Proverbs 1.29-31
“Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”
Our nation’s crisis of citizenship and leadership has several causes.
The cultural leaders of our country have increasingly rejected the powerful Judeo-Christian beliefs that formed the foundation of the great American experiment and its key ideas and ideals. This is partly due to the promotion of philosophies such as secularism and postmodernism, and partly due to the global explosion of pluralism that is collapsing into relativism.
In many circles that regard themselves as the cultural elite, it is now taken for granted that secularism is self-evident, whereas Jewish and Christian views are viewed as backward, repressive, and a barrier to what is seen as human freedom and progress.
But this disconnection of freedom from its Judeo-Christian understanding, although appealing to the secular mind, is unsustainable. Abandonment of biblical roots for liberty has produced a culture of freedom without responsibility.
The reality is that freedom and responsibility are inseparable. We are free to make choices, but we are also responsible for the outcomes that our choices produce. When we cease to be responsible, we cease to be free. Rights without responsibility is simply politicized self-interest.
But if we learn anything from biblical history, there are always consequences, even if the consequences are delayed. Thus Proverbs 1.29-31 quoted above: “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.”
Do not equate the delay of consequences with the absence of them. There will be a national price to pay for rejecting the fear of the Lord.
The truth is that secularism and postmodernism have no adequate root system with which to nourish the ideals of a constitutional republic. The secularists, for example, do not provide an adequate foundation for such core American principles as the sanctity of life, the dignity of the individual person, the responsibility of freedom, justice, equality and universality—let alone any response to the growing polarization and increasing social violence in our society.
“When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness. By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.” (Proverbs 10.10-11)
Because we still live in a representative form of government, the citizenship — at least for now — has more power than the leadership. What will the American people do with that power? What will American Christians do? The clock is ticking.
