Sunday, January 04, 2009 "Who is America?"

Sunday, January 04, 2009

"Who is America?"

Who is America? Who are we for that matter? Short simple questions, but the answers run deep and can be complex.

You see I personally have certain convictions that govern who I am. These convictions help guide me throughout life, they determine my character and one might say to a great extent even my personality. They dictate how I respond to pressure, fear, and the general complexities of life. They even sustain and create courage or the lack thereof. 

These convictions determine how I respond to or initiate love as well as hate. So who am I really? Who are you? We are a product of these convictions that have been formed in each of us over the years and the influences of the culture around us.

The greatest influence upon my life has been my exposure to God’s Word, (the Bible). It brought me to a greater understanding of who God is as well as who man is. It opened my understanding of my need for a saviour and allowed me to receive the life He offers us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Each and every day I see more of Him and this experience helps me to become conformed to that image. It is defining who I am more and more each moment of my life.

Let each of us for a moment think about who we are, and how we view life, then impose upon that image what we might be like had we been influenced by another culture or religion. We would be the same physical being, but would our names define the same person? That is how important these convictions are, not only to us as individuals but also as a nation. Nations have character too, based upon the general convictions of its people. So, who is America?

You see a person can change because of certain new influences upon one’s life, they can change for the better or the worse. They can be made stronger or weaker, wiser or more ignorant. Nations can change as well. My name means something to those that know me well, but if I choose to depart from my Christian faith, and allow other influences upon my life, my name may remain the same, but what they know me to be, will not.

You may see now where I am going with this. Who is America? Are we still defined by those founding principles that established the convictions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Through the name remains the same, does the character remain the same? Does that character burn within us as a people, does our government flourish with the heart of sacrifice, or are we just a nation of symbols from the past?

President-elect Obama has chosen to take the oath of office for the Presidency of the United States while placing his hand upon the Lincoln Bible. Does this mean the Christian values and principles upon which President Lincoln resided are his own, or is this just a symbol from the past that has no real influence?

President Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that day.” - Abraham Lincoln. In a statement to Noah Brooks.

“It is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisement; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions in full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action.” - Abraham Lincoln. August 12, 1861, in a Proclamation of a National Day of Humiliation, Prayer, and Fasting.

President-elect Obama has also elected to have Pastor Rick Warren pray at his inauguration, pressure is being placed by some upon Pastor Warren not to invoke the Name of Jesus in his prayer. It appears he will, but we will have to wait and see.

A new Capital Visitors Center is being completed, but references to our religious heritage, the convictions which burned in the hearts of our Founders and our people have been omitted. Symbols can easily be removed only if the convictions have long since gone. We that ware the name American, shall we not look to our convictions and see if our name still means the same?

May God bless each of you,

David