The Spiritual State of Our Nation

Frankly, the spiritual state of our nation is horrible! Over the last week or so, I have talked with several parents who are struggling with choices their children have made. These choices include getting involved with groups of people who influence them to drink, take drugs and participate in sexual relationships outside of marriage. If you are a parent, you know the agony this struggle brings as you try to influence your kids the right way. And this is only one example of the struggle we face. Why in the world is it so hard these days?

I have a son that I have helped raise as he went through high school and college. I know the struggles parents face. I also know that what kids have to deal with these days is qualitatively different than when I was in school. It is not that peer pressure and opportunities to make bad choices didn’t exist in my school days. I grew up in the 1960s and 70s when the modern drug culture and“free love” mindset was being birthed. But what was only a baby then is now a full-fledged adult. Kids these days are having to grow up in a society that truly believes drinking alcohol, taking drugs, and participating in sex outside of marriage really is a normal thing for them to participate in. It is presented as normal in the media, in the political arena, in the entertainment industry and even in our schools. It is so pervasive that it is now the ones who don’t want to participate in these activities who are considered the outsiders.

And what is true for teenagers is just as true in the adult world. Modern American society readily accepts many things which used to be considered deviant and literally persecutes those who don’t fall into line. All we have to do is look around and see the many ways Christians are being persecuted in our country.

Why Is it Happening?
What happened to cause this? Simply put, it has been a worldview shift. It used to be that American society was primarily dominated by a worldview based on Christian Theism (sometimes referenced as the Judeo-Christian ethic). The worldview foundation that now dominates society is Naturalism.

This change didn’t happen overnight. It really started back in the late 1800s when Darwin’s work gave a so called “logical” framework as to how a Naturalistic approach could be scientifically justified. Even though there is no real science which can demonstrate that a Naturalistic approach is true, the appearance of a justification was enough to provide the impetus for the movement.

As more and more people bought into this belief, these believers in Naturalism entered realms of influence in the media, politics, education and pop culture. As always happens, there came a time when it reached a tipping point and spilled over into general society. That is what was happening in the 1960s and 70s. From there, it has only become stronger.

There are, of course, many people who are very disturbed at what is happening. There is a huge fight in the political arena right now as we as we engage the presidential campaign. Much of the fight centers on issues related to the very nature of morality. We also see persecution of Christians and the lashing out against Christian positions in government and even in private industry with many believers pushing back on that front. We see the Occupy Wall Street movement and its anti-capitalist rantings and the resistance to that. We could go on and on with other issues regarding the sexualization of the culture, abortion, homosexual marriage, human trafficking, and so on. The fight is on in every arena of our culture.

What Can We Do?
So, as Christians, what can we do about it? Individually, we are only one voice and the movement against us seems so overwhelming. But, all is not lost.

The first thing we must always keep in mind is that God, himself, has an agenda and it will ultimately win out. There have been many times in the history of the world when evil has seemed to triumph, but in the end God will have his way. This knowledge ought to give us encouragement and strength for our fight.

Secondly, we must remember that we are not alone in our disagreement with current trends. There are literally millions of people who are as frustrated as we are. Knowing that there are many others who believe as we do ought to provide another level of strength and encouragement.

Thirdly, we must commit to do our part. It is not enough to just believe the right thing, we must also live it out in life. And what is our part? It is simply to be faithful to what God wants out of us. This will be different for every person.

God has not called every person to become a politician who can go in and change the political direction, but he has called some who must be faithful to that call. What every believer can do is vote for the people who are faithful to God.

God has not called every person to enter the entertainment industry or to participate in the media. But every believer can vote with their feet by only giving their money to entertainers and supporting sponsors who share our values.

God has not called every person to become a teacher or administrator in the educational arena. But those who are called can strand strong in it and, again, we can vote with our feet as to which schools we will support.

The situation did not become what it is overnight. And it will not change to what it ought to be overnight, regardless of what we do. We have allowed things to go too far for an easy change to occur. It will require all Christians to be faithful in all areas of life over a long period of time.

Specifically, there are three things we must do. First, we must rachet up our faithfulness to God based on our relationship with him. We can never have the strength and confidence to fight evil in the world without this. Secondly, we must learn not only the “what” of our faith, but also the “why.” We have to master an understanding of worldview and Christian apologetics. Finally, we must actually step up to the plate and engage the world. Nothing changes until people’s hearts change and that will not happen unless we are willing to actually share a witness.

The spiritual state of our nation is horrible. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. As believers act faithfully to fulfill God’s purpose in daily life, we can influence change. God is already at work in people’s lives to create that change. Our place is to partner with him to make it happen.