After the events of September 11, 2001, there came a call that we would never forget. That as a people and a nation we would not forget that fateful day. When on December 7, 1945, there was an attack at Pearl Harbor it was President Roosevelt who told a shocked and troubled nation that it was a day that would live in infamy.
The two events and the two acknowledgements provide the same attitude to those who heard those words for the first time. They conveyed the idea that the event which was so terrible and came out of nowhere would and should never be erased from the minds of the American people. Time, it is said, heals all wounds. That is true but time also allows for the hurt and the anguish of an event to diminish.
I am a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is who I am and it is what I do. Yet I cannot separate myself from being an American. I want to be proud of my country, yet often what we do as a nation does not deserve my pride. Can we really separate being an American by birth or naturalization from being a Christian by grace and the blood of Christ? Personally, I think not and to attempt to do so is harmful to both roles. For in attempting to measure higher in one, we diminish the other. Leading to what becomes a lack of passion for either. Such a terrible place for any of us to be.
When the subject of eschatology comes up, it is clearly admitted that we simply don’t see America clearly represented or even involved. I would admit that I do not see it but that means nothing. God may very well have America cleared from the international stage as have been many civilizations over the history of mankind. He may also have another role in which we cannot see from Biblical accounts. Now this may be hard to accept for us when we see today that America is the only truly free country left on the earth. We all want America to continue to be that beacon to shine for freedom. It is unfortunate and possibly prophetic that our time is coming to an end. When we will be no more a free and independent nation. I would hope and pray that not be the case yet I know that it is only God who knows how this all turns out.
With this said then, what do we do and where do we go from here? As an American and Christian, it is my responsibility, it is our responsibility to do what is right in the eyes of God. I do see how being a Christian separates or hinders my responsibility of being an American. For if history has taught us anything, it is because of Christ and the Word that the is country even exist.
There is a satanic movement in this world to confuse mankind. It is nothing new. It has been around since the Garden of Eden. This movement has adapted to the changes just as we have over the years. As much better life is today, so is the enemy in his ability to confuse. He is still saying today, is that really what God said? Sadly, we‘re still today believing the lie to our own demise.
What happens in life as a Christian or as an American are intwined in who we are and how we act. Our founding fathers established our form of government which has served us well these past 245 years. A story goes that on the last day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 Benjamin Franklin was asked “Well Doctor what have we got, a republic or a monarchy.” Franklin replied, “A republic . . . if you can keep it.”
It was established that we would be a Constitutional Republic. You might say well I thought we were a democracy. No where in the Constitution is the word democracy used. There is a difference between a democracy and a republic.
As James D. Best said in his article A republic, if you can keep it, “In a democracy, the majority can directly make laws, while in a republic, elected representatives make laws. Basically, in a pure democracy, the majority has unlimited power, whereas in a republic, a written constitution limits the majority and provides safeguards for the individual and minorities.”
Certainly more on that subject for maybe another time. Suffice it today for this writing, that we should never forget and remember times that live in infamy. The history and chronicles of how we became America, where we have been and where we might go in the future.
In God’s Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
