Happy Birthday America

This weekend our nation celebrates its 250th birthday. It seems appropriate to reflect on the influence of Christians on the founding of America. John Witherspoon is one of my favorites. Witherspoon was a Scottish pastor and theologian who believed the Word of God had much to say about public life. Trained as a Presbyterian, he was known for his serious preaching against formal empty religion as he called for genuine conversion that produced holy living. In 1768 he accepted the call to become the President of what was then – The College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University. It became a training ground for both pastors and civic leaders. Witherspoon believed that human beings are sinful, therefore no government should trust unlimited power to rulers and thus a constitutional government was the best way forward. He preached a Biblical morality, warning that a nation declines when people have “lost a sense of God”. He did not argue that America was God’s chosen nation, but that God rules history and all leaders and citizens should live under God’s authority. He famously wrote, “He is the best friend to American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true religion and virtue.” Witherspoon was no American hero, nor perfect in his Biblical applications (most notably his owning of slaves), but he stands out as a pastor-theologian who believed the Word of God ought to shape our culture, mainly as genuine disciples of Christ attend to the holiness of their own lives, and then live on witness to the world around them. Salt and light! May all true disciples of Christ take a moment this week to both thank God for our Christian heritage and remember our role in the preservation of our nation. God’s plan has always been the establishing of healthy local churches equipping men and women to live as disciples in the mission field that is their own nation.