America Under Judgment

America has a unique relationship with God. Beginning with Christopher Columbus, the pilgrims, the Founding Fathers, Christian homes, schools and other institutions, no other nation in history has been so blessed of God.

We have received blessing upon blessing from the hand of God. Our 250 million people represent only 6 percent of the world’s population, but we boast 54 percent of the world's wealth. We have opened our hearts to the poor and helped feed the hungry of the world. In times of emergency, we have given generously even to our enemies.

A Nation Without Soul
But over the years, America has gone astray. We live in a nation that has lost its soul. Our abundance has led to greed. Our freedom has become license to turn away from God and pursue the role of the prodigal. Our national religious heritage is being forgotten or ridiculed as irrelevant or old fashioned.

America has become one of the most sinful nations in the world. We have done more to destroy the morality of other countries than any nation in history. We have become the single greatest market on the globe for illegal drugs, and we lead the world in exporting pornographic magazines and films.

Let us take a close look at a few of the compelling evidences of America’s lostness.

First, the secularization of public life. Our people find themselves “free” to remove God, the Bible, and prayer from the classroom and the workplace; to demand the removal of holiday religious symbols from public places; and to persecute Christians who insist on honoring God where they work and play.

Second, our so-called “social problems." Crime and violence among our youth, race riots, rape, divorce, sexual promiscuity, teen pregnancy, abortion, AIDS, and drug and alcohol addiction have become epidemics.

Third, disintegration of the traditional family. Unhappy, broken homes
are a prominent part of American life. The cover story of Time magazine recently reported that fathers in record numbers are either abandoning or neglecting their children.

Fourth, a spirit of selfishness, which seems to have gripped much of our nation. The biblical imperatives to “love your neighbor as your self” and
“do to others what you would have them do to you”1 have largely fallen prey to a “me-first” and “do to others before they do it to you” mentality.

Fifth, decisions of the Supreme Court. Rulings by justices during the 1940s and 1960s brought government into direct contact with religious life in the United States. In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the Court sharply defined “the separation of church and state.” In effect, the majority of justices-in contradiction to the beliefs of our Founding Fathers-misinterpreted the Constitution.

Sixth, the homosexual “explosion.” According to pollster George Barna of the Barna Research Group, homosexuals are a small group by percentage in our country. “Most evidence,” he says, “indicates that somewhere between 1 and 3 percent of the adult population engages in homosexual contact with some level of frequency, and that less than 1 percent might be deemed exclusively homosexual.”2 But despite their relatively few numbers, they seem to have exploded onto the American scene.

Our Nation’s Survival
It is sobering to realize that we are no longer “one nation under God.” And, unless America turns back to Him as a people, there is no way our country can survive.

Rome was the mightiest empire to rise in the history of the world. But it decayed morally until civil disobedience broke out on a massive scale. Rome became so weak that she fell prey to uprisings within and to the barbarian hoards without.

These are warnings that God will not tolerate sin. Throughout Scripture, God has made His message clear: “If you obey Me, I will bless you. If you disobey me, I will discipline you. And if you continue to disobey Me, I will destroy you.”

Where Do We Turn?
We face crisis after crisis and, from the human perspective, there is no hope. So the question naturally arises, where do we turn for help?

How about the Supreme Court?
The justices used to be the most revered, honored persons in our country. But the decisions of some of the justices have led the nation away from the traditional biblical values of our Founding Fathers and brought the curses of God upon our land.

How about education?
We know Germany and Japan were the most literate nations in the world. But they were the ones largely responsible for World War II. The depraved conduct of the Germans and Japanese in time of war was indescribable. In America, influential educators have taken God out of our textbooks. They teach evolution and deny the biblical view of creation. Moral relativism is destroying our young people.

How about government?
It has become increasingly corrupt, and our nation is well aware of it. Congress steadfastly refuses to take appropriate action. Legislators fall prey to pork barrel projects for the folks back home, and to well-healed lobbyists bent on promoting programs for their clients. Voters no longer trust their representatives.

How about business and professional people?
Today, you can hardly trust anyone, even in the Christian community. Moral standards are at an all-time low. A handshake, a promise, a pledge,
a contract-these mean very little anymore.

How about the media? The press, now called the media because of radio and television, has relinquished its once lofty ideals. Sensationalism has replaced solid, responsible reporting.

How about the Church?
It is part of the problem. The masses are crying for help, but they are not turning to God’s people.

So here we are, living in the most critical moment in the history of America, a period I view as being far more crucial than any time since the War of Independence from Great Britain. It is far more perilous than the dangerous days of the Civil War. And I think, from the human perspective, there is no way that our nation can survive. There is no place to turn now-except to God.

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1. Luke 27:10; Matthew 7:12.
2. George Barna, The Future of the American Family (Chicago: Moody Press, 1993), p.153.

[Excerpt from Chapter 3, The Coming Revival by Bill Bright]

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