Apparently I wasn't clear in my previous post - based on the messages I've received. So here's another go at it.
Many Christians are decrying the decadence of American culture and complaining about the government and its value system. I get it. I get it, OK? But if we want to be concerned for our nation and culture, our priority must be the renewal of the church. We look too much like the world. We're too at home in it. As a Christ-follower, I shy away from judging others and tend toward inviting sinners (like me) to experience the joy I have in Christ.
People abandon the church because, frankly, they've been sold a bill of goods; a bunch of crap, like the prosperity teaching, mixed messages of new age, prosperity, Buddism, and self-help psychobabble, mixed with entertainment, mixed with nothing-but-grace-so-do-anything-you-feel-like that just plain doesn't compare with Jesus Christ.
The worst part is that non-believers and weak believers alike think that being a Christ-follower is just another system of belief that worships the same god (small "g") as everyone else, so it doesn't matter what or who you worship, just as long as you feel good about yourself.
Now, the government we have merely reflects and echoes the customs embraced by the people in a given generation. Troubling as it is, I have to say the government is exactly what we want it to be or it wouldn't be there. Change in culture doesn't come from the top down, but from the bottom up. The change we need to work on is primarily renewal in the church.
Here's why. As the church becomes the fellowship of citizens of heaven who manifest what it means to be the household of Christ, and when the church walks according to the power of the Holy Spirit, then the people of God shine as light in the world. When people see that light, they WILL give glory to God.
Let's remember who we are, who the foundation is, who the cornerstone is, who the head of our building is, and who the Lord of the church is.
Carry on.
