Last week I received an email from a close friend. In it she shared her heart and as I read I wondered if she’d gotten an email directly from my brain. So, I just took some of what she said and I wanted to share it. Take it in, and think about it. I’m coming back to the States with a heart to see a generation of people who is ready to fight for God’s Kingdom to rest in America.
Here’s just a piece of what she shared:
It’s
true that America is fortunate in many ways; we’re not tattered by
wars, Christians aren’t martyred for their faith, we have medical
resources, there are churches galore. We’re not fighting Aids and
hunger like in Africa. Christians don’t have to worship in secret
or fear for their lives like in China. Children aren’t being stolen
to join a horrible rebel army like in Uganda. Parents aren’t selling
their children into sex slavery in order to survive. There are many
physical aspects that we don’t suffer from. So on the surface
level, yes America is very fortunate.
But
America has a far different disease. If you get into America down
deep, we have the disease of selfishness and self-reliance,
independence and rebellion. Don’t tell us what to do, we make our
own decisions. Don’t tell us what is truth, because there are no
absolutes and everything is relative. Don’t tell me I’m a sinner,
I’m not that bad compared to the next guy. Don’t tell me to wait
until marriage, I want it now and nothing’s going to happen. Don’t
tell me not to watch that or not go to that website, it’s my
computer I can do what I want and it’s ok to look as long as I
don’t touch. Don’t tell me not to talk like that. Don’t tell me
my life is not my own, I’ve been doing it on my own for quite some
time now and I’m doing just fine.
America
has the disease of self-righteousness, we think the world owes us and
we want to own the world. We value money and things, not time and
people. We don’t know our neighbors and we don’t want to. We get
to know the people we want to know and usually they’re people just
like us or people that we want to be like. If someone doesn’t
benefit us, then we want no part of them. We don’t want anyone to
truly know us, probably because we’ve barely taken the time to
figure out who we are ourselves. We want to be independent so no one
can tell us what to do. We want to be rich so we can have what we
want.
Americans
don’t understand discipline, patience, diligence, integrity, or
respect. Why make dinner when McDonald’s is just around the corner?
Why wait until we have the money to buy something when we can get it
on our credit card? And silence? Well that’s just uncomfortable.
Sitting still? Haven’t you seen my to do list? Quiet and peace (the
soulful kind) are no longer priorities. And you can forget having
family meal times or even knowing your own family at all. We’ve
become so private and individualized (and yes, this is coming from an
introvert). We don’t take time to look around Creation, we don’t
take time to walk and be and breathe it in. We fill up our days so we
don’t have to think or feel, we just do and go like robots so we
won’t realize we’re empty.
We
want bigger, better, and easier instead of seeking what is right,
simple, and has eternal worth. America is focused on the temporal and
the entertaining. Have you read your Bible today? Nope, but ask me
anything about Survivor or America’s Got Talent! I can’t find
time to be with Him, but I’ll tivo my favorite shows during the day
and watch them before I go to bed so I don’t miss an episode.
America
is an oxymoron. We’re considered rich by the world, but in God’s
eyes, I believe we’re a very poor country indeed. We’re stubborn,
obstinate, rebellious people that are so focused on individual
freedoms that we’ve lost sight of the One who makes us free. We
crave relationships on our own terms and want to love the way we want
to love without ever bowing to the Maker and Giver of Love. We want
the thrills and adventures but don’t seek the One who gives life
abundantly. We’ll try yoga and relaxation techniques but we won’t
give our worries and cares to the Prince of Peace.
Now
I’m sure this has all seemed quite pessimistic, dreary, and
unAnmerican. But the truth is, everything I’ve said is real. I’m
an American, I live amongst Americans, and I’m grateful to God that
I am American. Nonetheless, I’m realizing more and more how
desperately Americans need the God that we seem so set on forgetting,
ignoring, or disbelieving. Complacency runs rampant in this country,
in Christians especially. We weren’t called into God’s Kingdom to
simply sit around and watch this nation continue on it’s desolate
and destructive path. We were called into God’s Kingdom to make His
Truth known where we are, which in our case is America.
Stay tuned for the hope that God is revealing…
