The Slide Away from God

Yesterday I was musing to myself how far the US has come from its inception. Originally, the colonies were birthed out of a Biblical world view. While their application didn't always display absolute devotion to God, they recognized a few things very clearly. #1 - Rights come from God. The constitution of the US clearly reveals their view that the Creator has given men rights. #2- The role of the individual is accept the freedom to chase after (pursuit of happiness) the God given rights. #3- The role of government in this view is limited to assuring the ability to pursue those rights that God has given to man. Thus the government is to keep others from infringing upon the right to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Over time we have seen a shift away from the absolute truths of the Bible. Secular Humanistic philosophy differs from the Biblical view in that it puts man in the drivers seat. Human beings determine what is good - therefore (#1) rights come, not from God, but from the collective of men's best thinking This rejection of Biblical absolutes sets the stage for the following. The individuals role then is (#2) to aspire to the greatness of the group and the governments role is to (#3) to codify and insure the rights decided upon by the group.

Next in the slide away from God is the pursuit of Socialism. Based upon Humanism, the morphing is slight but important. (#1) Rights come from the elite leadership of the people, (#2) the individual works for the purpose to secure, for all the group, the rights deemed acceptable, and (#3) the governments role is to enforce the access to those rights and to squash any individualism that might threaten those predetermined rights.

Marxism is the next step in the slide away from a Biblical worldview. Here the rights are determined by (#1) Government. (#2) The individual is simply a cog in the communist machine- he loses all power to own for himself or to express individualism. He exists for the collective. (#3) Government is charged with the redistribution of all wealth.

If you read this far. Thanks. I'm sure that wasn't easy. Notice that in the first worldview people exist because of God's design and the government is the servant of the people. This is completely reversed the further you get away from a Biblical worldview. Man is no longer a free moral agent but the slave of the runaway governing body. Notice also, that Government usurps the place of God. It is the determiner of value, worth, and rights. Friends this is a dangerous slope, because all men are sinners, no men can be trusted with absolute authority.

In the recent days, the US has taken giant steps toward usurping the place of God and the individual. Confiscatory taxes on individuals, Education Reform, Nationalized health care, and the list goes on. Only when we return to the Scriptural understanding of man and God will we find the fulfillment of our aspirations for freedom. Americans need to wake up. Christians need to wake up and see that our country is being lead further away from a Biblical worldview and further into deception. As Government increasingly steals the place of God in the lives of the people we can be sure of a few things... deception will increase, it will be harder to reach the lost, and judgment will ensue.