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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
NOTE - THIS WILL BE MY FINAL ARTICLE UNTIL JANUARY 4,2010. HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Is America a Christian nation? That question is being batted about in many quarters and by many people today. Usually arguments regarding the subject matter center around the intentions of our national forefathers and the documents which they originated and/or signed. However, I think the question is far more complex than that; today’s message will look at the question from a different perspective.
At the outset, let me attempt to satisfy the verbal purists that might be reading this message. It is understood that the only way a person becomes a Christian is through baptism into Jesus Christ just as it is set out in Galatians 3.27. Further, let it be stated that a nation can no more become “Christian” in the literal sense than could a school or a hospital. However, it is possible for a school’s or a hospital’s name to be modified by the word Christian under certain circumstances. Of course, calling a school, a hospital, a nation, or for that matter, a person Christian doesn't guarantee that such is accurate or deserved.
Now to the law and to the testimony: “He [God] pours contempt on princes, And disarms the mighty. He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light. He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them. He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.” (Job 12.21-25). Note that God is credited with a variety of actions in the realm of the nations. He makes them great, He destroys them, He enlarges them, and He guides them. I would certainly think that a nation under God’s guidance could be called a God-guided nation, or a nation that God expanded could be called a God-expanded nation.
From biblical history, I am aware of only one literal nation that God personally shaped. This was the nation to whom He gave both a civil and a spiritual Law; it was the Theocracy of Israel. That is not to say that He did not participate in the affairs of other nations; certainly He did. However, His means of enlarging them, or guiding them, or destroying them, was through differing methods than those employed with Israel. One of the ways He participated in their affairs was through the work of His prophets. As a nation heard a prophet’s words, God’s hand shaped that nation. For those who heard, they were enlarged and guided. For those nations who refused to hear, their fate was determined to best suit His causes; sometimes it meant defeat while at other times He used such rogue nations to discipline others.
No one can deny that the origin and preservation of Israel must be attributed to God. However, this does not mean that Israel was always a God-guided nation. The fact that they were a God-originated nation did not mean that they were, at any point in time, a godly nation. This distinction depended entirely upon their actions and not on their history! Paul said as much when he wrote, “But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel.” (Romans 9.6). This being the case, whether or not America can be called a Christian nation has little to do with our history; it has more to do with our present!
I do not personally think there is much profit one way or the other from proving what we were at some point in the past. Rather, it seems to me that the most profit would come by stepping up to the plate in the present and by shaping our hearts and lives in such a way as they are consistent with God's word. Perhaps then it could be said that America is a Christian nation. Christian is much more than a name; it is a description of character and values.
Questions:
1. What did Paul mean when he wrote, “They are not all Israel who are of Israel?”
2. How does his statement relate to the question of whether or not America is a Christian nation?
3. Not that we, as a nation, could ever literally be Christian, but how can we be God-guided?
4. What are some of the values that would be involved in any entity using the word Christian to describe its nature or character?
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