Top Ten Issues Contributing to the Demise of America

The Daily Jot


Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.




Tuesday, June 21, 2011


Top Ten Issues Contributing to the Demise of America



The top ten issues contributing to the demise of this country are not as obvious as one might think. Of course, we can all agree that government spending, homosexuality, taking God out of the public square, marriage under attack, political correctness, one world foreign policy, abortion, limiting freedom of religion, taxes, unemployment, and inflation may be issues that are tearing apart our nation. But I believe, and you may disagree or agree, that the way to solve all these issues is not by focusing on the issues themselves, but rather on the cause of the issues. In reality, there are another set of top ten issues that if they were solved, there would be no problem whatsoever in this nation. Here's my take on them (early apologies to those who like the short "Jots", please bear with me):



Lack of a relationship with the one true God. The first commandment is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3)." If you are going to be tolerant of other gods--Islam, for example, you are bowing down to them because Islam means submission to allah. In order to turn around your life, the life of your family, the lives of your countrymen, you must have a relationship with God and know Him and be obedient to him.



Putting idols before God, family and country. The second commandment is "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4)." The Lord goes on to say in verse 5: "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." Is television your idol? Is your job your idol? Is your spouse or children your idol? Is your political party your idol? Who are you serving and why? The condition of this nation cannot change without its people putting aside their idols and serving God.



Misguided and false doctrines. If you are a Christian who sits around waiting for the rapture, or shuns involvement in the public square because you wish to be holy, or whatever the excuse, it is likely you are following a false doctrine. These false doctrines can be anything taught in the church that distracts you from doing what Christ commanded, especially in the Great Commission (preaching the gospel to the world and making disciples). If we were all doing what Christ told us to do, our nation would be an irresistible beacon. Instead it is falling apart. Ephesians 4:14 says, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."



Lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge." With all our technology and information, we have become a most ignorant people. In order to know how to restore a family, a community or a nation, we need to understand the principles of God. Our history, the heritage of the social contract that spawned recognition of inalienable rights from God and why we protect them with a limited government; how current issues match up with God's word; the principles of the Bible that cause a man to prosper or his demise--are all knowledge of which this contemporary American society is largely ignorant. If you want to change the society, it seems that you have to know where it has been, where it is, and why, then apply biblical principles to fix it. How can you do that if you lack knowledge?



Separation of Church and Society. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." If your church has become a club with no or little outreach, it could be separated from society. If you are allowing society or accepting that society is able to preclude God from the public square, you are unable to let your light so shine. There can be no separation of Church from society in the sense that Romans 12:21 charges us to overcome evil with good. All too often church has become so grafted to society or ingrained in the humanist way that people cannot tell the sheep from the goats.



Lack of moral clarity. We are supposed to be in the world, not of it. 1 John 2:15 tells us "Love not the world, neither the things in the world." We need to know biblical morals and apply them to our society. The whole separation of church and state argument has had a horrible impact on Christians. How many have come to believe this? Even Exodus 18:21 tells us how to select our leaders: "Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rules of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." America's founders believed that our Republic could not survive without moral and religious people in leadership. From the government schools to television to social media--all these things are breaking down moral clarity by the second.



Apathy. Ephesians 6:19, 20 says, "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." We are not to be an apathetic people. Yet how many of us are so bogged down with all things in life that we do not even care to get up and do something about the condition of our family, our community or our nation? One person can make a difference. You can make a difference.



Pride. Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Pride stands in the way of a lot of things. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Want your land/nation healed--this is the formula, but you have to give up the pride first.



Paralysis. Paralysis is caused by being totally overwhelmed by the immensity of the issues we face. They have become so great that we cannot begin to wrap our minds around understanding them, let alone how to solve them. But the Word of God again has the answer: Philippines 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Every problem is solved by starting to solve it. Paralysis is not an answer.



Covetousness. Exodus 20:17 says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor hi ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's." We do not need to keep up with the Jones's. This is a distraction. Covetousness is what has caused the government to run up debt so huge that every family owes some $520,000 as their share of it. This is a great evil perpetrated upon our lives. If we were not working so hard to accumulate stuff, we would have time to exercise our civic duty.



These ten items are starting points. They are just my opinion. I believe that we need to change hearts in order to change the nation. If people were truly living the Christian life, the issues mentioned in the first paragraph would not even exists. Building up people is a lot harder than sitting back and complaining about the world around us. But that is what we are called to do. Blessings to you and your house. Be encouraged, even inspired.



Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!

Bill Wilson