Yesterday I cited the admonition of Jesus, “To whom much is given, much will be required”. But God judges nations as well as people. And as He does with people, God judges nations subjectively, based on what each one could do, on what each one could be.

So, even if we take comfort in seeming to do more than the “next guy”, when we don’t follow the Lord wholeheartedly ourselves, we begin to fall, spiritually first, then manifestly. Again, Jesus warns us,

You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its savor, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and to be trodden underfoot by men. -Mt 5.13

Consider the blessings of freedom and prosperity which America has been given. Were these merely for our own enjoyment? No, we were to use them to help lift others up as well. At our finest moments, we have done just that, often at great sacrifice. I’m thinking here of the wars of liberation we fought on the global stage.

America became the hope of the world precisely because it signified a break with the futile old ways of doing things. Our system of government was thoroughly based on the Bible, which teaches the paradoxical truth that while man is deserving of dignity because he is made in God’s image, he still cannot be trusted with absolute power because he is a sinner. Thus we became a nation of limited government, checks and balances, equal representation, and equal standing under the law. The system was of necessity imperfect, because man is imperfect, but overall it served us well. And it was so much better than anything anyone else had that people from everywhere flocked to our shores.

But America now is in grave danger. We have left our spiritual moorings and are adrift on a toxic sea of humanism. Back in 1962 we kicked God out of our schools, and then from the public square, and consequently we are rotting from within.

As the foundations eroded, we increasingly looked to government for our wellbeing. Yet the Bible tells us not to trust in princes, in whom there is no salvation. And Jesus similarly warned us to “call no man father”.

Our present economic and social difficulties have deep roots in a culture of irresponsibility and political corruption, and even mortgaging our children’s future has not provided relief.

The rot is so advanced that our national defenses are compromised. Our enemies are magnified against us, and we are increasingly powerless to stop them even at our own borders.

On Christmas day America suffered its second domestic terrorist attack in weeks. Three hundred people came within a hairsbreadth of losing their lives in what would have been a horrendous air crash. Consider some basic facts:

• The perpetrator was known to have terrorist connections, yet was allowed entrance to the U.S. via commercial air flight.
• He was able to mix the components of his bomb while on board the plane. Our experts have been aware of this possibility, but haven’t moved to prevent it.
• It only takes three ounces of explosive to take down a jetliner. Our screening techniques are obsolete, but their upgrading would be expensive and more intrusive to flyers, and so it has been delayed.
• Despite the gravity of the situation, President Obama has suddenly taken a vacation from two years of constant media exposure, and has not made any statement concerning the attempted strike.
• Lesser officials are speaking, however, and while the men on the ground tell us that “tragedy was only averted on Northwest flight 253 because a makeshift detonator failed to work properly”, Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano maintains with straight face that “the system worked like clockwork.”