God and America

What does God expect of America? That may seem like a very presumptuous question. I do not claim to have received any direct communication from God on this matter. The only authority that can be cited for answering a question about what God’s thoughts would be on a matter is an appeal to Holy Scripture. For this discussion I presuppose that the Bible is the only book God has written and it remains the sole source of revelation of His mind. But back to the question. Why is it necessary to seek God’s truth about America? The question, in my estimation, is answered in its asking. God exists. He has spoken. We must listen. God is our creator, rules sovereignly over the universe, and is infinitely wise. We owe our existence to Him. We ignore God’s counsel to our own peril.

God expects America to fulfill its role as a nation among nations. Human governments exist to promote the public good and to restrain evil (Rom. 13:1-8). This of course presumes that the citizenry knows what is good and what is evil. Without some minimal moral categories no nation can survive for very long. Public order must be maintained. Freedoms are to be protected, and citizens must fulfill their responsibilities to government; obey the laws, participate in civic affairs, pay taxes, and assist in the defense of the country. Christians have a special interest in the protection of personal freedom and a general state of peace within the nation. This is marked out by Paul in his admonition to the church to pray for those in authority that they may be converted and that conditions favorable to the spreading of the gospel would exist (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

God expects America to honor His moral law. This law is written within every human being and in the record of divine revelation, the Bible (Rom. 2:14-15). The “interaction of conscience and innate morality may result in a good life” (Charles Ryrie). If and when the general compliance with God’s moral law occurs, our nation will be a better place to live. But when people violate God’s moral law and invert the standards of justice there will be societal dissolution. The death of a culture is guaranteed when evil is called good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20). We are living in a time when America is undergoing a mega “cultural shift.” The redefinition of marriage to include same-sex marriage is one of those morally insane changes that are evidence of the death throes of a civilization. The war against the children of our nation is accelerating at an alarming pace. Child pornography, child prostitution, and sexual molestation of children are a grief to the conscience of morally sound people. God came after nations with a big stick who did not protect the innocent and defenseless (Amos 1). We are paying the penalty for our love affair with moral relativism. Thank God for those law-makers and government agencies who seek to stem the tide of moral evil that exploits children.

God expects America to repent of its wickedness. Ancient Nineveh was sent a prophet of God (reluctant as that prophet was) to call the Assyrian people to their moral and spiritual senses. The prophet Jonah, after the chastening of the Lord, went about that great capital of the Assyrian empire preaching repentance. Nineveh was at the center of an idol worshiping, cruel, and tyrannical nation in the eighth century B.C. (Jon. 1:2; Nah. 3). Amazingly, by God’s grace, the king and the people turned to God in sackcloth. They humbled themselves before God Almighty, turned from their wicked ways, and cried out to God for forgiveness. God took notice of their repentance and spared them from judgment. This great revival in Nineveh is a witness to the accountability of all nations to a holy God. America would do well to take notice of this story of God’s grace. Do we think that God does not notice the moral wickedness that blights our land? There will be a pay-day some day. While it is true that in a very real sense we are already under the judgment of God (Rom. 1:18-32), how long will God be longsuffering toward our nation? No one knows. But God will not allow His righteous, moral standards to be flaunted in the name of tolerance, multi-culturalism, or whatever human contrivance is used to declare independence from Him.

God expects America to acknowledge His sovereign rule over all nations (Psa. 22:28). This is a reality whether it is acknowledged or not. The nation that honors God and His everlasting dominion is on the right side of human history. When King Nebuchadnezzar, the ancient king of Babylon, was at ease in his house and prospering in this palace he was on his way to a rendezvous with God. As Nebuchadnezzar strutted about his city and bragged of his greatness God cut him down to size (Dan. 4:4, 30, 32-35). The mighty monarch of Babylon publicly confessed God’s absolute sovereignty after a humiliating experience of groveling in the dirt like an animal. The nation that sets out to banish God from its collective conscience is doomed to its own demise. Having “in God we trust” on our currency is no automatic protection against divine wrath, but it counts for something, especially if justice, mercy, and humility before God are woven into the fabric of our nationhood.

Many Americans take a smug measure of self-satisfaction in this nation’s brain trust, power, and wealth. But such a self-congratulatory outlook is misguided and ultimately disastrous. God has placed His premium upon a different kind of person. The prophet Jeremiah splashed some theological cold water in the face of a nation that had viewed itself as exceptional; “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 9:23-24). Let us each determine to be the kind of Americans that delight God.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church

Global Warning

Global warming as a media fixation has taken back seat to the presidential primaries. But that doesn’t mean it has gone away. The theory of man-made global warming has attracted adherents with a religious-like zeal. Former vice-president Al Gore has been the drum major for the climate-change crusaders whose ranks are filled with professional meteorologists, other scientists, politicians, and the main-stream media. The rush to save our planet has also been joined by various Christian leaders and organizations. Mark Bergin in World Magazine recently reported that “Many other nongovernment relief organizations, such as Christian Aid, World Vision, and Oxfam International, are taking steps toward reducing their emissions and helping impoverished people prepare for potential changes in sea level, weather patterns, and agriculture.”

A Christian response to global warming predictions by necessity has to be multifaceted. There are many questions that have to be asked. Is global warming taking place and if so, is it man-made? Most would agree that there has been some increase in the climate temperature of our planet. But this does not mean that global warming is man-made. S. Fred Singer, professor emeritus of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia and president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, has stated, “…every scientist knows, correlation is not causation. During much of the last century the climate was cooling while CO2 levels were rising. And we should note that the climate has not warmed in the past eight years, even though greenhouse gas levels have increased rapidly.” Is there a “scientific consensus” that the burning of fossil fuels is the chief cause of warming today? Again, Singer observes that there is “no such consensus” and this is “not how science works.” He adds that “Science proceeds by the scientific method and draws conclusions based on evidence, not a show of hands.”

There is also another problem with the so-called “scientific consensus” argument. This bullying tactic has been used to shut down all objections to Darwinian evolution. How many times have evolutionists, especially those in the media, attempted to shout down the opposition with variations of “most scholars believe”? Consensus is no better than the presuppositions it brings to the discussion. But another question arises. If there is global warming, what can be done about it? It is not the purpose of this present discussion to offer proposed solutions. However, beware of those who have a vested financial interest in combating an alleged man-made global warming. Actually, there are some environmental advantages to a slightly warmer climate with more carbon dioxide. According to Fred Singer, “Economic studies have demonstrated that a modest warming and higher CO2 levels will increase GNP and raise standards of living, primarily by improving agriculture and forestry. It’s a well-known fact that CO2 is plant food and essential to the growth of crops and trees – and ultimately to the well-being of animals and humans.”

One of the special features of the debate over global warming is the slugfest that has started among various Christians. In a recent editorial in the AJC the executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics in Nashville, Robert Parham, rebukes current Southern Baptist Convention leaders for being caught in “a religious disconnect on (global) warming.” Parham, an ordained Baptist minister, thinks that “scientific consensus” should be enough to rally good Christians to the banner “of human-induced climate change.” He argues this by condescendingly chiding those who believe “in special revelation” (i.e., an inerrant and trustworthy Bible). If the Bible doesn’t speak about man-made global warming, then we can’t be sure if it is happening. That, according to Parham, is the self-imposed dilemma of Bible believers. This kind of shallow and herd-bound thinking about global warming calls for reminders in biblical realities.

Planet earth’s original climate was perfect. It had to have been. God created it and said that it was very good. Our weather problems began at the fall of man into sin. The curse of death was pronounced upon all creation. Thorns, thistles, and sweat replaced an ideal environment. Paradise was lost. Creation was subjected to futility. Adam and Eve’s descendants were consigned to a struggle against a hostile environment. Mankind has been trying to cope with the terrestrial thermostat since he was driven out of the garden. From the tropical climate of the pre-Flood world to the uniformity of the seasons in the post-Flood world human beings live in a groaning creation. Until the kingdom of God on earth when the curse on creation will be partially lifted, God has established a certain kind of uniformity in nature. In his notes on Genesis 8:22 (“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”) Dr. Henry Morris has commented that, “Absolute uniformity of the day/night cycle and the seasonal cycles assures at least general uniformity of functioning (allowing for statistical variations) of other processes.” In other words, the planet will function according to a principle of uniformity, even while creation groans and suffers, until that day when new heavens and a new earth become a reality (Rom. 8:22; 2 Pet. 3:13).

In the meantime human beings can do great damage to the environment. Forests can be cut down and replaced with earth scaring erosion. Animals can be hunted to extinction. Their natural habitats can be ravaged leaving them no place to live. Streams can be polluted by man-made pollutants. The air can be filled with enough particulate matter to make life unbearable. No one denies that mankind can do some incredibly bad things to the water he drinks, the air he breathes, and the ground in which he grows his crops. But can finite creatures actually destroy the planet? You would think so from listening to all the “save the planet” propaganda of recent years. What an arrogant boast. The claim is that the creature can actually do what only the Creator can do, end life on this earth as we know it. Human beings cannot save the planet anymore than they can save themselves from the wrath of a holy God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Sinful, fallen human beings flatter themselves with their vaunted aspirations much like our ancestors did who set out to build a religious monument on the plains of Shinar (Gen. 11:1-4). However well-intentioned the save-the-planet mentality may be, it is a fool’s errand.

But all this is not to say that we should be indifferent to the care of creation. Through common grace (the blessings God gives to all people that are not part of salvation from sin) God makes it possible for societies to maintain acceptable living conditions (“The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made….The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing” Psalm 145:9, 15-16). We should rejoice in and utilize all that science and technology offer us for making a better environment (clean air, pure water, and wise use of natural resources). Christians should be in the vanguard in both micro-environmentalism and macro-environmentalism. It is not a mark of good stewardship to litter, waste, and be indifferent to recycling. Industries should not be allowed to pollute air and water without accountability. Also to be factored into Christian environmentalism is the wise management of one’s personal resources. Money is not to be wasted. Conservation has always been important in a Christian world and life view. Conserving means economizing and economizing means the best possible use of money and time for the glory of God. Loving one’s neighbor calls for a commitment to doing all within our power to be good stewards of God’s gift of creation.

The problem is that environmentalism has become a religion to many. Under the cover of the “greening” of life a new totalitarianism has arisen. In the words of Charles Krauthammer, “Environmentalists, having proclaimed the ultimate commandment – carbon chastity – are preparing the supporting canonical legislation that will tell you how much you can travel, what kind of light you will read by, and at what temperature you may set your thermostat.” The “Church of Environmentalism” with all its dogmas and its sacramental service to reverse global warming fails to engage our minds with the most serious calamity of all. There is a coming global disaster. It is already in the making. The creation has been subjected by its Creator to futility, sometimes called the law of entropy. Decay and death are moving our planet and the universe inexorably toward dissolution. It is waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the new world order He will bring about. One day the curse that now rests upon nature will be removed and its great symphony of sighs will be a thing of the past (Rom. 8:20-21). Therefore, God has issued a global warning. He is going to shake the earth and the heavens (Heb. 12:26-27; Rev. 6:12-14). The ultimate global warming will take place. God will destroy the heavens and the earth by fire taking vengeance on those who do not know Him (1 Pet. 3:7; 2 Thess. 1:7-8). What are we to do? We are to turn from our unbelief and put our trust in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. One day this earth will be transformed into the paradise for which it was intended. The best is yet to be for those who belong to Jesus Christ.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church