What does God expect of America?

That may seem like a very presumptuous question. I do not claim to have received any direct communication from God on this matter. The only authority that can be cited for answering a question about what God’s thoughts would be on a matter is an appeal to Holy Scripture.

For this discussion I presuppose that the Bible is the only book God has written and it remains the sole source of revelation of His mind. But back to the question. Why is it necessary to seek God’s truth about America?

The question, in my estimation, is answered in its asking. God exists. He has spoken. We must listen. God is our creator, rules sovereignly over the universe, and is infinitely wise. We owe our existence to Him. We ignore God’s counsel to our own peril.

God expects America to fulfill its role as a nation among nations. Human governments exist to promote the public good and to restrain evil (Rom. 13:1-8). This of course presumes that the citizenry knows what is good and what is evil.

Without some minimal moral categories, no nation can survive for very long. Public order must be maintained. Freedoms are to be protected, and citizens must fulfill their responsibilities to government; obey the laws, participate in civic affairs, pay taxes, and assist in the defense of the country.

Christians have a special interest in the protection of personal freedom and a general state of peace within the nation. This is marked out by Paul in his admonition to the church to pray for those in authority that they may be converted and that conditions favorable to the spreading of the gospel would exist (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

God expects America to honor His moral law. This law is written within every human being and in the record of divine revelation, the Bible (Rom. 2:14-15).

The “interaction of conscience and innate morality may result in a good life” (Charles Ryrie). If and when the general compliance with God’s moral law occurs, our nation will be a better place to live.

But when people violate God’s moral law and invert the standards of justice, there will be societal dissolution. The death of a culture is guaranteed when “evil is called good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20).

We are living in a time when America is undergoing a mega cultural shift. The redefinition of marriage to include same-sex marriage is one of those morally insane changes that are evidence of the death throes of a civilization.

The war against the children of our nation is accelerating at an alarming pace. Child pornography, child prostitution, and sexual molestation of children are a grief to the conscience of morally sound people.

God came after nations with a big stick who did not protect the innocent and defenseless (Amos 1). We are paying the penalty for our love affair with moral relativism. Thank God for those lawmakers and government agencies who seek to stem the tide of moral evil that exploits children.

God expects America to repent of its wickedness. Ancient Nineveh was sent a prophet of God (reluctant as that prophet was) to call the Assyrian people to their moral and spiritual senses. The prophet Jonah, after the chastening of the Lord, went about that great capital of the Assyrian empire preaching repentance.

Nineveh was at the center of an idol-worshiping, cruel, and tyrannical nation in the eighth century B.C. (Jon. 1:2; Nah. 3). Amazingly, by God’s grace, the king and the people turned to God in sackcloth. They humbled themselves before God Almighty, turned from their wicked ways, and cried out to God for forgiveness. God took notice of their repentance and spared them from judgment.

This great revival in Nineveh is a witness to the accountability of all nations to a holy God. America would do well to take notice of this story of God’s grace.

Do we think that God does not notice the moral wickedness that blights our land? There will be a payday some day. While it is true that in a very real sense we are already under the judgment of God (Rom. 1:18-32), how long will God be long-suffering toward our nation?

No one knows. But God will not allow His righteous, moral standards to be flaunted in the name of tolerance, multiculturalism, or whatever human contrivance is used to declare independence from Him.

God expects America to acknowledge His sovereign rule over all nations (Psa. 22:28). This is a reality whether it is acknowledged or not. The nation that honors God and His everlasting dominion is on the right side of human history.

When King Nebuchadnezzar, the ancient king of Babylon, was at ease in his house and prospering in this palace, he was on his way to a rendezvous with God. As Nebuchadnezzar strutted about his city and bragged of his greatness, God cut him down to size (Dan. 4:4, 30, 32-35). The mighty monarch of Babylon publicly confessed God’s absolute sovereignty after a humiliating experience of groveling in the dirt like an animal.

The nation that sets out to banish God from its collective conscience is doomed to its own demise. Having “in God we trust” on our currency is no automatic protection against divine wrath, but it counts for something, especially if justice, mercy, and humility before God are woven into the fabric of our nationhood.

Many Americans take a smug measure of self-satisfaction in this nation’s brain trust, power, and wealth. But such a self-congratulatory outlook is misguided and ultimately disastrous.

God has placed His premium upon a different kind of person. The prophet Jeremiah splashed some theological cold water in the face of a nation that had viewed itself as exceptional; “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 9:23-24).

Let us each determine to be the kind of Americans that delight God.

Dr. Howard E. Dial

senior pastor, Berachah Bible Church

Fayetteville, Ga.

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