Americans Have Forgotten Christianity Because Christians Have Forgotten America

I seem to write most easily when there is something I either read online or heard on the news that gets me thinking, and being the political and theological fanatic that I am, I can never keep my thoughts to myself. Hence, another blog post.

Today, like most days, I had the wonderful experience of reading a tweet. However, unlike most tweets I read, this one got me thinking. Matthew Dowd said, "A fundamentalist radical Christian is just as misguided and frightening as a fundamentalist radical Muslim. No difference."

The sentence was shocking to me. This man and the thousands of others who liked his tweet actually believe that Christianity is just as “frightening” as Islam. Think about this, our culture is so ignorant of Christianity that it cannot tell the difference between a radical Christian and a radical Muslim. Many people in America see people defined by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control as frightening as people who are defined by hate, murder, strife, violence, conquest, and terrorism. Has our society fallen down that far from a basic understanding of Christianity? Or, have we as Christians been failing to shine our lights and show the world what following Jesus really looks like? Probably a little bit of both.

We as Americans No Longer Understands Christianity

Seventy, ninety, and a hundred years ago our nation was heavily Christian. Chances are, even if you didn’t claim to be a Christian, you had morals based on Biblical principles and had a basic understanding of what being a Jesus follower meant. If you haven’t noticed yet, our nation as a whole no longer adheres to morals based upon God’s Word. Not only that, our nation as a whole no longer understands God’s Word. In 2008 President Obama declared that America is no longer a Christian nation. He was right.

But how did this happen? Yes, sin had and is still having a big part in America’s moral decline. Drugs, sex, entertainment, gender, and even the sanctity of life have all been perverted by our culture. We as a nation are so infatuated by the idea of the pursuit of happiness that we have crossed the lines of morality in order to keep this pursuit alive. We started this downward spiral of immorality because we thought we could find more joy and freedom apart from God. One generation discovered something amazing like opioids. Another generation found an unquenchable desire to pervert sex. Yet another tried to find happiness in changing their gender. And as we discovered these new things, we became more and more disengaged with the only One who can give us true happiness. Parents no longer took their kids to church. Instead they told them to search their heart and find their true selves. So children no longer acknowledged that their identity was given to them by their Creator. They told themselves they can be whoever whatever they want. We forgot where we came from and why we are here. We no longer understand who God is and what He wants from us. America forgot Christianity...

...but Christians also forgot America.

We as Christians have been Failing the Great Commission in Our Own Land

There is another reason why many people in our country no longer understand Christianity. It is because we are not showing it to them. America’s moral ignorance should be partly blamed on American Christians. I know you didn’t want to hear that, but I’m afraid it’s the truth. As Christians we know what Christ called us to do in the Great Commission, but as Americans we have bought into the American practice of having your views and living your life and not bothering anyone else about theirs. David Platt says it better than I ever could,

“I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what was radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable.”

Too many of us, myself included, have forgotten our calling to preach the gospel and make disciples wherever we are, especially in our own nation and our own communities. The gospel has become a great story we sing, hear, and talk about only in church, when in reality the gospel is a great story we sing, hear, and talk about all day long in our everyday lives with everyone we come in contact with.

Matthew Dowd doesn’t know the difference between Islam and Christianity because he has obviously not been shown the true Jesus. Our nation no longer understands our religion because we have not been telling them about our Savior. The Great Commission is not for some of us who go to distant lands, learn foreign languages, and plant churches. It is for all of us who follow Jesus. If we truly love our nation and our Savior we will come out of our comfort zones to not only condemn America’s sin, but more importantly to proclaim America’s Savior.

*Image Source: http://forgettingtaskmaddiegullick.weebly.com/