has caused me once again to consider the role that faith ought to play in politics.  Last Fall in the weeks leading up to the election, you will remember, that I presented a series of lessons on “Faith & Politics.”  Generally those lessons were well received as I encouraged Christians to get involved and to let their voices be heard in the political arena.  I appreciated the encouraging feedback that many of you gave me.  There were some, however, who disagreed that we should even be talking about politics in church.  I think there was a fear that it would be divisive.  Surely we can all agree, though, that it is our duty… our obligation… our responsibility… and our profound privilege as people of faith to lift up all of our nation’s leaders in prayer, just as Paul admonished Timothy to do in 1 Tim. 2:1-4.  Remember, the government of Rome was anything but friendly to the early church and Paul certainly couldn’t have agreed with all of its politics… yet he prayed!

 

On Tuesday, Americans will all mark the beginning of a new administration.  We will celebrate the incredible significance of inaugurating Barak Obama, becoming our nation’s first African-American President.  What a remarkable occasion it will be!  Perhaps you will reflect back to times in our country when this seemed impossible and we will be reminded that our nation has made progress in overcoming racism and bigotry.  Most importantly, though, Christians will pray.  We will pray for ALL of our country’s new leaders… that God would grant them safety, protection and wisdom to make the right choices for all of us.  Most of all, let us pray that God’s kingdom would grow.  Governments are neither Christian nor non-Christian and I don’t expect that I will agree with all of the decisions it will make in the next four years (just as I haven’t in the last four)… but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t support them with my prayers.  I hope you will join me J     

a post-election funny

Just thought I'd share a good funny on this post-election day. 

My middle son, David, who is six, has been very interested in the campaign and election yesterday.  I made them go to bed last night before many of the returns had started coming in... much to their disappointment.  They all wanted to know who was going to be the next President.  So, when I went in to wake them up this morning the first words out of David's mouth (even before peaking out from under the covers) was, "Who won the election?"  I told him, "Well, son, like I told you last night it looks like its going to be Obama."  He immediately responded... "What was the score?"

"Let us pray..." -Abraham Lincoln

As the civil war loomed and the nation was divided... what did President Lincoln do?  Pass a bailout package?  Blame his political opponents?  Ban the press from interviews?  Use the words "change" and "hope" a lot more?  No... he called the country to get down on its knees and PRAY. 

 

In fact he said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

 

This is Lincoln's Presidential Proclamation he signed into law in April of 1830.  If only we had leaders with the strength of his convictions today.

 

President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation:

 

A Day Of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer

in the 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 as well as of 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 bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and 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 whereof, 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-seventy.

 

By the President:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State

the issue isn't the issue

I'm just about tired of all the campaign commercials and political advertising.  Okay, I've been tired of it since about MARCH... but alas now we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.  With only two weeks left till the general election, the candidates are ratcheting up their rhetoric... but its ALMOST OVER! 

I keep hearing that the candidates should be talking about the issues.  THAT'S what the American people want to hear about.  I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'm kinda sick of hearing about the "issues" myself, because I'm pretty sure that the issues aren't the issue.  Everybody is talking about the problems that face the country... there's the economic crisis, the war in Iraq, the global war on terror, the need for better & more affordable healthcare for every American, overwhelming poverty, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc.  The list is endless, really.  But I wonder... what's the #1, fundamental problem facing EVERY American?  Sin, isn't it?  Aren't we (as a people) in the shape we're in because of SIN... not just sin in a personal sense, but SIN in an institutional sense.  The truth is, its not just individuals who have "sinned and fallen short" but our entire world is fallen as a result.  SIN has so wreaked havoc in our world that we speak not only of lost souls, but we can speak of a fallen world.  And isn't that why we have the problems that we have... from abortion to the war to the economic failure?

Isn't the fundamental, bottom-line ultimately a spiritual problem?  If so, can we really "fix it" with a political solution?  I don't think so.  So, what is the "fix"?  This Sunday I'm going to pose this question... as we just have two more weeks left till the election, it may be a good time to stop and think... "Just what DO we expect a new President to do?"  Can either one of them really address "the issue" with a viable solution?  Can we?

a prayer for our nation...

Okay, Lord... You Have Our Attention

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing

This scares us. This bailout with billions.
These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous-
“Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What Next?”

What is next?

We’re listening. And we’re admitting: You were right.

You told us this would happen.
You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, you warned.
Money will love you and leave you.
Don’t put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.

You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.

We were wrong to spend what we didn’t have,
Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor,
Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn’t. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are you taking it?

We’re listening. And we’re praying.
Could you make something good out of this mess?

Of course you can. You always have.
You led slaves out of slavery,
Built temples out of ruins,
Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.
This disorder awaits your order. So do we.

Through Christ,
Amen

God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day,
and he will not be slow to answer them. (Lk. 18:7 NCV)

The problem of dual citizenship

Politically Incorrect

I want to thank everyone for the positive response to last Sunday’s introduction to my latest sermon series, “Politically Incorrect.”  I have always wondered why we are so hesitant to talk about politics at church?  If our faith helps us in the major aspects of life (how to worship, how to serve God, how to love our family members) then shouldn’t it also inform our political thought as well?  Whether we realize it or not, our faith plays a huge role in our politics… in how we view the world and in what we consider to be important.  If the church doesn’t speak to the significant moral and ethical issues of our time, who will?  Are we prepared to leave it up the world to decide our nation’s “politics”?  Or do we have a responsibility to the world?  As we discussed last week, we DON'T have a responsibility to be “salt” and “light” to the world around us.  That’s “politics” isn’t it?

 

Another reason why we need to focus on this “intersection of faith & politics” is because of the upcoming election.  Elections are exciting!  They are full of twists and turns (at least this one has been).  They are also an opportunity for a renewed or fresh start every four years.  Regardless of where you are “politically” on this election cycle, we can ALL agree that we need to be in prayer over the election.  We can all agree that we as a nation want God to bless America and for God to guide our nation’s leaders.  Of course, our hope is ultimately not in either this country, its economy or its leaders… but in God and HIS kingdom.  That’s the thought behind next Sunday’s lesson, “The Problem of Dual Citizenship.”  While we, as Christians, are called to be salt and light to the world (cf. Matt. 5:13-16) we must also remember that we are first and foremost citizens of a much greater kingdom!  And OUR king is much greater than any candidate that we’ll consider on November 4^th!  This week read Mark 12:13-17 and ask yourself what Jesus was saying about our relationship to the 'kingdoms' of the world.

Some comments I've gotten...

I can't believe all of the comments I have recieved after announcing that I was going to tackle the subject of "Faith & Politics" for the next four Sundays!  I've never recieved as many comments (good, bad or indifferent) from ANY sermon I've ever preached... especially BEFORE it has even been delivered.  I wonder what people are afraid I will say?  I wonder what people expect me to say?  Below are just a sampling of e-mails I've gotten from my Facebook page as well as e-mail... the names are left off to protect the innocent & the guilty!  Remember, the question was "Can you talk about politics at church?"

"I remember someone who tried to talk about politics in synagogue...I don't think it went very well for him."

 

"I guess it depends if anyone from the IRS attends there."

 

"just remind everyone that we (BOTH sides) need to stop expecting the government to do what Christ designated as the church's responsibility." 

 

"The fact that I've typed and re-typed my reply about six times is a sure sign we shouldn't." 

 

"You do have freedom of speech, but depending on what you would say...  Your family could crash at our place if it ended badly.  Or...  you could just blame Brad!" 

 

"NOT from the pulpit! We have had problems with this at our church recently! I think it is a bad idea!" 

 

"and make everyone happy! sticky one!" 

 

"Can discuss current events and political issues of moral significance--but advocate for a candidate and it will threaten your tax exempt status.  And also half the congregation will disagree with you and get mad. :)"

 

"take a lesson from an old man... Its not a good idea..."

 

   Your lesson topic on "Faith & Politics" is interesting.  You are a brave soul!  Would love to be there to hear them.  I have been "forbidden" by a couple of my elders to even mention it.  I am really struggling with that, in a time when I feel I NEED to be vocal.

   Let's keep praying. 

 

"If you figure that out, let us all know!"

 

"Poor Jim - Everyone expects you to back a candidate!  Show them the true way!  Point to "that one" who died on the cross for us.  Following Christ is politics - it smashes the Republicans and Democrats by reminding them they they are part of a fallen world that offers no true hope to their followers."

 

"You can talk about politics as long as you don't talk about Republicans, Democrats, Politicians, Issues, Mistakes, or Solutions.  Everything else is fair game."

 

 

Can you talk about politics at church?

I can remember one of the first things said to me when I began preaching was, "Just stay out of politics... it'll only get you into trouble."  I laughed about it then, but considered it sound advice.  Yet here I am, some years later, facing one of the biggest "political" decisions I've ever faced... coming Nov. 4th and another Presidential election.  While this decision may not rank up there with the all time greatest decisions ever, it is still rather significant.  Who am I to vote for... if I vote at all?  I have conflicting opinions.  Neither of the candidates fully represent the platform I would wish that they would.  There are things about both of the candidates that I like... and certainly things about both of them that I don't like.  I find myself in a quandary.  I've even been tempted to follow the way of David Lipscomb and abstain from voting at all... but I'm not sure that's the best approach.

This has not only already been one of the longest campaigns in history, it has been one of the most interesting.  I can't think of an election in modern times where religion has played such a dominant role.  Beginning in the primary season when one of the major candidates was an ordained Baptist minister, through the controversies surrounding Barak Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, right up until today as Sarah Palin has faced questions about her roots in a Pentecostal church... the question of faith has been a recurring theme. 

So, I've decided that since this is such a major issue in our nation and community today... I can't ignore it from the pulpit.  Beginning this Sunday I am inviting the congregation to explore with me the intersection of faith and politics.  What is the relationship of our faith to our politics?  What should it be?  I have already recieved more comments than I have ever gotten about a sermon that I haven't even preached yet... so let me hear from you!  What do you think?