The Secret of American Exceptionalism

After his initial visit to the United States, French philosopher Alexander De Tocqueville was asked to share his impressions of nineteenth century America. He made the following astute observation: “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” De Tocqueville went on to say that as he searched for the secret to America’s greatness, he did not find it in her bustling centers of commerce nor her political freedoms, but rather, in her pulpits aflame with righteousness. Our country began as a haven for those seeking religious refuge, economic opportunity, and social equality. The current illegal alien controversy notwithstanding, America still opens its arms to receive tens of thousands of foreign immigrants annually. Our country was founded on the twin concepts of individual freedom and individual responsibility, and we still enjoy the greatest liberties of any nation on earth. While there’s still a lot that’s wonderfully right about America, there are many reasons for grave concern as well. We’d be fooling ourselves if we tried to maintain an unjustifiable facade of greatness. The truth is, America, as we speak, is struggling to maintain its moral underpinnings and its economic lifeblood. It’s the month of May, the month chosen to annually celebrate the National Day of Prayer. I thought it might be helpful to take a retroactive look at our country to rediscover the principle elements that led to its past greatness, and how a return to those principles could lead us back to a place of divine blessing and national integrity. In Psalm 33 we find five timeless principles that apply, not only to the nation of Israel, but to any and every nation that chooses to honor God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12 of this Psalm states: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”. The surrounding verses of the Psalm provide key insights into the kind of nation that God blesses. I’d like to demonstrate how America met those conditions in the past, and how it can regain its place of prominence by reinstituting those same practices. AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM CAN BE TRACED TO HER PLACING TOP PRIORITY ON THE WORSHIP OF GOD. “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise Him.” Psa. 33:1-3 The content of the very first commandment given by God to Moses tells us all we need to know about how He feels about our worship of Him. He countenances no competition, condemning the worship of any other false gods. Since its earliest days as a settlement right through to the early 1900’s, America has been a genuinely religious and specifically Christian nation. One trip from New England, across the heartlands of the Midwest, and on out to the west coast, churches dot the landscape, a standing testimony to the pivotal role worship played in American life. Bringing it up to our modern day, well over 75% of Americans claim adherence to some form of nominal or Biblical Christianity. However, under closer scrutiny, many of these professing Christians exhibit gross ignorance of the most elemental truths of the faith. This indicates that religion in general and Christianity in particular, are on the wane in America. What could God do through an America that wholeheartedly returns to the faith of their Fathers? If the past is any indicator, He would bless it with spiritual revival, moral renewal, and economic prosperity. AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM CAN BE TRACED TO THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION OF HER LAWS. “The Word of the Lord is right and true; the Lord loves righteousness and justice.” Psa. 33:4-7 I was amazed some years ago to learn that there was a time in American history when the U.S. Congress wouldn’t sign any legislation into law unless it was based upon a Biblical principle. As the text states, the Word of God IS right, and any nation whose legal and judicial system is grounded in that Word is destined to receive divine blessing. In its earlier formative years America did just that, and we’re still reaping the blessings and benefits of our wise and godly predecessors. But telltale signs abound where an opposite course has been taken, and too many laws reflect an actual disdain for God’s moral and social law. What could God do through an America that recaptured its sense of moral accountability to God, and established laws that were in keeping with His Word? I’m completely confident that multiplied blessings would once again descend upon our land, crime rates would drop through the floor, new prison construction would cease, and our streets would once again be safe to walk. AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM CAN BE TRACED TO ITS PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF DEPENDANCE UPON GOD. “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him.” Psa. 33:8 Its 2012 and we’ve come a long way baby. Unfortunately, that so called “progress” has too often been in the wrong direction. For example, a mere 15 years ago a school student could say the pledge of allegiance mentioning God, but that has been repeatedly legally challenged. School children used to be free to pray before noontime meals, but some have now been told they can’t pray in a public school, and have been officially (though illegally) prevented from doing so. It’s been a long-standing American tradition for prayers to be offered by a local clergyman at high school graduation ceremonies and athletic events, but that freedom has been challenged and largely forfeited as well. Since the time of the one- room schoolhouse up until the early 1960’s, the Bible was read in public school chapel sessions, but today a student often goes to court to fight for his right to simply carry a Bible in his school. Would these developments be considered progress or regression? On a national level, our coinage reflects a basic trust in God, and the doors of our U.S. Congress have the 10 Commandments engraved upon them. But try to post those same 10 Commandments on the walls of a public school classroom and see what kind of reaction you get. Subtle yet very effective forces have quietly worked to erase any vestige of public expression of the Christian faith. Completely twisting the First Amendment, liberal, anti-Christian activists have successfully removed much of our country’s founding faith and values from public view and social consciousness. We’ve (not so politely) told God to get lost, and, being the Gentleman that He is, He has tragically obliged our fearful request. So what might happen if America got serious about its Christian heritage and had a wholesale return to its historical roots? Well, I’d venture to say, nothing short of revival! AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM CAN BE TRACED TO ITS HAVING BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance.” Psa. 33:12 The Scriptures picture God as the One Who rules over the Kings and nations of this earth. While He never surrenders His sovereignty, God does allow nations and men to exercise free will, and that often results in their straying away from God and His plan for them. But every now and then a nation wisely chooses to follow the Lord. When they do, God blesses them. There have been certain countries that have had a special divine calling. Ancient Israel was one such nation. And if you carefully research the records, America is such a nation in our more modern times. Christian historian David Barton points out that the vast majority of those who signed-off on the Declaration of Independence were not only Christians, but in most cases, men who had received ministerial training. Barton furnishes incontrovertible evidence of their faith via statements they made in their own writings. When historians consider the credibility of a position, they place the highest premium on contemporary documents written by the persons themselves. And this is precisely what we have in the documents uncovered by Dave Barton. Sadly, we’ve bought into the misrepresentations a decidedly liberal media and lobby that have tried to convince us that we were not a foundationally Christian nation. What would happen if America reclaimed its original calling to be “a city set on a hill”? Again, the blessings would fall without measure from heaven upon our spiritually dry and thirsty land. AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM CAN BE TRACED TO ITS RELIANCE ON DIVINE PROTECTION. “No king is saved by the greatness of his army; a horse is a vain hope for deliverance; but the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him… to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.” Psa. 33:16-20 Time does not permit us a detailed review of all the instances where divine intervention kept our fair land from extinction. Did you know that George Washington charged into a decisive battle against the British army, was shot over ten times, and that not a single one of those bullets even nicked his skin? Fast forward to WWII and an invasion called D-Day. Britain’s Winston Churchill and America’s Dwight D. Eisenhower had laid out meticulous plans, only to have a huge storm blow over the English Channel. But as things turned out, the bad weather played in the Allies favor, as the German forces occupying the French coast figured nobody in their right mind would launch an invasion under such inclement weather. The result was that Germany’s heralded General Rommel shifted the bulk of his tank strength far south of Normandy. Although the beaches of Normandy were still heavily fortified with German installations, the Allies were able to capture the beachheads quicker than they had anticipated. These are just a sampling of hundreds of instances where divine intervention is clearly evident as America and Americans went to their knees in prayer, depending upon Almighty God for victory. While 9/11 witnessed a brief season of humble intercession, the “God mood” seemed to ebb away with disappointing rapidity. Personally speaking, I believe we are still the beneficiaries of incredible divine protection, as a number of hell-bent terrorist groups haven’t been able to breach our homeland security since the 9/11 debacle. We truly have so much to be thankful for! Yet, if we’re honest with ourselves, we can vastly improve in the critical area of recognizing and acknowledging our utter dependence upon God. We can also recapture our sense of divine mission, reinstate the freedoms sourced in the Christian beliefs of our Founding Fathers, support legislation that lines up with Godly values, and make the Word of God and corporate worship a top priority in our lives. If this is done, we will position ourselves to once again be the privileged recipients of God’s choicest blessings, and lay legitimate claim to the promise, “BLESSED IS THE NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD!”