Believing in the sovereign God of the universe, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of his own, and that men and nations are responsible to him, their immediate and ultimate welfare being determined by their attitude to him, it therefore becomes imperative that the people of America recognize this responsibility to God and accord to him the honor and glory due his Name and the obedience to his holy will, without which men and nations decline and perish.
History records that many nations have been destroyed, not by an enemy from without, but through moral and spiritual deterioration from within.
A candid study of contemporary American life reveals the sobering fact that we have flourishing within our midst those seeds of decay which, if left unchecked, will lead inevitably to national destruction. That the incidence of immorality and crime is greater and that it is increasing at an alarming rate certainly adds to the urgency for remedial means.
We both recognize and approve of the inherent guarantee of our Constitution that all men be accorded the right of religious freedom and it would be a grave error to contemplate in any way a change in either the fact or implications in this doctrine. But freedom of religion and freedom from religion are not synonymous. While no man or government can or should dictate to any on matters of religion (each individual stands or falls before his Maker), the peoples of our nation do need again to be confronted with the claims of the sovereign God and their responsibility to him. Furthermore, we all need to be reminded of the part which faith in God has played in our national life from the very beginning of our existence as a nation.
America was founded by men and women who unashamedly worshipped God and accorded him priority in worship and in service. Many of our founding fathers came to these shores because of their determination to know and do the will of God and because of restraints which had been placed upon them in the countries of their origin. While at no time has our government undertaken to legislate on religion, there have been repeated evidences of official recognition of our duty and allegiance to Almighty God. Prayer was requested by Benjamin Franklin during the Constitutional Convention. Our currency carries the inscription, “In God We Trust.” There is a Bible in every courtroom in America on which men are expected to affirm the truthfulness of the witness they engage to make. Most of our great educational and humanitarian institutions owe their inception directly or indirectly to men and women dominated by faith in God.
With multiplied precedents it is therefore highly relevant, as well as obviously imperative, that Americans be called back to a realization of the strong faith of our fathers, the clear warnings of history, the moral and spiritual declensions of our day, and the vital need for a return to faith in, worship of and obedience to Almighty God, not only for personal redemption, but also for national preservation. For years we have been running on the momentum of a godly ancestry and this momentum is now far spent.
As convinced Christians we believe that the foundation of individual and national life is to be had in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, and experienced through personal faith in him.
We are not so naive as to believe that all personal and national problems would be resolved should all men become Christians. But, we do believe that in him is found the immediate answer to life now and hereafter and the ultimate answer to those complicated social and political problems which are the extension of man’s estrangement from God.
It is obvious to all that in many areas of American life today those disciplines which are translated into moral and spiritual values are lacking. Right and wrong have become relative terms, no longer related to revealed religion but rather predicated on choice or expediency. No longer is there recognition of the biblical affirmation that “righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.” Grudgingly, or otherwise, we have rendered unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, but too often we have failed to render unto God the things that are God’s.
It is obvious that there is need for an unequivocal assertion of an ideology stemming from the divine concept of righteousness. We need to face the deficiencies of contemporary American thinking and life and to take steps to turn the minds of the people back to God from whom all blessings flow, and who is also a God of righteousness and judgment.
We need to be reminded anew of the spiritual heritage which is ours, of its profound effect on the development of our nation, and of the inevitable consequences of a way of life which leaves God out of perspective, or, at best, renders but lip service to him.
It is imperative that Christians exercise a rightful concern for the spiritual and moral welfare of the nation. For only as the Christian faith is reflected in the daily life of the nation does it become the preserving and illuminating influence God wills that it should be. Love of country is itself a worthy emotion; the trend away from an emphasis on patriotism has been one of the ominous developments of recent years.
We need to be reminded that those convictions which resulted in the Constitution of the United States, one of the greatest instruments for the freedom of man ever devised, and those other virtues which in the early days of our nation found expression in integrity, respect for law and concern for the rights of others, all had their roots in the laws of God and are themselves the fruits of faith and not the cause. For that reason it is imperative that we return to the divine Source of these fruits.
The inexorable laws of God can be broken, but at a cost no man or nation can afford. As recipients of divine favor, of a love displayed in prodigal provisions for our needs and comforts, and of freedoms which in large measure stem from our Judaeo-Christian heritage, we owe it to a loving Heavenly Father to return to him while there is time.
“For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
“All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word—
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!”
“Lord God of hosts, be with us yet!
Lest we forget—lest we forget!”
