What is wrong with America? Is it the left-wing agenda? The encroachment on our freedom by the government? The widespread immorality that is almost impossible to escape from? While these things are undeniably present, they are not the root issue. The root issue lies in the heart of every American man, woman and child. The root issue is sin. Whether it’s found in the red-light districts or in the sweet old lady in church on Sunday morning, sin is the disease that has haunted us, eaten us alive and possessed us since our birth.
It’s easy to overlook this truth and go directly for the tangible fruits, the things that we are confident we can handle. So, often we insist that our problem is a political problem. “The liberals are destroying our nation.” “If only the Christians would all cooperate and vote for the same candidate, we wouldn’t have this problem.” “If we had more Christian lawmakers then we’d be alright.”
These things are good and it is right to be concerned. But all our schemes and political strategies will never solve the real problem. Sin is not political. It cannot be touched by social reforms or votes or protests. We can petition and campaign till we’re blue in the face, but it won’t win one inch of ground in the real battle. The sickness in America is not a social or political sickness. It is a heart sickness. See, the real battle has already been fought on Calvary. Christ the victor died to conquer what we could not change: our sinful hearts. He did not die to fight our political battles; He died to save those who were on their way to hell.
How do we fight, then? We walk with Christ, obey Him because we love Him, and go where He sends us. There are no schemes, no tricks, no little games to play. Just obedience. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Political activism, social reform and all those things are necessary and have their place, but you belong to Christ now. Your main goal should be only to love and obey Him. Everything else flows from this. There is so much rest and peace in this! We don’t have to fear, even if all that is good in America thunders to the ground around our ears. We follow Christ; that is all. There is no defeat for us, because we follow Him.
We have to understand that we can’t afford to cast all our hope on reforming our nation. Our enemy is too clever for that. Satan would rather have abortion and homosexuality banned than have the souls of sinners saved. He would rather we live clean respectable lives than have us serve the Lord of Lords. He would rather us read our Bible every day, be nice to one another, attend church, than have us actually follow Christ. He would rather our government be conservative than Christian. As long as he can keep us from showing the love of Christ to the world, he is safe. Then he can sit back as we create a nation that is clean and pretty on the outside, but rotten as a corpse on the inside. We cannot play into his hands.
The Church is not a political movement, a watchdog for America, or a bastion for the Constitution. That is a lie of Satan. The Church is far more than that. The Church is the flesh Christ wears until He returns to judge the world (1 Corinthians 12:27). When the world looks at us, they must see Him. And if they don’t see Him, something is wrong with us. Isn’t it a shame that the American Church is known more for being Republican than it is known for being Christlike?
Christ has made the Church His Body so that we can live in His likeness and when men see us, not as conservatives but as men and women being changed into His image, they will either believe, repent and be saved or reject Him and choose death. If Washington is completely taken over by sin and immorality, as long as we’re standing as a witness to the love and grace and righteousness of Christ we are the victors. We did not die with the conservatives on Capitol Hill; we died with Christ on Calvary.
