In the previous Blog post, 'The Christian and Government, Part One,' which is still available on this site, we saw that God is absolutely sovereign over all nations. He raises kings and rulers (and presidents) up, and He casts them down.
We saw that God will fulfill His purposes for this nation.
And, we saw that God expects us, as His children, to pray for those who govern us.
In this post, we must continue to make much of prayer.
Consider the spiritual condition of our nation. We are a land of many 'gods,' and, 'no God.' Our culture cannot define what a man or a woman is, what marriage is, and celebrates abortion as a secular sacrament. Our culture has said to itself: 'let us make all things in our image,' completely subverting and defying God's design for almost everything.
And then we see a great falling away from the historic faith among many professing 'churches.' We see popular preachers and well-known churches abandon historic Christianity and embrace cultural views and ideas that are absolutely in opposition to the Living God. I believe that this falling away is the greatest tragedy in our nation. 'If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?'
There are still faithful preachers and churches who are proclaiming and living out the historic faith that was once and for all passed on to the saints, but such pastors and churches are in the minority now.
The church in America is losing her prophetic voice.
These are spiritually perilous times for America. Make no mistake, our greatest problem is not the economy (though inflation hurts us all), nor is it secure borders (though the rule of law and safety are legitimate concerns). Our greatest problem is that we have turned our back on our Creator, rejected the Savior, and are living life however we see fit, with 'each man doing what is right in his eyes.' Sadly, this includes many in 'ministry' and many 'churches.'
I'm not an alarmist, but these are very dark days for this nation. This is not to say that America will implode (though that could happen), or that there is no hope (because there is). It is to say: serious times demand that we, as Christians, with our Biblical worldview, pray fervently for the spiritual condition of this nation.
No man or woman, no politician or political party can turn the spiritual tide that has so horribly impacted our culture and so many lives. Only the Lord can. We, as Christians, must not forget that.
In the next post, we will look at the stewardship of opportunity and responsibility that God has given us here in America, where we actually get to vote for and choose who wil govern us. This is something that would be absolutely foreign to most humans through most of human history. We will also look at a Biblical approach to voting.
But we cannot skip this part: we must pray, and we must devote ourselves to prayer and we must pray fervently. This is a time for prayer and fasting. This is the time to seek the Lord. This is the time to ask the Lord to once more renew His works in our days. This is the time to pray for repentance and authentic revival and reformation in the American church. This is the time to pray and ask the Lord to once more pour out His Spirit on this land and send another Great Awakening.
It has been 'this time,' for quite some time now, sadly. This slow turn from Christ that began some twenty-five years ago has turned into a full blown rebellion against our Creator. Pastors and theologians who sounded the alarm, who saw the gathering storm coming, were deemed 'alarmists,' when they implored God's people to humble themselves and seek His Face. I remember, approximately 23 years ago, being kindly told by a church member that 'We are still a Christian nation and I don't see a lot of the things you (and others) are talking about happening here. Not in America.'
I'm not saying 'I told you so,' but I am saying this: the time for us to have humbled ourselves was long ago. Now, the matter of humbling ourselves before God is both important and urgent. He is our only Hope.
I ask each of us to consider our prayer life. I am thankful that our church prays and is a praying church, but I would also humbly suggest that we don't pray nearly enough. Our church prays more than any church I've been in. We've seen the power of prayer. That said, we (as any church, and, as any person) can always pray more. We can fast. We can seek the Lord and cry out for mercy, in many different contexts, from our personal time with the Lord to praying with others at various times throughout the week to praying with the church body on Wednesdays and whenever we gather for worship and Bible study. Let us challenge one another to do just that.
If we do, God may choose once more to pour out grace and mercy on His church and on this nation. He may also choose to not show mercy to this nation. This much I know: If His people, who are called by His Name, will humble themselves, turn from sin and to Him and seek His Face, He will do a new work in us that enables us to not only stand in dark times, but to be mighty instruments of Hope and Truth and Life and Light to a culture lost in the darkness.
Jesus Christ is our nation's only True Hope. Let's pray (and share) accordingly.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor