Are We Spectators of Our Demise?

Will the 21st century be a time or war or wonder? Who will win the moral battle for the souls of Americans? Can our society survive its moral onslaught before time runs out? As believers, we hold so much in our hands. We have the answers and the power to implement those answers. We cannot fail to respond to God’s call for repentance and confrontation. But how will we do that?

As a young Christian, I read a book entitled The Strong Name by Dr. James Stewart, a New Testament scholar from Edinburgh, Scotland. He said,

“If we could but show the world that being committed to Christ is no tame humdrum sheltered monotony, but the most exciting adventure the human spirit could ever know, those who have been standing outside the Church looking with suspicion at Christ, will come crowding in to pay allegiance, and we might well experience the greatest reviving since Pentecost.”

His words made a lasting impression on me.

Dr. Stewart understood what the Church needs today: to illustrate the love of Christ, the joy of the abundant life, the strength of Christian fellowship, and the hope we have for eternity. The world is waiting. But are we so tied up in our sinful, complacent, materialistic lifestyles that we cannot change? Will we be the spectators in the stands while our nation loses the most important contest in its history?

If you commit yourself to helping restore America, you will be joining many ordinary people who are becoming extraordinary through the power of God—and who are already giving of themselves to do their part:

• The man who said “yes” to God and was able to do the impossible—share the gospel with 7,000 high school students! 

• The woman who obediently had a one-to-one Bible study with her sister (who is a recovering alcoholic) and watched God multiply the message through her sister to her family and friends. 

• The man who believed God for big things and spear-headed an effort to put the JESUS film in 1.7 million homes in Alabama.

My dear friends, unless a great army of ordinary believers like these is willing to commit to restoring America, I am convinced we will not survive. But as the church of Jesus Christ, we are not helpless victims. We can be the intercessory force and front-line leaders who turn this nation around! Like many national Christian leaders, I believe God will give America another chance as He did for Nineveh, if we truly repent.

We are engaged in spiritual warfare for the minds and souls of men, women, young people, and children. We know our enemy; his tricks and schemes are not new. However, he is a defeated foe and the cause of righteousness will triumph in the end. But our ultimate victory must not blind us to the realities of the present. Important battles need to be won now!

There is cause for hope, but it is a conditional hope. God will move only when His people take Him at His word and act boldly and courageously out of faith and obedience. Whether America survives or not is in our hands. There is a choice to be made. It may well be our final choice.

Despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us (Romans 8:37–39, TLB).

By Bill Bright & John DaMoose

©1998 Copyright Bright Media Foundation