It was 245 years ago today that the Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject to the monarch of Britain, King George III, and were now united, free, and independent states. The reasons that independence was declared was American colonists did not have the same rights as citizens who actually lived in Great Britain, the colonies were not allowed to send representatives to Parliament and they could not vote on issues and taxes directly affecting them.
So the United States of America was born. We were free.
Now, 245 years later are will still free? Are we still united?
I would say no. When you look at all the stuff going on in our country today, I can't really see a country that is united.
Tell someone to wear a mask for public safety reasons and they protest because doing so restricts their freedom and their rights not to wear a mask to be safe.
Let's arm everyone. We are soooo united that we need to have the right to create an arsenal of weapons to protect us against each other and the government that we fear will take away these rights.
We are in some crazy times in our history. Some say a civil war is coming to re-install a former president because of claims he was cheated in the past election.
This isn't united. This is division.
It has also been said that our founding fathers wanted a country with religious freedom. Well, we have that and how has that turned out for us? Christianity is the largest religion in the United States, with the various Protestant Churches having the most adherents. The United States has been called a Protestant nation by a variety of sources. In 2019, Christians represent 65% of the total adult population, 43% identifying as Protestants, 20% as Catholics, and 2% as Mormons.
However, the church is just as divided as our country. According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, more than 200 Christian denominations operate in the United States. And there is talk of more denominational splits in the coming year. Division is causing people to abandon Christian churches. Last year, Barna found that the share of practicing Christians has dropped nearly in half since 2000. Gallup recently reported that U.S. church membership fell below 50% for the first time in eight decades.
There are many gods, churches and religions today. We have our freedom but freedom to do what exactly?
I remember how we used to have pride in our country but now we protest and turn our backs on the flag because we are in such a mess. It is still true that some people in our own country have more rights and more freedom than others. This was not what the Declaration of Independence was about. We have met the enemy and the enemy is us.
How will we survive?
Some say we need to turn back to God. That may be true but that doesn't mean turn back to churches. How are people going to turn back to God when they don't know which god to turn back to?
If this is supposed to be a "Christian nation" then we are in some serious trouble. Christians are more divided than anyone. Even the word "Christian" makes people cringe. When Christians incite political sides and friction, it takes the focus on the very simple command that Jesus gave to His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
He didn't say anything about building church buildings, organizations or political agendas. Somewhere over the last 245 years, Christians in America have lost their way and the focus of what they are supposed to be doing. Honestly, there are very little things that Christians can agree on. It seems many will debate you but debates have never won over anyone. The divisions only serve Satan's agenda. The best way to defeat the church is to cause them to fight against themselves. Just as the nation is divided, the church is also divided which makes us less united than ever. The past election proved that very well. If we can't look to Christians to lead the way, then who do we look to?
I would say that God is not happy with the Christians in America. The only way to change is to get back to the mission and keep out of politics, building denominational dynasties and stop fighting. If America is going to be united, Christians have to be united.
If your church spends time worshipping America more than God, that is idolatry. I have attended too many church services in the past leading up to July 4th where the services were more about patriotism than it was about salvation and God's love for us. I'm not anti-America. I'm just sad about what we have become.
So how can we make American united again? It starts with each person working together to make it happen. We need to find ways to get along with each other instead of finding reasons to fight. We've become a spoiled country and expect to have things go our way. Freedom doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, it means taking responsibility to preserve the freedom that we have.
It's not about making America great again, it's about putting God first again. That's when the real unity begins.
