With so many points of view today on so many different contemporary topics, I make no apologies that my “world view” filter is mostly through a Judeo/Christian lens. Whatever the topic, from gardening to gun control all the way back to abortion and beyond, my thoughts are formed by what I believe about where we came from and how the earth was initially birthed.

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a creator God who sent His Son to earth to set us free. That I can’t always figure God out or understand how everything fits together is just one of those things that we, as human beings, live with. (1 Corinthians 13:12 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.)

Lately I have been challenged to reassess my feelings and/or thoughts concerning the United States and whether or not we have ever been a “Christian Nation”. There are many thought streams floating past us that would suggest that we, as a nation, need to return to our roots in order to avoid God’s judgement on our united states.

That we have fallen away or turned our backs (judicial and otherwise) from many of the principles that our great nation was founded on is not in doubt. We have gone from children in territorial schools using the Bible as a reading primer to a theory of separation of church and state that almost prohibits bibles from being read in public schools.

I firmly believe that our nation was very much founded on Judeo/Christian ideals but that most of those political movers and shakers were indeed “Deists” who did not necessarily believe that Jesus was Lord and savior. Be that as it may, research that I have done suggests that a great percentage of the population at that point in our history were what we would call believers.

In my opinion, God does not “bless” nations—He blesses people. If all those people are gathered into a nation, then that nation can receive whatever it is that God wants for them collectively. When I hear that we must return to our Christian roots to avoid God’s judgement or that we are already under judgement, I am not so sure that I fully understand what is really being said.

There was a time, not so long ago, when I thought I understood this—that as a nation, we had to return to this golden era and everything would be all right.

A while back I listened to a teaching by Kris Vallotton that really caused me to think about God’s judgement and what that really means. His belief was that, we as a nation, were not yet being judged by God but that in reality we were reaping what we had/have sown.

The reaping and sowing principle is mentioned several times and in many different ways in the Bible. It is sort of like cause and effect—when we choose an action we choose the consequences of that action as well. Most farmers know what this means—if you plant just a few seeds you only harvest a few vegetables. From a spiritual point of view, if you sow bad stuff you reap bad stuff.

What Vallotton used in his sowing and reaping text was the issue of legalized abortion in the United States. In a nutshell, his theory was that we were in effect judging ourselves by allowing millions of babies to be aborted and in a cause and effect sort of way, we had therefore denied ourselves of all the benefits that many of those aborted, might have brought to us, had they been allowed to live.

It is not a stretch to imagine that amongst the millions aborted there may have been some who might have lived to find a cure for cancer. How many doctors, economists, scientists, humanitarians, and you name it are not among the living today because of Roe v Wade.

What I have gathered from this teaching is that we don’t really need God to judge us for whatever reason we might deserve—we are doing a pretty good job on our very own. And if we keep it up, we will, as a nation, be in for a lot more cause and effect consequences. I realize that this subject is huge and I cannot really do it justice in a few hundred word blog.

What I have realized is this—before a nation can return to anything, the individuals that make up that nation must return. In other words, you can’t really say the church in America is not being a light without looking at the people who collectively are the church.

In other words, it is my responsibility to be the light and salt. It is out of my belly that rivers of living water flow. I am the temple of the Holy Spirit—God lives in me and is not sequestered in some steeple clad brick building on the corner of here and beyond.

It all comes down to the “people” level. If my “people” who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray…..He will hear our prayer and heal our nation”. My question is this: am I really up to the task as a “seed bearing” Christian to allow these seeds within me to be scattered about in order that good fruit will be brought forth. I don’t have the answer yet, but this is the path that I am on and looking for the long ride.