American Christians have to decide which is more important ... our commission with Jesus or our national pride; serving His Kingdom or playing politics. Politics and politicians are all about telling us how they are going to make America a better place for us to live in, prosper, and raise our families. But what do they really offer us? In most of the political cycles of my lifetime, it's been a bunch of rhetoric and catchy phrases that offer us a picture of what could be, but they never deliver. And they tell us how bad it's been under the leadership of the other party, and how we need to eradicate the mistakes and tragedies of our history to make way for a new definition of what America stands for.
Lately, I've been hearing some new gaslighting terminology which says we need to [here it is again] "look at what can be", [but there's a caveat this time] "unburdened by what has been". I'm assuming the secret message in that confusing jargon is that in order to consider a drastic change in our current system of ideas and ideals which form the basis of our economic, cultural and political identity, we should separate ourselves from our past [including our beliefs, principles, convictions, opinions, ethics, and morals]. The idea is that if only we could forget who we've been for the last 248 years and adopt a new paradigm that fundamentally transforms everything we've ever been, we would become a better nation. Let's stop being who we've been [and are]; leave that burden behind to imagine a new idea of who we can be.
I find no problem in looking at what can be. We should always be working towards making things better for all our citizens. But how do we learn to do that if we aren't willing to look at what has been? Spanish philosopher George Santayana penned the famous quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". We've done a pretty good job in the last generation of wiping out some of the pillars of our American foundation. Our public school system has removed Civics from its class curriculum, which has resulted in a large percentage of kids who graduate high school and don't know the three branches of our government, what the Emancipation Proclamation accomplished, one right or freedom from the First Amendment to the Constitution, or the first three words of that noble document [which by the way, is We the People].
Yes, we've not been a perfect country -- and most certainly are not now -- but if we manage to wipe out our history [including the good with the bad], what's to keep us from repeating the bad, which got us here in the first place? Our history shows us what led to such a divided nation that we fought a Civil War; brother against brother; father against son. Do we really want to descend into that national hell again? There are lots of lessons to learn from that horrendous time in our history, including wisdom from men on both sides of that conflict. We can also learn from their struggles how they rebuilt a united nation; we can learn from both their failures and their victories. But if we only look at "what can be" and ignore [or erase] "what has been", how do we guarantee that some future generation won't be tempted to repeat the same mistakes?
REMEMBER: Jesus said "As it was in the days of Noah". He wanted us to learn from the past; to see the errors mankind was led to make [all to their shame and destruction]. He also said, "Those who look back from the plow aren't fit for the Kingdom". But that presupposes you are plowing up fertile ground, and planting good seed -- not seeking to destroy the foundations of what was constructed for your individual well-being. Each of us has a unique and separate purpose that we are to fulfill in this short time we are on the earth. Jesus died to deliver us from Evil and the temptation to sin; to give us the freedom to pursue that purpose in holiness and righteousness. And one of the founding pillars of this nation is that our Government was instituted to give men the right to secure the freedom to pursue their individual blessings of Life, Liberty and Happiness.
Personally, I don't want to be "unburdened" from our centuries of history that shows me "what can be" when we are governed by a system that derives it's just powers from the consent of the governed. But the essential word in that last sentence is "just"; the kind of powers that are honorable, upright, decent, honest, righteous, ethical, moral, virtuous, principled, full of integrity, trustworthy, and incorruptible. Anything less is undesirable for a safe, secure, free, and independent people. And perhaps it is this ideology that we should really be re-considering [and deliberately thinking about] in terms of "what can be".
And the ultimate goal of my rumination on this subject is to reiterate that while America is not my god, I know that my God wants to bless this land with the fullness of the Freedom that my Lord died to give us all. A government made by men cannot do that, but Heaven's righteous government, which Jesus came to bring us, most certainly can. His Freedom unburdens us from the chains of oppression that can have us in bondage to Satan. Let us pray that whatever form of government our politics gives us in November, it will be one that delivers us from Evil into the Kingdom, Power, and Glory of Jesus Christ!
Psalms 22:28 Because the right to rule belongs to the LORD, He rules all the nations. (CEB)
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