This is an interesting conference that is coming up. It is called “Reclaiming America for Christ.” It is headed up by our friends at Coral Ridge Ministries (D. James Kennedy). While I love and respect Kennedy, I am not sure what I believe about this movement that he has been heading up for some time to “Reclaim America.” I have always been hesitant to claim any right to a property based upon historic lineage. Os Guinness once said that Christians only have the right to speak up in a culture to the degree that we can intellectually defend and live by our beliefs. In other words, no matter how loud we scream that this nation is ours, people are only acting responsibly when they deny us an audience based upon a lack of intellectual persuasiveness or practical integrity with regards to our beliefs. I think (and you know this is coming) that we need to take an inductive approach to winning the culture rather than a deductive. The first step is to reclaim the minds of Christians so that we will in turn represent God well in every society. If we then impact culture and win the nation (and I am inclined to think we will), well and good. But who knows how and when revival truly happens? The wind blows where it will. All we can do is our part in representing God in the way we think and live. If America gets reclaimed in the process, what a joy. What do you think? Are we to reclaim America?
1 Response to "How do we get America back? Or should we?"
I largely agree with your analysis and solution. I am leery of the “Reclaiming America for Christ” strategy in that they wrongly assume a culture in the USA that probably only exists in pockets of a few regions of our country. However, to disengage from politics and focus only or largely inductively (which is by all means necessary) may be a false dilemma? I like what Wayne Grudem has written in his book “Politics According the the Bible” regarding biblical examples of God’s means for changing cultures that aren’t necessarily “Christian.”