Today is July 4th, a national celebration. It is the celebration of our nation’s founding. It is our nation’s birthday. On July 4th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring the thirteen States independent from Great Britain. We celebrate this holiday not only because it was the founding of America but also because it was a monumental event in human history. Human freedom took a giant step forward with the Declaration of Independence and, later, the Constitution. People have enslaved other people and done violence to them throughout history. Individual human freedom was a radical idea. Human freedom, though, comes from God since all people are created in his image.
Because of this, I believe we can safely say that God had his hand in our nation’s founding by blessing those events with his favor. God has his hand in all events, in some way, but in some events, he has his hand in them for special blessings to fulfill his purposes in the world. I believe that God’s hand was in the founding of the USA for a special blessing. Therefore, Americans can and should be patriots. Christian Americans can and should be patriots. We are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of God, but we are also citizens of the USA by God’s grace. We acknowledge that America is a great nation, though not a perfect nation. We love her, thank God for her, and pray for her.
But America is not the same nation it was set up to be in its founding documents. Things invariably change, some for good and some for bad, but in the past 50 to 60 years, things have changed for the worse. We’re moving away from God at an ever-increasing speed. Things that are evil we now call good, and things that are good we now call evil. We have tried to change the direction of the nation through political means, but I believe we are past a political solution, though we should not abandon political action to the secularists. Christians should be informed, vote, write their representatives, and participate in the governance of our nation. That being said, our focus must be on the spiritual solution. This is important not only for America but also for the kingdom of God. As believers are called to be on mission with God. But what is the spiritual solution?
Simply stated, the spiritual solution is: The Church must be the Church. The church must be the church Jesus called us to be. What does that mean? The Church of Jesus Christ must have a Gospel focus, a missional calling, and a prophetic voice. The Church of Jesus Christ must have a gospel focus in that we must preach the gospel. Jesus called us to go make disciples who make disciples. As people come to faith in Jesus Christ, their lives are changed, and through them, others come to Christ, and their lives are changed, so the nation is changed. The church has a missional calling. We are called to be on mission with God. God is working in the world to bring his kingdom to consummation. We are part of that work. And the church has a prophetic voice. The people of God must speak to the culture and to the government about what is evil and what must change.
We are at a crossroads. We are at a pivotal and decisive moment in history. We are in a fierce spiritual battle, and we each have a critical part to play. Now is the time to act. Now is the time to follow Jesus and be the church he called us to be.