Make America Great Again?

Supporters of President Trump generally agree with his slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Some of the President’s detractors argue that America was never great to begin with.

Those who believe America was once (and/or still is) a great nation can point to our legacy of freedom, our history of technological invention, our overall standard of living, the fact that we have probably sent out more missionaries than any country in history, and how America saved the world from tyranny during World War II. Those who say America was never great can point to the way Native American’s were treated, to slavery, discrimination, widespread political and moral corruption, and even to abortion! The debate is unwinnable.

A better way to frame the debate would be to ask, “Has America ever been the kind of place where millions of people have risked everything to come here because they perceived America to be so much better than their country?” The answer is beyond dispute: Yes! Absolutely.

Whether you agree with the President or not, we should be grateful to God that we live in one of the most prosperous and free nations in the world—A country that people flee to and not from. And we should be especially careful not to take our freedom for granted. There are many today who are fighting to significantly limit these freedoms in the name of “political correctness” and “fairness.”

Defend Religious Freedom!

Increasingly in America we are finding that Christians are losing jobs, losing businesses, being sued, being fined, etc. simply because they are living out their Christian convictions regarding marriage or abortion. Unfortunately, all too many Christians (those who have not yet been affected) respond with a big yawn, saying that Christians should expect persecution. They are absolutely right—we should expect persecution. But that doesn’t mean we should always just sit idly by an accept it.

For example, Paul charged the magistrates of Philippi with violating his rights as a Roman Citizen and demanded that they personally escort him out of jail (Acts 17:16-40). Paul used his rights as a Roman citizen to avoid flogging in Jerusalem (Acts 22:25). It was Paul’s status as Roman citizen that got him transferred from Jerusalem to Caesarea in Roman protective custody (Acts 22:12-22, cf. 23:27). And Paul used his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to Caesar (Acts 25:10-11).

Isaiah commands readers to “defend the oppressed” (Isa 1:17) and to “lose the chains of injustice” (Isaiah 58:6; cf. Jeremiah 22:3). As hard as it is to believe—more and more people in America are now being oppressed because of their Christian faith!

So what can you do?

1) Pray

2) Support and vote for people who will stand for religious liberty

3) Support organizations that are defending your freedom, e.g. Alliance Defending Freedom or the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), et al.

4) Let your Senators and Representatives know that you are not happy with what is going on.

5) Ask your Representative and Senators to support the First Amendment Defense Act (S. 1598, H.R. 2802) which would, “prevent discriminatory treatment of any person on the basis of views held with respect to marriage.”

6) Re-post Twitter and Facebook articles on this issue in order to raise awareness of the problem

7) Encourage your family and friends to get involved too. Pastors, start informing your congregations on what is happening and pray!

You don’t have to do it all—but please don’t just sit back and watch your children’s freedom get flushed down the drain on your watch!