OPINION:
What has happened to the soul of America? Is it too late for us? Will our nation recover from this moral death spiral we seem to find ourselves in?
Twenty years ago, 90 percent would have said they were extremely proud or very proud of their country. Today that number is at 67 percent.
Why this precipitous drop? Most Americans seem to intuitively understand the basic problem – A whopping 54 percent of all Americans say the state of moral values in the U.S. is poor, a 35 percent increase in 20 years.
And what are those moral values based on? Simple answer: They are based on faith in God.
A Wall Street Journal poll revealed that 70 percent of Americans in 1998 believed “religion was very important to them.” That number has now dropped to 38 percent.
That’s called cause and effect. In 1963, corporate reading of the Bible recitation of the Lord’s Prayer was declared unlawful in the United States. Just three years later, things had gotten so bad in our nation that TIME magazine asked this question on their cover, “Is God Dead?”
Is this a mere coincidence? I don’t think it is. The problem is, America has forgotten about God. Even more, we have gone out of our way to push God out of every aspect of our lives.
The fact of the matter is no country lasts forever. Rome once was the reigning superpower on earth, with the most powerful military anywhere. But before Rome collapsed externally, it collapsed internally.
In ”The Complete Story of Civilization” historian Will Durant said of Rome, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, class struggle, failing trade, bureaucratic despotism, stifling taxes, and consuming wars.”
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We see a similar pattern in America today. Our greatest enemies are not necessarily on the outside but on the inside. With “woke” ideology permeating academia, the media, the culture and even the government we find ourselves going the wrong way fast.
However, the difference between Rome and the United States is that we initially built this nation on a Judeo-Christian foundation. But we have strayed dramatically from the original vision of our Founding Fathers that produced this place we call the United States of America.
I think we would do well to look at the soul of our nation right now.
What once was freedom of religion seems to have become freedom from religion. Our society has succeeded in getting God out of our schools, sporting events, public places, and workplaces.
But here’s what we need to remember: The freedom we enjoy today is built on the foundation of absolute truth. And when you remove that foundation, this freedom actually can turn into anarchy.
We need God’s help. My belief about the future of our nation is that we have two choices before us: one is judgment and the other is revival. If we do not have revival, then judgment is inevitable.
I hope and pray for at least one more nationwide spiritual awakening in our nation.
Back in the late 60’s when the country seemed to be imploding, talk of revolution was in the air. And then the unexpected happened … a revolution came.It was not a political or moral revolution, but a spiritual one.
TIME magazine declared it “The Jesus Revolution.” It was a full-blown spiritual awakening.
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A film by that same title was released early this year and it became a smash hit in theaters not only here in the United States but also around the world. The movie tells the story of my testimony and that of my wife, Cathe, as we lived through a tumultuous time in our country’s history.
Will we ever have another Jesus Revolution in America again? Perhaps. Our nation desperately needs one.
Our young people are hurting like never before. Social media is like gasoline poured on an already out-of-control fire. Depression and feelings of hopelessness have skyrocketed among teens. Teen suicide and teen depression are on the rise. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young Americans.
Our young people need help. They need God. We all do.
I do see some promising spiritual signs in our nation right now.
One week ago we had a two-night event called the Harvest Crusade at the Honda Center in Southern California. Over 32,000 people, many of them very young packed into an arena with thousands turned away.
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Thousands of Christians worshipped God together with one voice and I shared a message of hope from the Gospel. In two days, 3,735 people made a profession of faith to follow Jesus Christ. Another 200,000 plus watched live online with 3,000 making a profession of faith.
That to me is a very hopeful sign. But what happened the next weekend was mind-blowing.
We held a “Jesus Revolution Baptism” at Pirate’s Cove beach, the site of the baptisms from the days of the 1960s Jesus movement, and 20,000 people showed up. In the heyday of the Jesus Revolution, we did not have crowds like this. This is unprecedented. It is something fresh and new that God is doing.
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Thousands stood in a half-mile-long line, patiently waiting for hours to be baptized. When it was all said and done, we baptized 4,500 people. This may be the largest mass baptism in history. At the very least, it is certainly one of the largest.
This is significant for two reasons.
First of all, It happened in this day and age of cultural collapse. And the majority of those baptized were very young.
Secondly, it happened in California of all places. Not in the Bible Belt. Not in the south where there is a Church on every corner. California is where the last great spiritual awakening happened. Will it also be the site for the next one? I hope and pray so. I have hope for the soul of America.
But let’s start as individuals and make sure we have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We can change this nation for the better, one person at a time, and one soul at a time. Yes, it’s true that many have forgotten God. But He has not forgotten us.
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Greg Laurie is an Evangelist and the Pastor of Harvest Church in Southern California and Hawaii. His movie, “Jesus Revolution” is streaming now and will be released on Netflix on July 31.
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