American Greatness?
“We used to fear God; now we fear our fellow man.”
What has happened to America? People from around the world have long seen the United States as a beacon on the hill – a land of freedom, opportunity, prosperity and safety. But that perception has been teetering on the scale of our national consciousness. Many believe it has finally tipped.
The news sources are abuzz with commentary and conversations about what we must do to get back to mutually civil discourse and to a safer environment where human life is valued and protected. Many sincerely believe that we simply have to get back to respectfully talking things out. The words are well-intentioned, but are they actually possible at this point?
In the right conditions, resolution can be achieved. Two people cannot disagree on the outcome of a mathematical problem if they both refer back to mathematical law and principle. Similarly, two people cannot hate each other if they both love God and look to His instruction for resolution. If both parties yield to the standards of God, vigorous discussion will lead to an outcome based in truth, not humanly devised compromise.
If the fear and respect of God is absent there will be an undesired outcome. The prophet Amos wrote, “Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities’. Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?’” (Amos 3:1–3). Israel had had a special relationship with God and had enjoyed great blessings up until they would no longer walk with Him. They lost their proper fear of God and therefore could no longer come to righteous conclusions. Punishment is the outcome of setting our own standards of rightness.
So, is national punishment our only option now? “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword’; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:18–20). It is God who opens the discussion and makes it clear that we have lost our proper fear of Him. Our sins proclaim that for us. Take note that He does not offer compromise, but mercy, if we repent and become obedient to His unchanging righteous standard. Without genuine repentance, national destruction is the only alternative.
The great blessings we in the United States have enjoyed as a nation have never been based on the innate goodness of our people. They have been based on a proper fear of the great God who blesses for obedience. Those blessings can and will return to a repentant people who humbly learn the fear of God at Christ’s soon return to this earth in power and great glory.
Marshall Stiver
