Question: "Is the United States a Christian nation?"
Answer: It may seem intuitive, at first, to attempt to answer this
question by focusing on government. But the best way to determine
whether or not the United States is a Christian nation is to compare the
philosophy of its people to the Word of God.
The Declaration
of Independence states that every person has these God-given,
inalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This
philosophy is what we could call the “American Worldview,” and it drives
everything about the nation— from its economic and foreign policy to
the private lives of its people. This is the atmosphere in which most of
us have grown up. But can this American Worldview be called a Christian
Worldview? Can we really call the United States a Christian nation?
Life
First, what does “life” mean to a Christian? Most Americans would say
we have a right to be alive, just by virtue of having been born. Most
Americans would say we have the right to do with our lives as we choose,
because our lives belong to us. Christianity agrees that we have the
“right to life” and recognizes that life comes from the Creator, just as
the Declaration says. However, the Christian (biblical) view is that
the right to live does not exist by virtue of being born, but by virtue
of being created first in the mind of God (Jeremiah 1:5). Acts 17:25
says that God “gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” The
Bible is saying here that the life of man is sustained by God, and as
such, it belongs to Him. But Americans generally believe that we are
free to do with our lives just as we please because we believe our lives
belong, primarily, to us. For a Christian, God’s law is the absolute
truth, and the final authority. It tells the Christian “Thou shalt not
murder” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” But the United States
shows, both by the lives of her citizens and the laws passed in her
courts that she does not recognize the authority of God, nor respect His
laws.
Liberty
What does “liberty” mean to a Christian?
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and the
freedom to bear arms are some of the rights outlined in the Bill of
Rights. All of these freedoms are good things valued greatly by
Americans. Today, however, our nation has, for the most part, rejected
the Bible as the standard of right and wrong. So, now liberty has an
additional meaning to our citizens: it means that we are ultimately free
to do whatever we want. It means that we control our own destiny—or
that we should—and that nobody can tell another person what is right or
what he should value. This mindset has had disastrous results. In
America now, everything is subjective. In the face of the monstrous
tragedy of abortion, Americans echo the words of Pontius Pilate: “What
is Truth?” Our personal choice has become the only thing we truly value.
We are tolerant above all, but only because to put down another
person’s freedom is to endanger our own liberty. Practically speaking,
since such a wide variety of religions are now represented among our
citizens, how can we say “America is a Christian nation” without
obliterating the Christian faith? A Christian individual will not kill
or hurt someone of another religion who refuses to convert. However, the
Bible is clear: we are not to tell people that all roads lead to
heaven. There is one Way, and His name is Jesus Christ. The Bible
informs Christians that freedom and liberty are good and right. But, it
also gives us the context of that freedom: we have freedom as Christ’s
followers, because we trust in His righteousness, instead of our own. We
were slaves to this world, and to sin. Now we are slaves to Christ –
and that is a Christian’s definition of freedom. That doesn’t sound much
like the definition of Liberty that is held by the government or the
citizens of America.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Now, the
Pursuit of Happiness: what is it, to a Christian? In the Bible,
happiness is an emotion that is welcomed, but not to be sought after. We
seek God, and joy is a result of closeness to Him. But joy is different
from happiness. Joy is a spiritual contentment and pleasure that comes
from the Holy Spirit. A person must be in fellowship with the Spirit to
experience joy, and it transcends circumstance. The apostle Paul said
that he had “learned to be content whatever the circumstances”
(Philippians 4:11), and Paul’s circumstances were hardly the sort to
produce happiness: beatings, stoning, shipwreck, hunger, thirst and
danger. But his joy and peace were from God, not from his circumstances.
In contrast, Americans tend to believe we are to pursue, at all cost,
happiness in our lives here in this world. Pursue happiness, the
American is told, at the cost of all else. If it makes you happy to
leave your wife and children, do it. If it makes you happy to devote
your life to stardom at the expense of friends and family members, you
should follow your dream. If you are a man but you think being a woman
will make you happy, have a sex change. Play video games 10 hours a day?
Drink yourself to death? Get married to your dog? Sure, if it makes you
happy! Perhaps when the Constitution was framed, the Judeo-Christian
ethic of “love thy neighbor” was understood as a foundational principle
upon which to base our right to pursue happiness. But it has changed
over the years to mean a right to pursue individual pleasure, no matter
how strange the means, without being judged by your fellow man and
without regard to how that pursuit affects the other person’s rights or
freedoms, or affects the fabric of society itself.
But consider
Mark 8:36: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and
forfeit his soul?” For the Christian, this thought is central: nothing
is gained from pursuing comfort and happiness here on earth. Nothing is
really gained, for a Christian, by “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.” The Christian person pursues other things: “Pursue
righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the
Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). “Let us therefore make every
effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification” (Romans
14:19). “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1
Timothy 6:11). Christians are concerned with the spiritual – because
they belong to another country; they are citizens of a spiritual
country, the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, is the United States a
Christian nation? No. Not in its philosophy, or in what it loves, or in
what it does. Despite its Judeo-Christian roots and heritage, and the
beliefs of some of its founders, the United States today is a nation
that follows other gods, and lives a lifestyle that is not compatible
with Christianity.
