A Moment With Pastor Fred

Only if America would turn back to God, then will he bless us. My question is – “Back to when? To our founding fathers? I don’t think so. Men like Washington, Jefferson and Franklin were deists. They believed in a supreme being but were not evangelical. Our nation was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic, but not the gospel. At the time of the Revolutionary War the average church attendance was lower than it is today. We’ve always been a secular nation –    always will be.

But what about 2 Chron 7:14? John Piper responds, “’My people’ is Israel and ‘their land’ is Israel … The church has no land. There is no promise here for a nation being spiritually healed if the church in that nation repents.” Our kingdom isn’t of this world. Our home is heaven. We’re aliens and citizens of another kingdom. Yes, we’re citizens also of America. Let’s use our rights to promote morality and decency. But political maneuvering and getting the right people elected isn’t the answer. When we claim 2 Chron 7:14 as a promise to the USA, we’re doing exactly what the prosperity gospel preachers do – distorting the intent of Scripture.

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m patriotic. I fly the flag on national holidays. Kevin DeYoung writes when we make our patriotism synonymous though with our faith we’ve committed patriotic idolatry. Our first allegiance is to Christ. I remind you, when he comes, there will be no democracy for he will be King. 1 Tim 2 calls us to pray for our national leaders. This isn’t a selfish request – to live a comfortable middle-class life free from stress. No, the motivation behind the request is that within an ordered society the gospel is free to spread easily. So instead of criticizing government I am driven to pray for it.