Tear Down This Wall!
Recently I heard a pastor speak on 2 Chronicles 7:14, If my people who are called by my name . . .
The pastor set the stage for his series of messages by siting statistics from various studies showing the decline of religious fervor among Americans. Fewer Americans than ever in its history believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven, that there is a real hell to shun, and that regular church attendance is important to spiritual growth.
It was a good message with valid points. This pastor’s exhortation made it clear that healing of any nation starts with individual humility. God calls his people, not the lost, in 2 Chronicles 7:14 to humble themselves. Humility is a spiritual discipline. It is not a spiritual gift.
Since the message was delivered by an American to Americans, the preacher outlined the founding of the United States of America on the premise of freedom of worship. He noted the basis of that freedom added to all legal tender in 1954, “In God We Trust.” He reminded his hearers of the pledge of allegiance which affirms the nation as under the rule and authority of almighty God. And he sited the inclusion of prayer and the Ten Commandments which were once an integral part of a student’s school day. No other nation on planet earth, not even Israel, has been founded on religious freedom and biblical principles in the deliberate and intentional way that the USA has been. (Note: Israel was not founded on religious freedom.)
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan addressed Mr. Gorbachev directly. “Tear down this wall!” While we gasped when we first heard it, we have since cheered and honored President Reagan’s tenacity and courage in addressing the elephant in the room.
America has a blatant but invisible wall that must be torn down if Christian Americans want America to be healed. And as the preacher said, a healed nation starts with one humble Christian.
“We live in the greatest nation on earth.”
It is not now, and never will be, possible for a Christian to claim they live in the greatest nation on earth and in the same breath live the truth of 2 Chronicles 7:4. The first step in healing America is for individual Christian Americans to stop saying, and stop believing, they live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth. It is a prideful, boastful statement that has no place in the life of a follower of Jesus. Pride brought death to humankind and expelled earth’s first parents from an idilic birthplace. God cannot and will not heal a land that boasts in itself as being greater than all the others.
“My fellows Americans, tear down this wall!”
In Jesus’ name and for God’s glory.