Make America Moral Again
Let's say, for the sake of argument that America, as most evangelicals believe, is a Christian nation, or at least was so intended by the founding Fathers. We will lay aside the historical reality that some of those founders specifically stated that our Constitution was in no way to be considered a Christian document, nor was based upon Christian ethics or doctrines (the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, which the Senate unanimously ratified in the presence of many of the original signers of the Constitution, stated that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion"). And we will ignore for the moment the farce that America can be called a Christian nation when the original Americans, those indigenous peoples who predated the Europeans, did not and still do not embrace Christianity. Let's reserve those inconvenient facts and consider the moral state of our country.
If righteousness exalts a nation, then our country is mired in a moral morass. The character of a Christian nation reflects the character of its leader. That leader is answerable to God, and the judgment for the leader's moral failures will fall upon the entire nation. Remarkably, our present leader is one who never hid his moral shortcomings, but boasted that he did not need God's forgiveness, lauded his sexual misdeeds, reveled in his mendacity and misogyny, and mocked the disabled. He demonstrated on a national stage that he was the antithesis of a moral, much less a godly person.
The hope expressed by evangelicals was that candidate Trump would pivot to be more presidential once elected. They excused his blatant ungodliness, and even proclaimed him to be a converted Christian – albeit babe in Christ who is still learning godliness – and voted for him. They hoped that he would change his ways, and some justified serving on his advisory council as a way to be able to guide his policies, and, perhaps, mentor him spiritually. They hoped.
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They voted their hope in spite of all the red flags and warnings from other evangelicals who stood on biblical principles and shouted that they should not do this thing, this abominable thing. They covered their ears, closed their eyes and voted their hope that this man would make America great again, whatever that means. They celebrated and boasted when he became their leader. But it still remains, righteousness exalts a nation.
It is beyond dispute that the President's administration is the most corrupt in the history of the Republic. Does that make America great or does it make us a corrupt nation? There is no need to enumerate the many ways in which the rank corruption is demonstrated, unless one can say incredulously as Franklin Graham does, that he has not seen any lies that the Presidents has told.
Graham's response is the response writ large of evangelicals for the moral failings of this President, his administration, and some of his policies - and they are complicit. They ignore their own obvious moral failings in their rationale for continued support. The irony is that in their blind drive to elevate their social causes, they engage in behavior they know to be immoral and offer specious excuses for doing so. If one is responsible for the victory, then one is responsible for the consequences.
When David failed morally, the people of Israel suffered. In 1 Chronicles 21, David ordered a census against the Lord's command, and against the advice of his army's captain. The consequence was a pestilence that killed 70,000 men. The king sinned and the people suffered. Now America has lost its moral moorings as our leader remains morally untethered.
The great challenge for eavngelicals, if they believe in an American Christian heritage, and if they believe that Christian values are important for the country's moral and social wellbeing, is to make America moral again. To do that the church has to regain the moral ground that was squandered by evangelicals. This means the President's moral failings cannot be ignored, tolerated or excused. This is more important than any transient political gain realized by his election. What he has given as a return for evangelical support are no more than "forty pieces of silver," compared to what is lost.
Surely, the political pendulum will swing the other way, perhaps sooner rather than later. When that happens, like rebound hypertension, the gains will be washed away in a tsunami of political retribution. What then of the moral compromises that created this smoldering immoral caldera? Evangelicals embraced immoral means to achieve a political end. They employed the relative morality of the world as if their God is impotent to bring about His own victory by righteous means. That is no small matter. Some will be tempted to blame the left and the liberal media, but choosing a side means choosing an opponent. It is too easy to blame others when we create our own enemies.
Yes, today, we need to make America great again because its greatness is undermined by the moral depravity of an immoral leader abetted by the persistent support and approval of evangelicals. That greatness will remain elusive until we make America moral again.
Marvin G. Thompson has, over the past 38 years, served as youth leader, church officer, assistant Sunday School Superintendent and teacher, and presently as a deacon and preacher, serve men's and small group ministry leadership and. Started the Berean Fundamentals blog on Christian Post to challenge Christians to live consistently with the teachings of Scripture.
