The patriot

in me says, "If the United States of America becomes a fallen country;"

but, the spiritual realist in me says, "When the United States of

America becomes a fallen country, no one will hold responsibility for

the fall save the church alone." God will hold the church and the

church alone, accountable for the total moral collapse of this great nation.

God would have

no sound reason to hold elected politicians accountable; they are simply

staying faithful to what they know politics. God would have no just reason

to hold sinners drug traffickers for example accountable; they are simply

doing what comes naturally.

We all can

remember a former president on whom we would have loved to lay the moral

depravity of our land. Can't! He was simply following the lusts of his

flesh, much like FDR, JFK, LBJ and now we know, the venerable Thomas Jefferson.

Presidents are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States;

they are not sworn to uphold the Word of God.

But there is

a group of people perhaps meeting around the corner from your house who

are responsible and accountable. The group is called the church. The group

may want to bury its head in the sand of indifference; still, that group

in its local expression and that group in its national expression is accountable

to God for the moral mess of this nation.

My radical

thinking was prompted several years ago as I visited Uganda, a country

raped by ruthless dictators. At a national prayer summit, one brave pastor

stood and said, "There's nothing wrong with Uganda; there's everything

wrong with the church in Uganda." Historians will write Uganda's

story with accounts of poor education, little industry, power-hungry tribal

leaders, and circumstances ripe for exploitation. Heaven, however, may

write Uganda's history different, including accounts of the church's failure

to stand up to totalitarianism or the church's embracing survival rather

than spiritual integrity. Indeed, as that Ugandan pastor spoke, God may

lay at the feet of the Christian church all of Uganda's misery.

Is it different

in America (speaking of the U.S.A.)? Seriously, the church barely yawned

when the Supreme Court rendered Roe v. Wade, giving the go-ahead signal

to the slaughter of unborn babies. The church, which should be the conscience

of America, seems to have become comfortable serving as the country's

consort.

Today, locally

and nationally, the church and her mighty preachments are held captive

to political and moneyed interests. Ask the average pastor which Biblical

subjects that are taboo in his or her congregation. The Apostle Paul was

appalled to learn that right smack dab in the church at Corinth immorality

was being overlooked. A man was sleeping with his father's wife and the

church was accepting of it as we are today (1 Corinthians 5: 1,2).

When Frenchman

Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1831 at age 25, he

was so impressed with our country that he wrote a two volume set titled

Democracy in America. Today, historians say, de Tocqueville's books constitute

one of the most comprehensive and insightful books ever written about

the United States. His books are still required reading for history and

political science students.

But, this is

what will shock your socks off: de Tocqueville observed that the strength

and might of America could not be found in its halls of government nor

in its industrial power. He said the strength and might of America was

found in her churches. What has happened in the intervening years? What

has the church become? Has the church simply become a social gathering

of reformed sinners, having abandoned its prophetic role not only nationally

but also within its own membership?

Has our pleasure-bent

culture so infiltrated the church that the church is in business to please

everyone except the Big One?

The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor

of River's Edge

Community Church in Fayetteville.

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