American Exceptionalism

            Will there be a return to American exceptionalism, or are those days behind us?  Are we only left with a legacy of bitterness and unforgiveness, as we turn our backs on God and forget His ways?  As long as we have leaders, regardless of their color, gender, or political agenda, which choose to focus upon the past sins of our country, it is most unlikely that healing and unity will ever be permitted to be restored to our nation. Instead, black people will forever be portrayed as weak people who will forever remain victims of the past. White people will forever be cast in the role of having white privilege, eternally shackled to the chains of white guilt, and as oppressors of all minorities, even if they were among those who demonstrated right along with those of color in the struggles for civil rights. Furthermore, Christians will be depicted as haters, evil, and intolerant bigots.  How far we have come from the nation that was envisioned by our founding fathers, as one nation under God!
          This state of mind will forever keep our nation trapped in the poverty of a culture permanently scarred, never able to be healed, and never able to progress towards a more complete state of true and complete forgiveness and unity with one another.  A society, perpetually trapped in a state of bitterness and unforgiveness, will never be able to bring about the realization of Martin Luther King’s dream of a time when our nation would value a man based upon his character, rather than the divisiveness of the color of one's skin.  Under such a legacy of bitterness and unforgiveness, America will never comprehend that we are one race, the human race, in which all are created equal in the eyes of our Creator, who has said that we are created in His image through God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
          Those who choose to keep on marching to the trumpet of unforgiveness and bitterness will only add to the cauldron of poison that is being used to bring about the decay and death of our country, which was intended to be founded upon loving God first, that He might enable us to love one another as He has loved us.  When I refer to American exceptionalism, I must clarify what I believe that to be.  Patriotism, love of one’s country, is a good thing.  However, it is not in itself the main and most important piece of the puzzle.  Instead, the core that really held it all together, was not the exceptionality of our citizenry, but the exceptionality of the Lord our God and His word who, at one time, was the glue that unified and held everything together, allowing us to prosper and be that shining light.  The nation whose God is the Lord is going to stand out and attract the attention and admiration of others, not just to our country, but more importantly to the Lord our God, who is source of all things good.  At one time, the Bible itself was the source from which reading was taught.  Therefore, even if all were not true believers in Christ, still the values that were taught provided a sound foundation upon which a society could be built.
          Have we now reached the point of no return as a nation? Have we forgotten that "blessed is the nation whose God is The Lord"? Or have we so turned against God that we now prefer to make the State our god?  Continue to hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness, and you can count on hearing the sound of the death rattle of a decaying and dying nation.              I recently heard someone refer to the possibility of the return of American exceptionalism.  I began to reflect upon all the major signs that America is in reality, doing just the opposite of that.  Through legislature we are steadily chipping away at and eroding the godly foundations that once were laid.  It is increasingly turning its back on God as seen through the following legislative actions: taking prayer and God out of our schools, and increasingly removing Him from virtually every part of the public arena altogether; abortion on demand up to and including babies in the last trimester, to the point of using it as another method of contraception for no greater reason than being an inconvenient pregnancy (not even as Clinton had once said- legal, safe, and rare); acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle; and redefining marriage as being two persons, not between a man and a woman, just to name a few.  It’s not that such things as homosexuality had not previously existed in America.  Neither do I wish to single out that particular sin as the greatest sign of our decadence.  America has cultivated quite a desire for sexual immorality and a general drift towards accepting characteristics from the dark side of this world.  There was a time when the practice of heterosexuals choosing to live together outside of the bonds of matrimony, at least among those who professed to be Christians, was a definite no-no.  Now, it’s met with a rather ho-hum, “nothing to see here” attitude.  The great dilemma is that now laws have been passed declaring that that which God has pronounced to be wrong, that is sinful and not for our good, is now being protected and established as good.  One could say that this is only another confirmation of the fact that the word of God is truth, for the prophecies of the Bible are coming true more and more rapidly as we are living in the times known as the latter days before the return of Christ.  As the Bible has foretold, we are not only redefining evil as good, and good as evil, but we are celebrating and exalting that which is evil in the sight of God. 

          As long as Americans, specifically those who profess to be Christians, join in with the secular world view to celebrate and exalt as good those things which are contrary to the word of God, we will only witness the increasing bleeding out of the nation that used to be a beacon of light and freedom to the entire world.  It’s sad, but we could be witnessing the point of no return for America.  Why?  It’s not the fault of pagans, but the body of Christ.  Generally speaking, we are well on our way to becoming that lukewarm Laodicean Church of the latter days, that has an appearance of godliness, but lacks the power thereof.  The Church has lost its way so badly that one can barely see any difference between those who profess to be followers of Christ, and those who deny the Christ. We are rapidly becoming conformed to the world instead of being transformed into the image of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Not wanting to look different, thereby opening ourselves to ridicule and persecution from the world because of our faith in Christ, we succumb to the intimidation and manipulation of the world, becoming more like the world and less like Christ.  Tolerance, it has been said, becomes the last standing ‘virtue’ within an increasingly decaying and amoral society.

          Once again, this all serves as further proof that the word of God is true, and not just some book written by men, as some would have you believe.  God forewarned that all of this would happen, and there would be a great falling away from the faith of the Bible before His return.  Does this mean that all true born again believers should just quit, sit black and withdraw from the battle?  Battle you ask? Yes, that’s right, for we are involved in the most important and serious kind of warfare that exists, spiritual warfare!  We fight not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities of the darkness of this world, which is Satan and all of his fallen angels and demons. (Read Eph. 6)  In apathy, we have fallen asleep, while Satan has been on the rampage, creating chaos and destruction everywhere.  While we, the army of God, act like we have nothing to do but go on temporary leave of duty for a little R&R.  We have set aside the armor of God, and let every form of false teaching walk right in the front door and take over, replacing the true gospel of Jesus Christ with a false gospel, making way for every false god and idol to take root, spread, and flourish in a fertile soil of doubt and unbelief.

          Believers, in America and across the world, had better wake up, and do what God has told us to do: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand against the wiles of the devil.”   “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (Eph. 6: 10, 11, 18)  Remember, we serve the one and only true and Almighty Living God.  “Greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world.” (I John 4: 4)  “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is He that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (I John 5: 4, 5)  Our God reigns; He knows the beginning from the end, and all the in between.  It is He that is in control, no matter what the circumstances and conditions of the world look like.  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. (Prov. 3: 5-6)  America may never regain its standing of exceptionalism as a nation.  Even so, believers must determine to persevere, and stand in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, even unto our death.  This earth is only our temporary home; our destination, and true home, is to be with the Lord for all eternity.  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.”  Keep looking up for our redemption draweth nigh.  Come Lord Jesus!

          Again I reiterate, even as we see the darkness of the world spreading and expanding; as Christians, we must take the encouragement of the Lord to heart.  We are told not to be down hearted or feel defeated by the appearance and conditions of this world.  Though it may seem that the enemy is winning, and evil is overcoming good, we are admonished to put our trust in the Lord.  It is He that is still at work, and we know, because we have read the last page of His Story, the Bible, that He wins and will reign as King of Kings, and Lord of Lord, forever and ever, world without end.  Hallelujah, to God be the glory!  Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say REJOICE!   

          “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40: 31)  Teach us Lord to wait, and while we wait, to pray in the Spirit and in truth.  Oh Lord our God, turn our hearts back to Thee!  In Jesus name, Amen

          “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7: 14)