America, return back to God
Charles Dickens opens his famous dualistic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, with the equally famous dualistic line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” In these strange times in which we live, these seemingly contradictory expressions unfortunately begin to make some sense, don’t they? The whirlwinds of confusion are sweeping over the sea of faces in America, and we are being buffeted “to and fro” or as the mountain folks used to say, “from pillar to post.”
When it comes to politics, the divisions have never been wider or more intense. Seemingly, virtually every Democrat vigorously hates the media-driven caricature of the presidential candidate of the Republican Party and astonishingly a few are voicing vitriolic concern about the lack of marksmanship of Mr. Trump’s would-be assassin. The reverse may well be true to some extent as well when the Democrats finally settle, as apparently they have, on the final candidate to carry their standard. While confusion and ineptitude reign in the halls of government, chaos and upheaval seem to be the order of the day at our unguarded borders and in the streets of our cities. Essentially the United States now finds itself sitting on a powder keg of revolution with each side daring the other to be the first to light the fuse of utter destruction.
Economically, the middle class is disappearing from our national scene just as common sense is fleeing from the political process with its coattails flapping in the wind. From a political participation standpoint, frustrated potential voters are left trying to make sense of the mess that has been created while they seek every possible means of motivation to vote their conscience in the face of decidedly flawed politicians and electoral systems. Truth be told, there is a significant mass of our citizenry who are at this moment trying to decide if they are in fact going to the polls in November and perhaps a significantly larger assemblage who just do not care enough to even participate at all.
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These eyes have seen a lot in 60+ years of living with one foot in the world of politics. I have felt the pain of a nation that has survived through moral failures, assassinations, and greed. To my great consternation, I have watched as God has been erased from the marketplace revealing the consciousness of a nation that has gone mad. But somewhere in the deepest part of my heart, I still have hope in what America can be. I want so desperately for my nation to awaken from this nightmare of despair and once again take her rightful place as the leader of the entire world.
Regardless of what history has now revealed about the man, as a young boy of only 9, I was inspired by the words of John F. Kennedy. Here are some of the most poignant:
“ ... this is a time for courage and a time of challenge. Neither the fanatic nor the fainthearted are needed. Our duty as a party is not to party alone, but to the nation, and indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom. So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our nation’s future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause — united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future — and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance.”
These remarks were intended to have been delivered to the Texas Democratic Party State Committee in the Municipal Auditorium in Austin, Texas on November 22, 1963, and yet they still ring true today. As you now are aware, President Kennedy did not make his scheduled appearance on that day.
There can be little doubt that moral courage is indeed a rare commodity. It is so sorely needed in the life of our nation at this moment, and it is so sorely missed. But in the end, there is no amount of political fervor or patriotic animation that will prove to be the salve that heals America’s wounds. There is a great big hole in the middle of the heart of America’s psyche that can only be filled through true repentance and a full return to the God of our Fathers.
It was Edmund Burke who said, “Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality.” However, morality cannot exist in the absence of a higher being and a “God line” by which the people of our nation can gauge our actions. Yet, this is the very thing that we have attempted to erase from the marketplace in the life of America. Ironically, it was also Edmund Burke who gave the newly birthed nation the admonition that “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.” His words should haunt every God-fearing inhabitant of this once proud nation we call America, and it should send shutters through the stained-glass windows of our churches.
That is why those of us at Southern Evangelical Seminary who love America are on our knees before the throne of God asking Him to restore the heart of our nation and turn it once again to the right and true. If moral courage is the antidote for evil, then let it begin with a new and greater fervor in our hearts. With the same breath, we appeal to the souls of the inhabitants of this once great nation to come home. Come home to the spirit of America. Come home to the unity of purpose so eloquently depicted by John F. Kennedy. But most importantly, come home, America, to the God who has preserved us as a nation these many years. Come home to the God who loved each of us so infinitely that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place. Then through His ultimate resurrection and defeat of death itself, He sealed our hope of eternity with God Himself. In the end, we earnestly beseech our nation and each man, woman, and child who make up her people to come home before it is too late, to the truth of this Good News, the only truth that matters.
After a distinguished career as both a lawyer and a judge, Judge Phil Ginn retired as the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for the 24th Judicial District in North Carolina. Over the course of his 22-year judicial career, he was privileged to hold court in almost 50% of the county seats in North Carolina. Currently, Judge Ginn serves as the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary.
