Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth 2,020 years ago, restoring the gift of salvation to mankind. Instead of salvation being received through the blood of bulls or goats as in the Old Testament times, He became the sacrificial lamb, dying on the cross to save from sin. With Jesus providing a better way, mankind has the choice to accept the gift of salvation and live sin-free, or reject Him.
Much like our Lord and Savior, the Framers of the United States Constitution were also visionaries. The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 and intended to sustain the evolution of time. The Framers’ goal was not only to address the specific challenges facing the nation during their lifetimes, but to establish the foundational principles that would sustain and guide the new nation into an uncertain future.
How has the world altered the original course Jesus charted? How far as a nation are we from what the Framers imagined this time to be? Father, Son, or founding father, none desired a country where the creation is worshipped more than the Creator or where man is more reliant on their own human ideology over God’s.
Chick-Fil-A, makers of a tremendous chicken sandwich, had a Christian founder who chose the Bible as guide-book for life and business. All locations are known for being closed on Sunday and until November 2019, chose to donate to conservative-leaning charities. However, once the LGBT community raised a stink over them donating to the Salvation Army, Chick-Fil-A decided “future partners could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities,” and none of the organizations could have anti-LGBT positions.
Similarly, mainline religion is not exempt from moral decay. The thirteen million-member United Methodist Church is facing a potential split into two separate denominations over the issues of gay clergy and same-sex marriage ceremonies. Known as the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” a proposal introduced in January 2020 allows for the formation of a new “traditionalist” Methodist denomination that would not sanction the performance of same-sex weddings or the ordination of openly gay clergy, and the continuation of a presumably smaller but more liberal United Methodist Church.
While the Constitution is an objective proposition that grants all Americans unalienable rights, it does not stomp on the rights of Christians and the judgements of God like those opposing us do. Many of the Framers were God-fearing men who sought God’s direction in crafting the document and would be aghast to know the political turmoil our nation is in today.
President Trump faces fierce criticism from his opponents, whose sole agenda is to degrade his accomplishments. Nevertheless, the President has stood tall, proving that God put the right man into office at the right time.
In his 2020 State of the Union Address, President Trump defended prayer by saying, “My administration is also defending religious liberty, and that includes the constitutional right to pray in public schools. In America, we don’t punish prayer. We don’t tear down crosses. We don’t ban symbols of faith. We don’t muzzle preachers and pastors. In America, we celebrate faith, we cherish religion, we lift our voices in prayer, and we raise our sights to the Glory of God.”
Values have declined in our world despite Jesus making way for us to live free from sin long ago. Values have declined in our nation, despite the Framers setting up a clear and moral constitution. And values have declined on a smaller scale in these individual organizations, despite their founders original intentions. We must not be afraid to speak out and do our best to steer back to those original values, in our families, organizations and world. Will you join us?
– M Karns
