The Scourge Of Racism
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Released January 5, 2024
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On this Lord’s Day and occasion of solemn remembrance for the lives lost during the murderous events of 2001, I reflect and as the Lord’s servant, soberly continue calling for repentance and revival in the churches. While not all of those that died that day were professing Christians, the national religious response in the aftermath was decidedly Christian in sight and sound as services were held at the National Cathedral (the closest thing in the culture to an official church) and churches around the nation. In one of only a few times in American history to that point, the nation was blindsided by evil and Christianity as the culture’s primary religion was looked to for comfort.
For a few weeks attendance in the nation’s churches was up as has been typical historically in times of crisis. Comforted by sermons extolling the love, care and compassion of God along with the familiar music and traditional rituals of the respective church services, the largely professing, cultural American Christians quickly returned to their usual routines as many researchers noted at the time.1 Since then, the same researchers are reporting a continuing slide in religious participation by Americans. As I write, many especially conservative evangelical Christians decry this and are bemoaning the departure of America away from its religious roots as a “Christian nation.”
The descriptor of America as a “Christian nation” is strongly held by such persons because generically speaking, Christianity has been the dominant religion of the nation by pure number of professing adherents since its inception. Early explorers hailed from European nations where Christianity was the dominant religion and the colonists that followed declared themselves Christian in name if not fully in practice. Indeed, many from the various Protestant sects fled Europe to escape from murderous persecution by fellow Protestants, Catholic and State church authorities. They sought freedom to practice their beliefs and convictions of conscience without consequence.
Though there had been no idyllic precedent in Europe after many noble tries over the centuries, some idealists did hope to set up a Christian land in the New World. As I wrote in my September 4, 2016 post, Christianity The Religion American Style in this same category, the United States of America arose from the large moral and ethical influence of the real and counterfeit forms of Christianity among a number of heady political and social ideas of the time. In spite of badly missing the biblical mark by for example, racially redefining “neighbor” as “whites only” in sinfully showing partiality (Luke 10:25-37; James 2:1-13), the influence of Christianity as its dominant religion helped shape America’s culture through the mid-twentieth century.
America’s entrepreneurial, “can do” spirit and valuing of hard work to build something up out of nothing can be directly traced back to those early colonists and the Protestant work ethic. The concern for rights and justice embodied in the founding documents clearly acknowledge and declare they flow from a Creator; the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible. From that Bible too, proper social behavior, the concept of fair play and concern for the poor, widow and orphan had been drawn. Religious zeal wrapped in cultural arrogance by some among professing Christians, led to America being of the greatest missionary sending and supporting nations in Christian history.
Truly, America became great reaching its pinnacle with the victory of World War II because of its initial tip of the hat to God, noble, though selective attempt to live out the Bible’s moral and ethical precepts and doing of commendable works in human strength. However, even with a continuing respectful tip of the hat to God, full adherence to the Bible’s morality and ethics (if this were possible) and doing works, the nation was surely going to come to where it is now spiritually which is far from anything like “Christian.” For every faithful Christian knows just acknowledging God, morality, ethics and works are not what biblical and real Christianity is all about first, but salvation from sin leading to reconciliation with God, spiritual regeneration and eternal life (Romans 5:6-11; Titus 3:3-8)!
For God as sovereign Judge has declared His verdict of condemnation on all mankind that we are sinners unable to perfectly keep and be justified by His law which embodies His holy will and just demands of us (Romans 3:9-20). But He in love and by grace has provided righteousness for us through repentance and faith alone in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ because even at our human best, we miss God’s standard of perfection (Romans 3:21-31). If every citizen to a man genuinely came to Christ for salvation, reconciliation with God, spiritual regeneration and eternal life then and only then might America lay claim to being a “Christian nation.” The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Google “post 9 11 church attendance” and among others, read the Fox News article citing Barna Research findings.
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