John Quincy Adams, first Vice President, and Second President of the country said it this way: "The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." Of course Mr. Adams was ignorant of the first amendment's true intent to bar anything Biblical or Christian from schools and government. Mayhap he was simply uninformed?
We all remember the powerful words of Patrick Henry: "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Less quoted are these words from that great patriot: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here." I rather like Mr. Henry, but he seems to have missed the point of the first amendment, doesn't he? What was he thinking when he said those words?
John Witherspoon was a member of Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence–and a top educator. As President of Princeton University, (Perhaps those of you from Princeton today should skip this section, it will just upset you!) he trained nearly seventy of the Founding Fathers–including one President, one Vice President, three Supreme Court justices, ten cabinet members, twelve Governors, twenty-one Senators, and thirty-nine Congressmen–all under the Princeton philosophy which once declared: "Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ." (I did warn those from Princeton today!) Of course this group of seventy did not even include those that Witherspoon trained for state, local, and municipal office. He too seems rather out of touch with the purpose of the first amendment! Notice how John Witherspoon identified an American patriot: "He is best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not (That's 'would not hesitate' to those of you who attend Princeton today.) to call him an enemy to this country." (Wait! Was he suggesting censoring bad language? Was he suggesting immorality of every kind was bad? This guy obviously was not an American!
Actually, sarcasm aside, no one understood better that government in this nation was merely a reflection of its citizens; if the citizens were profane and immoral, the government would become profane and immoral.
Noah Webster is considered the Father of Education in America. I find it a significant commentary on our current interpretation of the Constitution that educational material authored by Framers of the Constitution would be considered unconstitutional today because of its emphasis on the Bible. Webster wrote: "The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All of the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from despising and neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." No, Webster was not a prophet, looking forward to today. He was a student of Scripture, where the downward spiral of civilization is imprinted time and again.
So here's the bottom line: It was the people of America who began to tolerate bad language and immorality that allowed the government, reflecting that people, to take the Bible, prayer, and the Ten Commandments out of our schools. Now, fifty years later, we are reaping the harvest that we sowed. I went to school from late 1950 through 1971. By the time I entered college there was a national movement away from education to indoctrination to erase our Christian foundation. In my high school days I could count the trouble-makers on the fingers of one, and finally two hands. Nobody brought guns to school. I could count the girls who were immoral on the fingers of one hand. By the year I graduated that changed. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now.
What we have done, as a nation, is cast our children into a sea of storms, to be driven and tossed by every wind of fancy without an anchor. I say we, because our government systems reflect the citizens of our country. In shame do I look at our culture without Christ, without God, without morals or decency.
Perhaps it is time for us to launch a search and rescue mission for those who are lost in this modern Sea of Storms. Let those of us who know the Word of God live in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called! Let us together seek the Lord, consider the lost, and sacrifice all to reach them with the Gospel! We are not powerless. Should the church decide to march into Hell itself, Satan can do nothing to stop us! Let's not stop ourselves! Our children need the Lord, the people of our culture need the Lord, and we are His light to this world! We are the salt of the earth! Best of all, in the middle of this Sea of Storms the Lord Jesus can say "Peace! Be still!" and give us the power to walk upon the water as though it was solid ground!
I know it is discouraging to many today to look around. Remember Habakkuk? He felt the same way. Judgment is coming. Let the Lord find us busy in the fields when it comes!
No comments:
Post a Comment