One Nation Under God

By Greg Quinn

November 4th, 2010

On Tuesday of this week, America sent a message to the leaders of our nation.  “We are tired of the liberal policies, we are sick of Washington DC cramming unwanted agendas down our throats, we want no more socialist political programs, we desire no more bailouts, we want our country to be economically strong again, we need a change.”  Americans seemed unified toward a different approach.  We are calling for change, but not the kind of change delivered 2 years ago by President Obama.  Americans, through the pain of the poor economy and dictatorship mentality of our President, are calling for the voice of the people to be heard by our hired representatives.  Smaller government.  A more conservative approach.  A more unified approach.  One nation, one people, unified together to have a better life as Americans.

While all this is very good, and we should be unified as Americans to demand that our leaders listen to our voices in order to see America rise to its previous greatness once again, we should also understand that it is not the unity around our new Republican Congress that truly matters most.  It is not the most important thing that the President listens to the voice of the people.  It is not the most important thing that Americans are unified under conservative goals.  The most important thing is that we Americans are unified under one all-powerful God.  It is much more important than “one nation under Republicans” or “one nation under conservatives” to be considered “one nation under God”. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 (King James Version)

 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

One nation under God.  It is in our Pledge of Allegiance (which is hardly heard anymore).  It is referenced on our money (“in God we trust”).  But it is no longer in the hearts of America.  It is not shown through our actions to one another.  It is not shown through the actions of our government.  It is not shown in the way we live our lives.  It is not shown in the manner in which our children are educated.  We, as Americans, have turned our backs on God.

America was founded by devoted, Godly men who, wanting to live as demanded in the Holy Bible, founded a new nation based upon freedoms of liberty, religion, and the pursuit of happiness.  Some 200 years later, how would our Founding Fathers feel now to look at what America has become?

We see the Constitution, the most important government document in history, being trampled upon by our hired representatives, and especially the leader we put in the White House.  We see a move to have all representations of God removed from our government and our lives.  We cannot hang the Ten Commandments, the rules that forged the founding of our nation, in our public buildings anymore.  Prayer in schools are outlawed, and we are so deft that we cannot grasp the correlation of lack of education on Godly principles with juvenile crime, teen pregnancy, increased prison populations, drug use, gang violence, socialist government policies, lewd behaviors, and the development of a God-less society.  Our elected officials are more concerned with personal gain than government service.  The value of individuals is based more on personal wealth than personal integrity.  Church attendance declines every year, and violence and anti-God behavior increases every year.  Churches decline as prisons fill up.  The one true God, the God of the Bible, is mocked while small man-made deities are elevated.  Americans spend more time in the bathroom than in prayer.  In fact, studies show that even church-goers spend less than 2 minutes per day in prayer.  America has become what it is today because Americans turned their backs on God yesterday.

A new government is not the answer.  While I agree that we are on the right track politically after Tuesday’s victory, we have a long way to go for restoration.  And, I know that we cannot get there alone.  The Republicans taking over the House and winning seats in the Senate will help, but that alone is a very long way from success.  A new government, or any government, is not the answer. 

America going back to God is the answer.  Again, America has become what it is today because Americans turned their backs on God yesterday.  We didn’t get into the social problems overnight.  We didn’t get into our political problems overnight.  We have the government in Washington now because 2 years ago Americans believed a lie and were too ignorant to see otherwise.  But the problem is more than two years old.  When I was a child in the 50s, the central focus of the community was the church.  When I was a child, we learned right from wrong.  When I was a child, bad behavior was punished and good behavior was rewarded.  We said the Pledge of Allegiance in school.  We prayed in school and before every meal.  We had secular school during the week, and Sunday School on Sunday, and in both we learned of God’s role in the world.  When I was a child, it was ingrained within me that success was important, that anything worth having was worth working for, and that you didn’t cheat your neighbor to get what you wanted.  Stealing was one of the worst things that one could do.  We were taught that life was so valuable that there is no way that a baby could be aborted or murder could be condoned.  Families stayed together; we rarely heard of divorce.  When a couple married, “till death do us part” meant something.  When I was a child, at least one or both parents worked outside the home, and the value of hard work and accomplishment was instilled in the children.  We learned the Books of the Bible and scripture verses that guided the morality of our decisions.  As we dated, even though our hormones raged as much as within teens today, we respected the other, we valued virginity, and sex was mostly reserved for the marriage bed.  We learned humility by recognizing when we had done wrong through paying the price for wrongdoing.  We learned that God created the heaven and the earth, and that an all-knowing God was the answer to our prayers and desires on earth.  We were taught to pray and encouraged to go to God about everything in our lives.  Our teachers were people we respected.  Our government leaders were people we respected, and they earned this respect.  There seemed to be more preachers than attorneys.  The “in God we trust” on our money reflected our feelings that our money and all possessions were a gift from God.  Children were valued by their parents, and parents recognized the responsibilities of teaching the next generation the same Godly principles that guided their lives.  Children honored and obeyed their parents.  Most homes were strict in terms of what kids did or didn’t get away with (ours certainly was), and we learned very quickly the ramifications for wrong decisions.  I could go on, but many reading this that grew up in the 50s and 60s as a child and 70s as a teen can recognize what I am saying.  Certainly those that were before me understand even more, as America began its anti-God slide in the 60s.  How different is America today.

The things I learned and valued as a child are not taught anymore.  I sometimes feel archaic that what was deemed important in my childhood is not even on the radar anymore.  We as a nation have turned our backs on God.  We have gotten so independent that we feel we don’t need God anymore.  Americans are paying for our raising, or lack thereof.  Because our children weren’t taught to pray, they don’t pray and God is nowhere in their lives.  Because our children weren’t taught to work, they won’t work and prefer that the government takes care of their needs.  Because our children were not taught the value of church attendance, churches are empty.  Because we grew intolerant of people telling us what to do, pulpits within churches grew stagnant and the rebuke of sins were no longer heard.  Because we allowed prayer to be taken from our schools, the quiet voices of children’s prayers are replaced with gunfire and violence.  Because integrity hasn’t been taught, prisons are overflowing.  Because respect wasn’t emphasized, teen pregnancies abound and violence is all around us.  As the Ten Commandments were not learned, the basic tenants of a moral society were not learned or employed.  Our selfish desires replaced good morals, and our political system followed our selfish demands.  Because we became too good for humility, arrogance ensued.  Because we became weak as a people, we became weak as a nation.  And, because we turned our backs on God, God has turned his back upon us. 

So how does an ungodly society like America today become great again?  Not with a new political party.  Not with new political decisions alone.  America ceased to become great when America ceased to become Godly.  America will become great again when Americans turn their eyes and hearts back to God.

The scripture verse in Chronicles of the Holy Bible gives a very simple answer to today’s problem for America. 

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

“If my people, which are called by my name, …”.  This is referring to Christians.  Those within America that believe in the one true God, the God of the Bible.  Those within America that believe in his Son, Jesus Christ.  Those within America that have accepted the gift that was provided us through Jesus’ sacrifice, and that is the gift of eternal life.  These are the people that are called to action.  Not Washington DC.  Not the new Republicans in office.  Those called to act now for the restoration of America are not our elected officials, but those we see in the mirror.  It is up to us, the Christians in America, to change America.

So, if we Christians are to “humble themselves, and pray, and seek (God’s) face, and turn from their wicked ways,….”, then and only then God will answer.  So, it is not up to the politicians in Washington DC, but the Christians in your home.  And, what must be done is not the implementation of new policies, but the implementation of new lives by these Christians.  We are to become humble and recognize our faults.  We are to pray for forgiveness from a Holy God.  We are to recognize that we do not have the answer or the plan, and that only God has the plan for our lives and our homes and our churches and our nation.  We are to pray; not for just 2 minutes a day, but as Paul said, “pray without ceasing”.  We will see change in America when American Christians pray to God.  We need to “seek my face”, the face and intent of God.  Before we can seek the face of God, we need to know who He is and what He demands of us.  Before we can know that, we need to read what God said to us in his Word, the Holy Bible.  Study the Bible to see how God can help America by how He helped Israel and other peoples before.  And, we need to “turn from their wicked ways”.  To become different, we need to act differently.  We need to act like people that put their faith in God.  We need to act differently than the rest of America.  “Tolerance” is not the call to action by God.  “Godliness” is the call to action by God.  We need to bring back some of the morality of the 40s and 50s into American lives today in the 2010s.  We no longer need to act wicked, but act like Christians.  “Christ-like”.  “What would Jesus do?” does need to be a question on our minds daily.  If we act differently, God will reward us differently.  If we act differently, perhaps others will take notice.  And, if enough of us act differently, perhaps we can see a resurgence of conservative values again in America.  But don’t expect it to come from the courts of Congress.  Expect it to come from the hearts of Americans, and the homes of American people.

We relish in the victory of conservative values through new leadership in Washington on Tuesday evening.  But now the work starts.  They cannot do it alone.  God provides us the formula for success if we will but follow it.

Now, the latter part of this scripture gives the promise from God.  If we do the things as he commands in the early part of that passage, He will do what he promises in the latter part of that passage.  It’s a deal, a contract of sorts.  If we do our part, God will do His part.

2 Chronicles 7:14:  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

If we Christians become humble, pray, seek the face (desire and will) of God, and turn from our wicked ways, then and only then will God come through with His part of the bargain.  If we do our part, He will do His.  What does God promise to do?  God will, after we do as commanded, (1) hear us, (2) forgive us, and (3) heal our land.

America needs healing.  It will not come from the halls of Washington DC, but from the throne of God.  If we become humble, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways, then God will hear our prayers, He will forgive us of our wrongdoing, and in His mercy and compassion, God will heal America.

November 2, 2010 was the beginning.  We showed that we can feel strongly about something important so much that we can take action.  Let’s not stop now.  Let’s focus on the real problem, and therefore the real solution.  Beginning today, let’s focus on God, become humble, and turn from sin.  Then, God promises to heal America.

A new America is not up to a new Congress or a new President.  A new America is up to a new me and a new you.

May God bless America!

Greg Quinn