I understand that people across the nation are concerned, and it’s good to lighten the mood in abysmally dark times. So today, in celebration of the Fourth of July tomorrow, I want to highlight the good in America.
For obvious reasons, the United States was never mentioned in the Bible, but the United States encompasses a lot of what Israel was intended to be. The nation of Israel was part of God’s covenant with Abraham, that He would make an innumerable nation through his servant, but the excuse presented to Pharaoh for the exodus of the Israelites was “that [God’s people] may hold a festival for [Him] in the wilderness.” Likewise, many sects of Christianity moved to the New World to worship God in their own way. From the Catholics of Maryland to the Pilgrims of Plymouth to the Quakers of Pennsylvania, America has hosted dozens of large sects of Christianity, which cascaded into hundreds of sects through the Great Awakenings. While many would argue that the “festival” was a ruse instead of symbolism for a nation, the United States too would pursue greater goals under different pretenses. Independence was heralded under the pretense for better representation, and the freedom of slaves ushered in the quest to reunite the nation.
The United States has perhaps a unique knack of reforming its own ills. The nation is practically a hegemon on the continent, if not for the entire Western Hemisphere, so the nation has for centuries had time to soul-search. While the nation of Israel’s primary objective was to remain spiritually and politically alive, Americans, without such major enemies, delved deep into philosophy, industrialism, and other higher pursuits. The Americas were the first continents that Europeans used to dump their worst ills en masse, most notably slavery. Slavery was riddled throughout the American economy from the start. However, the injustices against the United States through the pushing of slavery would not stop the American people from pursuing its mission of liberty. While Denmark-Norway had nothing to lose when it led Europe through abolitionism, the United States pushed off its vile inheritance less than a century after its formation, sacrificing hundreds of thousands for the freedom of millions. Ask the Japanese about the Rape of Nanking, or the Turks about the Armenian Genocide, and you’ll be ostracized. Ask the Americans about slavery, and they will proudly reject it and announce the correction of the error.
This is fueled by the message of Christianity. All have sinned; if we attempt to atone for ours sins, we would implode in pursuit of redemption. But there is something salvageable in humanity, just as there is something salvageable in the United States. We recognize our flaws, but we also recognize that Jesus allowed us to abandon and ignore them. Because of this, we look to the future, becoming just by our existence one of the greatest forces for good the world has ever seen. We evangelized to and liberated entire continents, and helped save millions of lives in the process.
The United States is not perfect. It never was. But, through the faith of its populace in God, America has been able to move mountains. God has blessed America, and may He continue to do so for centuries to come.
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