Our nation is heading in the wrong direction, and much of the responsibility for this lies in the Church. Still, there is hope — and it lies in the Church as well.

Our Founders understood the importance of personal freedom. Their journey toward freedom was similar to Israel’s supernatural deliverance from bondage in Egypt. As surely as God sent Moses to lead them out of bondage toward the Promised Land, with the supernatural parting of the Red Sea and miraculous sustenance in the wilderness, our Founders understood that they, too, were on a pilgrimage that required the divine intervention and care of the Creator Himself: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

They had witnessed the bondage forced on believers by ruling powers and dictatorial monarchies. They had lived through horrible abuses by the ruling classes. America offered a place not only to escape this oppression and establish a place where freedom could be protected, but to offer it to others. There is little doubt that Moses and the books of the Law greatly impacted the thinking of this nation’s Founding Fathers.

The early believers, including those on the Mayflower and the ministers proclaiming the Gospel in the original colonies, all understood that if Christ came to set people free, this God-given right must not only be pursued, but, once established, protected.

In my opinion, the Church has been silent too often, and the pulpits far too unprophetic to inspire repentance and the restoration of foundational principles. Let me touch on several areas that should deeply concern all of us:

Our Biggest Problems

First, the ever-increasing size and control granted to the federal government by the voters and representatives in Washington. Our leaders protect the power of their positions by promising what only God and true charity can provide. People are being taught that they can depend upon man rather than God. Politicians have become comfortable taking people’s resources and disbursing them at will. We are not better for it; we are weaker because of it. I care deeply for the poor and helpless, but the nation’s approach to the problem is actually making it worse. Voting for promises that sound compassionate is counterfeit charity. Only active involvement by caring people can produce positive progress.

Second, the rapidly growing debt and certain increase in taxes is bondage that will destroy any hope of future economic recovery and stability. The job market will be more negatively impacted than one can possibly imagine. Those who struggle to move forward will find their ability to do so drastically limited.

Third, Christians’ lack of involvement. I have emphasized for many years the importance of Christians being inspired, informed, and involved. A great percentage of active church members, even in evangelical and Catholic churches, are not even registered to vote. Many who are registered never vote. Those who do vote are not always well-informed. An uninformed electorate is potentially dangerous. They are easily manipulated. We need to understand the principles that made us great and those that must be preserved or restored.

Fourth, the misinterpretation of founding principles. We must understand that rights come from God, not man, government, or politicians. We have been granted God-given rights as our Founders outlined in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.

The Pursuit of Happiness

Take note — only God can give life and give us true liberty which can be treasured and protected, but the Founders also said that we have the right the pursue happiness. We don’t have a guarantee of happiness. We pursue those things which can bring success and happiness. It’s not automatically given to people; it is something we must seek on our own.

As Christians, we find real fullness in life by pursuing the source of it, living as free and responsible individuals, and pursuing the success and happiness that freedom affords us. We don’t wait for someone to bring it to us. It is God-given right, and happiness depends upon the pursuit of it. Success isn’t doled out. As my longtime friend Mike Huckabee says, “A lot of people in America today are born on third base and think they hit a triple!”

People who have just received something and don’t understand the responsibility that goes with both earning and protecting it will prove to be unworthy and inadequate caretakers. This mentality is on the rise in our society, and only God can change it.

When our Founders and those seeking the “promised land” established this uniquely prosperous nation, they understood that freedom requires responsibility. This is not being communicated in our nation, and the Church has failed to make it clear. Many professing Christians have participated in this terrible downward progression.

Our Responsibilities

Fifth, we have not embraced the value of human life. How can the Church not effectively address the tragedy of abortion? We must help people recognize the significance of life. The Church is the most effective influence on Earth working to strengthen the family and helping people understand the absolute value of human life.

Finally, we have lost our understanding of the importance of the family unit; there is an all-out assault on marriage underway. We are being pressed upon to condone something as natural which is in every way unnatural. Same-sex marriage is not only contrary to all biblical truth, but it runs in direct opposition to nature. This trend is more than an assault on marriage; it actually violates the first institution established by God — marriage between one man and one woman.

It is also an assault on the picture of Christ coming for His Bride, the Church. It is an attack on the importance of this sacred relationship that leads to the fruitfulness of the marriage relationship with beautiful offspring and the families that are, in essence, the core strength in any community or society.

It is the Church’s responsibility to address these issues of national concern. Read the book of Nehemiah, which tells of how  he led the people of Israel to restore the walls of Jerusalem. In the truest sense of the word, this is what I believe God is encouraging all of us as ministers and believers to begin doing in our nation. All of the Old Testament prophets warned Israel about the consequences of forsaking the moral boundaries God had commanded them to keep in place as walls of protection.

As Nehemiah built the walls and called the people to confess their sins, he reminded them of the cause of deterioration and their own vulnerability:  

Our ancestors were proud and stubborn and paid no attention to God’s commands. They refused to obey, and did not remember the miracles that had been done for them. Instead they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. (Nehemiah 9:16)

For many years, our nation has chosen leaders to unknowingly take us back into the bondage of this world.

As Christians, we are to love the people in the world, but not be controlled by the ways of the world. We are not to be in bondage to the world’s systems. Much of the population and the Church live in bondage. Believers are not living in the freedom that God offers. Unless the Church begins to live in freedom and in the fullness of God’s Spirit, we are not going to be able to help this nation rebuild the walls necessary to maintain the freedoms we have enjoyed.

I often hear Christians and church leaders excuse themselves from their civil responsibilities by referring to the separation of church and state. This inappropriate response reveals a sad misunderstanding of the separation clause in the Constitution. When Thomas Jefferson wrote about the “wall of separation between the church and state,” the strong influence of preachers like Roger Williams led him to clearly understand that the wall is in place to protect “the garden from the wilderness, not protect the wilderness from the gardens.” The garden of God — the influence of believers and people of faith — should always have a positive effect on the wilderness.

I encourage every believer to begin praying for leaders to be better informed, to begin speaking out on important issues, and to begin participating as responsible citizens. I commit to seek, discover, and share the best sources of information possible. I am convinced that many pastors and church members also are concerned for our nation.

Repentance, beginning on the part of the Church, is where we start. We must recognize that we have failed to be rightly inspired, adequately informed, and totally involved. It is easy to say, “Politics is a dirty business.” But it is worse for us to sit back and “mind our own business” while someone else makes decisions that will lead us into the bondage our Founders sought to escape. As Christians, we must not engage in mockery or unfair accusation toward our enemies. We must present realistic, positive solutions and hope. It’s not enough to curse the darkness; we must shine the light.

I fully believe that if the church becomes prayerfully involved in the political process in the coming months and years, we can see this nation turn back to the light and glory of liberating truth.

Originally published April 9, 2010.

James Robison is founder and publisher of The Stream, as well as founder of LIFE Outreach International and cohost of LIFE Today. He’s the author of many books, including Indivisible (with Jay Richards), Living Amazed, and Fight the Good Fight: How an Alliance of Faith and Reason Can Win the Culture War.