Reflections on the Fourth of July

The noted historian Alfred Edersheim wrote:

“Absolute right in Rome did not exist, might had become right.  The social relations exhibited, if possible, an even deeper corruption.  The sanctity of marriage had ceased; female dissipation and general dissoluteness lead at last to an almost entire cessation of marriage.  Abortion and the exposure and murder of newly born children were common and tolerated.  Un-natural vices which even the greatest philosophers practiced if not advocated obtained proportions which defied description.”

In addition to the moral decline of society, Rome was openly hostile to the faith. Toward the end of the first century the persecution of the church had shifted from the spasmodic, disorganized efforts of a mob to a systematic, methodical program of the Roman Empire.  At that time, Clement of Rome, in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians, offered this prayer for the rulers and governors, “Grant them, Lord, health, peace, harmony, and stability, so that they may give no offense in administering the government you have given them.”

Our problem is not on the outside, but on the inside.  In answer to the question, “What is wrong with our nation?”  my answer is “Me!”

Our problem is not that we have a secular state, but that we have a secular church.

Our problem is not that we have unholy leaders, but that we have unholy Christians.

Our problem not that we cannot have Christian prayer at a school board meeting, but that Christians have not prayed for the school board. 

Our problem is not that we have removed the nativity scene from the courthouse, but that Christ is not incarnate in the church.

Our problem is not that the men and women in the halls of power do not pray to our God, but that the people of God do not pray for the men and women in the halls of power. 

Our problem is not that we are restrained from expressing our faith in public, but that we are unwilling to share our faith in private.

Our problem is not that our society is deteriorating fast, but that the church has not taken time to fast and pray for our society. 

Our problem is not that some want to remove the tokens of America’s Christian heritage, but that the American Christians are often little more than a token of faith.

Our problem is not that some leaders will not endorse a national day of prayer, but that Christians seem only able to pray for their leaders on one day.

Our problem is not that there is an absence of God in the functions of government, but that there is an absence of God in the functions of the Church.

Our problem is not that the government is full of self seeking, greedy, and controlling people, but that the church is full of people seeking their own agenda, protecting their religious turf, and unconcerned with the world at large. 

I am the problem, and the only answer is repentance and turning from self to love and serve God and man.