Is It My Fault?

The topic of this post has been very heavy on my heart in the last few months. We had something happen at church last night that has prompted me to write about my thoughts on this. I’m not going to go into what happened last night, but it applies to the topic. This may end up being a weighty subject, but I’m writing it more to get everyone to think. It’s not intended to be a depressing topic.

The thing that has been weighing on me is the state of our country. This is not intended to be a political topic, nor am I writing it to hit on anything political at all. What I mean by the state of our country is how, morally, everything has gone down the drain.

What has happened to our country? I have come to tears on so many occasions when I think about the world in which my children are going to have to grow up. It is anything but safe out there, physically, for people in general. But when I think about the moral health of our country, it brings me to tears. I am tangibly scared for my children. I know we aren’t supposed to live in fear. I know we are supposed to rely on God to protect us and our children. But, we also need to be vigilant and ready for what may come our way. It’s not always going to be a blatant act for which we need to be ready. It might come from someone or something that we know. It might be something that just sneaks into the picture ever so quietly that is meant to undermine our beliefs and morals. The Devil is a sneaky creature and will use anyone and anything to try to trip us up.

So, my question is, what has happened to our country? This country was founded on biblical principles. It was founded on basic freedoms and liberties. Why is everyone trying to take that away from us? Why is it “offensive” for us to be Christians? The biblical and Christian values that this country was started on are now considered an offense to society. Have any of these people ever thought that maybe what they do offends us Christians? Or, even more importantly, have they ever thought that what they are doing offends God? I sure wouldn’t want to offend God. Someone may “get away” with offending God now, but it’s definitely not going to end well for them later. God has full control and authority over every single thing in the universe. And that includes the people who want Christians and Christianity gone. God has the final say in every miniscule detail possible. I know I wouldn’t want to be on the disciplining end of that!

So, what has caused this moral decline and downfall? What could possibly be the reason why people are so set on doing the wrong things? It all starts with the homes followed closely by the fundamental churches. It starts with the homes, because that is where everything starts. That is where children are supposed to be getting the most training in the moral things of life. Parents are supposed to be teaching their children Godly ways. We are supposed to be teaching our children the difference between right and wrong. We are supposed to be teaching them how to respect authority and rules. We are supposed to be disciplining them when they do something morally wrong (that’s a whole different topic that I’m not going to get into, but, NO, I do not mean discipline them by beating them).  We are supposed to be the role models that they look up to. If we aren’t doing things properly, they won’t be either. And therein lies the problem.

If parents are not acting responsibly and morally, then why should we expect our children to do any differently? They aren’t, for the most part, going to learn how to act properly when they watch their parents go out drinking every night and doing things that are not according to God’s morals. We cannot tell our children to “do as I say, not as I do.” That is not going to work. Kids are going to learn how to act by watching what their role models do. Parents need to step up and be the proper role models for their children.

I’m going to repeat that. Parents need to be the proper role models for their children. If we aren’t, someone else will be. And that, to me, is unbelievably scary. I don’t want my children to look up to someone who doesn’t hold the same beliefs as we do. I don’t want my children to learn from someone who doesn’t respect authority or other people in general. I don’t want my children to learn from their kids either. If the chain doesn’t get stopped somewhere, it’s just going to get worse the longer it continues.

The next piece to the puzzle is our fundamental churches. Which actually leads us back to the parents. If the parents don’t bother to bring the children to church, the church can’t help with the moral raising of said children. Like I said, it all starts with the home. But, the church also plays a vital role in the moral raising of a child. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can tell my children the same thing a hundred times, but they still won’t believe it. Until they hear it from someone else. Then it will occur to them that maybe, just maybe, mom knows what she’s talking about. The church is designed to be that second voice. The church is where the teaching at home is reinforced to the children. The kids need to hear the truth from more than one source. They need to hear about God and His love from more than one source. If the kids aren’t being brought to church, they will never get that extra reinforcement and may never fully understand what God and the Bible are all about.

But, the church can also have its own set of issues. If the church is not carefully guarded, things can sneak into the congregation and cause problems. That is what started last night. There was an event that took place last night that will be addressed this week. If no one were to address it, then that issue would slowly start to slide its way into the church and it would cause problems that could lead to the downfall and, possibly, the eventual death of the church. That is a very scary thing to think about. This is the state of some of our fundamental churches in our country. Things have been allowed to come into the church that have no business being there, and it has caused many churches to slide down a slippery slope that there is no coming back from.

I believe it is because of these two main things that our country is in the state that it is. The generation that is the parental generation now was never taught how to properly act. They were never taught how to respect and fear God. They were never taught right from wrong. And, from everything I can see, they were never even taught what a moral is. The generation that I am a part of is so morally lost and in the gutter that our country has faltered and failed. The generation before this was also a major loss. Some of the people in leadership roles in our country right now are so morally in the dumpster that our country is being driven into the ground. They are literally killing our country. They are trying to do things that benefit only them, but in turn, that is ruining the greatest country in the world.

My main question for this post is whether this is my fault. Yes, I know I’m not directly making the laws that are allowing this stuff to happen, but what if it’s my fault because I don’t take a stand the way I should be? What if it’s my fault because I’m not enough of a prayer warrior? What if it’s my fault because I don’t do enough research on the candidates that are being voted into office. What if it’s my fault because I settle for “good enough” when I could be pushing for the best?

What do you think could happen in this country if Christians started acting like Christians again? What do you thing would change if Christians started to stand up for what is right and true and honest? What if Christians would actually get down on our knees and faces and wholeheartedly pray for our country and our leaders? What could happen? What could be accomplished? God doesn’t want to see His people oppressed like we have been. And it’s only going to get worse. What would happen if we asked God to give us the strength and ability to stand up for what is morally right in this country? God is bigger than any circumstance. What if we earnestly asked God to “right the ship,” per se? What would happen if we followed the commandment of “Pray without ceasing?” Would God be more willing to fix our country if we started acting the way we should be acting? What could happen if we allowed God to work? What if we stopped trying so hard to do things our way and let God take care of the situation? What if we submitted ourselves to God’s will and did what He asks of us? What if we got back to our conservative and fundamental foundation that our country was founded on? What do you think God could do with willing workers?

Now for the hard question. Is it my fault? Is it my fault because I don’t spend enough time on my knees in earnest prayer? Is it my fault because I am not willing to do what God wants me to do? Is it my fault? Is it every Christian’s fault? Is it my fault? This has been a very hard-to-swallow pill. I have been thinking and praying about this for quite a while now. It has definitely woken me up and made me realize that I don’t do nearly as much as I should be doing. My main goal in life is to please God. But have I been doing that? I hope I have been. But the thoughts I wrote about today have had me thinking and searching a little harder and more diligently. It opened my eyes. Maybe even more than I was hoping or expecting, but it did.

Is it my fault?