AMERICA at the Crossroads

On the evening of July 3, 1776, the portly, forty-year-old John Adams sat in his candlelit room in Philadelphia and penned the following words to his wife, Abagail, in Massachusetts:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.

Adams may have missed his proposed date of our national day of celebration, but he certainly didn’t miss the spirit of it. Lest Abigail judge him as overly “transported with Enthusiasm,” Adams assured her he was not. He wrote that he was “well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure” it would cost to maintain independence. But he remained optimistic: “Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Day’s transaction.”¹

And posterity did triumph. God has blessed the United States of America.

But this won’t always be true. Based on what I see in God’s Word, I believe that in the end times, America will reject Christ and follow the Antichrist, just like all the other nations. As a result, America will experience God’s judgment.

America’s past is past, and America’s future is set. But what about America’s present? Is it a time of blessing or cursing?

It is a time of choosing.

A Time of Choosing

After Moses led the nation of Israel out of Egypt, Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us the Lord said to them, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.”

Believers today have a similar choice: We can live in a way that invites God’s curse on our homes, our communities, and our nation, or we can live in a way that invites God’s blessings. How do we “choose life”? We must put into practice four principles of Christian citizenship.

Take a Stand

First of all, we ought to stand for truth and justice. Though Romans 12:18 commands us to “be at peace with all men,” peace isn’t the be-all and end-all of the Christian life. In fact, Paul added a qualifier to that command: “If possible, so far as it depends on you.” Sometimes it’s necessary to assert our rights as citizens, as Paul did when he was arrested in Jerusalem and a Roman centurion threatened to scourge him—to whip him with a bone- and metal-encrusted lash. Paul said to the centurion, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman [citizen] and uncondemned?” (Acts 22:25).

I’ll never forget the time when Julia, my oldest daughter, came home from school and told me about her friend who had been stopped by the principal for passing out water bottles. The bottles had John 4:14 printed on the label: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.” Julia wanted to know whether her friend had the right to pass out water bottles with a Scripture verse printed on them. I said she did. And I determined to do something about it. After consulting with my friend Kelly Shackelford of the First Liberty Institute, which defends the First Amendment rights of Christians, I called Julia’s school principal to express my appreciation for his commitment to his students and to acknowledge the difficult situation he was in as he tried to apply standards fairly across the board. Then I explained that he had in fact violated the First Amendment by prohibiting Julia’s friend from distributing those water bottles. He listened with an open mind and a humble heart and decided to reverse his decision.

I encourage you, too, to speak up for truth, beauty, and goodness in your workplace, school board meetings, neighborhood association, city council, and other government bodies. Do so Christianly, but do so with conviction.

Cast a Vote

Second, we ought to vote. One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities we have as citizens of the United States is that we the people have a voice in the way we’re governed. Unfortunately, too many of our fellow citizens have decided to silence their voice by not voting. Let your voice be heard at the ballot box, but make sure you speak with a Christian voice. What do I mean by that? Tony Evans said it well: “Every voting choice you exercise ought to be for the candidate, platform, party, or policy that will best represent the values of the kingdom of God.”²

We are not called to promote a party, a personality, or a platform; we are called to promote a Person—the Lord Jesus Christ—and make sure that His kingdom is reflected in how we exercise our right to vote. As a friend said, “Your vote should be for those who protect and promote life, liberty, justice, and righteousness as God defines them. Candidates for office should seek maximum freedom for people to responsibly and safely live their lives in pursuit of God’s calling and purpose. In other words, your vote should be for those who protect and promote human flourishing.”³

Say a Prayer

Third, we as Christians ought to pursue the good of our nation through prayer. When God sent the Jews into Babylonian exile for seventy years, He commanded them to settle down, settle in, and seek Babylon’s welfare—they were to pursue the good of that nation. Here’s how the prophet Jeremiah put it: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7).

The Hebrew word translated as “welfare” in this verse is the same word also translated as “peace”—shalom. We could translate this verse: “Seek the shalom of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its shalom you will have shalom.”

Shalom can also be translated as “prosperity,” as the New International Version does in its rendering: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city. . . . If it prospers, you too will prosper.” This is the original trickle-down theory: As the nation is at peace and prospers, so you will be at peace and prosper.

One of the best ways to seek the peace and prosperity of the United States is to pray for our nation and its leaders. This principle is woven throughout the Old and New Testaments. Of course, you’re probably familiar with this famous verse written to the nation of Israel: “[If ] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

We also find the principle of praying for those in authority in the words of the pagan King Darius of Persia, who told the Jews returning to Jerusalem to “offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons” (Ezra 6:10). Paul expanded on this principle in 1 Timothy 2:1–2, where he instructed believers to pray “for kings and all who are in authority.”

John Adams got it exactly right when he wrote, “The American Union will last as long as God pleases. It is the duty of every American Citizen to exert his utmost abilities and endeavours to preserve it as long as possible and to pray with submission to Providence ‘esto perpetua’”—may it last forever.⁴

Share the Gospel

Finally, we ought to proclaim the gospel. For as long as God preserves America, we have the responsibility and privilege to share the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection with everyone we can. After all, Jesus designated us as “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). And while we can’t prevent the eventual decay that will rot the heart of America during the end times, we have the opportunity right now to prevent the premature decay of our country, giving us more time to tell our family and friends, our neighbors and coworkers about the life-giving salvation of Christ.

I’m convinced the only way to change America is to change the hearts of Americans—and only Christ can do that, through our testimony as His witnesses. So how are you doing as a witness of Christ—as a Christian citizen? Do others only see the citizen and not the Christian? Are you more willing to talk with others about politics than about the gospel? If we are to have any hope that our nation will continue to experience God’s blessings, it will be because His people lead lives that lead to blessing, including telling others how they might experience the ultimate blessing of God: eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.

A Prayer for Revival

When I was a little boy growing up in First Baptist Dallas, our church sponsored a weeklong revival at Southern Methodist University with an evangelist by the name of Angel Martinez. We prayed for an outpouring of God’s Spirit for weeks before services began. We learned a little chorus I still remember sixty years later: “Lord, send a revival. Lord, send a revival. Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me.”⁵

Recently, I went back and reread some of the messages my pastor and mentor Dr. W. A. Criswell preached about turning America back to God. In one message he said this, which I close with:

I am a part of a nation, maybe a small part, but I am a part of the nation.

. . . And the nation cannot repent until I repent. The nation cannot believe unless I believe. The nation cannot be baptized unless I am baptized. The nation cannot turn to God until I turn to God. The nation cannot be saved unless I am saved. The devotion and the fire and the flame must start in me.⁶

Lord, send revival, and let it begin with me.

That is the prayer of every Christian who loves God and loves America.

1. John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776, Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive, Massachusetts Historical Society, https://masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/ doc?id=L17760703jasecond.

2. Tony Evans, How Should Christians Vote? (Moody, 2012), 25.

3. Derrick G. Jeter, “A Great Experiment: Balancing State Sovereignty and Human Liberty,” sermon, Coffee House Fellowship, Stonebriar Community Church, Frisco, Texas, October 31, 2010.

4. John Adams to Charles Carroll, August 2, 1820, in James H. Hutson, The Founders on Religion: A Book of Quotations (Princeton University Press, 2005), 15.

5. B. B. McKinney, “Lord, Send a Revival” (1927), Hymnary.org, https://hymnary.org/ text/send_a_revival_o_christ_my_lord.

6. W. A. Criswell, “Leading America Back to God,” sermon, First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, February 29, 1976.