This is the State of the Union season, where our president will address the nation, governors will address their respective states, and mayors will address their respective cities. They will unveil their dreams for today and hopes for tomorrow.
Questions Worth Asking
Who is addressing the spiritual state of our nation? Are we really trusting only in governmental powers and processes to heal our land?
I love America and believe each citizen needs to be involved in charting the future of our nation. The church has compartmentalized its faith from influencing our nation far too long, just as most of America's leaders compartmentalize their faith from their politics. Today, our nation has become a product of this sad reality.
We need to return to the conviction that a faith worth believing is a faith worth dying for. Our faith cannot be checked at the door like a piece of luggage at an airport.
The Time Is Now
The time is now for the church to rise up and address the spiritual state of our nation. With compassion, we need to tell it like it is. With hope, we need to share it like we believe it. With fervency, we need to pray like God alone is our hope.
The time is now for our nation to recognize that we cannot fix ourselves. The signs of our brokenness are glistening in our dark world.
From the blatant destruction of the family, killing the unborn child, continuing racial tension, rebelling authority, the ongoing reality of poverty, the rising threat of our security, clear attacks against religious liberty and, of all things, the arrogance to believe the highest court in our land can rule on what the Bible says is genuine marriage, testifies just how broken we really are.
Where Do We Go From Here?
I am just one man and one pastor of a local church. I refuse to be silent and see our nation continue to struggle. Therefore, I humbly submit four actions that will change the spiritual state of our nation:
1. We need to repent. Repentance occurs when we have a change of mind. This change of mind changes our behavior.
As a nation, we need to personally and collectively repent of our sins. We need to ask God for His free gift of forgiveness for the sins we have committed, resulting in change from that point forward.
2. We need to return to God. America is a nation that was built on a deep belief in God. It was a desire for religious liberty that served as the catalyst for the beginning of our nation. While we have gone through ups and downs in our history, God has been very merciful and gracious toward us.
It is time to return to God. It is time that we stop making every issue about ourselves, posturing to ensure we get our way. God's way is the only way. There is no other. Anything less than God's way diminishes our happiness, our fulfillment and even our liberty.
3. We need the church to wake up. Churches all over our nation need to wake up from the slumber we find ourselves in as a whole. We need pastors to return to their spiritual calling, be rekindled by the fire of God and declare the hope we have in the Lord. As a pastor goes, so goes the church.
As the church in America goes, so goes our nation. The evidence is overwhelming of just how broken we are as a nation. This is the greatest hour for the church to rise up and be the church. Never more has America needed the church to lead forward, serving and influencing our communities with compassion and hope.
4. We need spiritual awakening. In our history, there have been seasons of spiritual awakening that have influenced the spiritual state of our nation dramatically. Lives were changed and sub-cultures became different. Spiritual awakening is our greatest need in America today. This is why I have written a free e-book entitled Pleading With Southern Baptists that calls us to spiritual awakening.
There are many who have probably never even thought about this need. Others may feel we have gone too far. But I want to assure you: God can do more in a moment than we can ever do in a lifetime.
Wherever you are in life, would you just stop for one moment and pray something like this, "God, would you please bring spiritual awakening to America? It is our greatest need."
America's greatest need is the next great move of God. This is our hope.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd has been a pastor for over 37 years. Since 1986, Pastor Floyd has served as the senior pastor of Cross Church, Northwest Arkansas, which has baptized over 17,000 people during his tenure. Cross Church was one of the first churches in America to go multi-site. In June 2014, Pastor Floyd was elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has authored over 20 books including FORWARD: 7 Distinguishing Marks For Future Leaders, releasing in 2015.
For the original article, visit pastors.com.
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