Racism, anti-Semitism, Black Lives Matter, Critical Race Theory, Socialism Vs. Capitalism, it seems like the very fabric of America is being shredded, torn apart to cause more division and confusion than I have seen in my lifetime spanning seven decades. Have we reached the zenith of American peace and prosperity? Are we destined to cultural and national decline repeating the history of so many great cultures throughout world history?

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The old adage is true. Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. The answer to almost all of our points of contention was already provided for us in the inspired wisdom of our founders when they gave us our traditional national motto: “One Nation Under God.”

In reality, this is not the first time we’ve been here as a nation. In fact, at our very founding we were thirteen distinct colonies, with various religious, ethnic and racial identities that presented real barriers to becoming united against the British monarchy and the most powerful military in the world at the time. Had we not been able to overcome our factions and differences there would never have been a United States of America. But there was a man by the name of George Whitefield, who went up and down the east coast from Maine to Georgia seven times on horseback preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching Americans that regardless of the label over our church buildings, we are all One in Christ. We are unified in our submission to the God of the Bible as He revealed himself in the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is our common bond, the bond that unites us as one people, as Americans. Whitefield taught us that we are in fact, “One Nation Under God.”

And again, during the Civil War, when brother was fighting brother, and we were almost torn into two very different cultures and ideas of human dignity and liberty. Yet, after more than 700,000 American lives were lost we were able to come back together as “One Nation Under God.”

Since the Pilgrims came here to advance “the Christian Religion,” we continued to be the place where the world came to escape tyranny and deprivation–the normal state of human affairs.  America was the exception. Immigrants came here willing to subordinate the culture they were leaving to adopt a new identity as Americans. In fact, it was Teddy Roosevelt who told us, in the midst of a wave of European migration, that here in America, there is no room for a hyphenated American for we are all Americans. We are “One Nation Under God.”

When my father came here from Puerto Rico in 1932, though Puerto Rico was an American territory, he came to be in every way an American, to learn English and to realize his potential as he could never do in his native land, and this, during the time of the Great Depression. My Dad never gave up his identity as a proud Puerto Rican, but he was always more proud to be an American. He became a merchant marine and whether he worked alongside an Irishman, a Jew or a Black man, they were all Americans—One Nation Under God.

My greatest concern for this present generation is that for the first time in our history, one side of the cultural divide rejects the acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God. Even during the Civil War, as horrendous as it was, yet both sides were restrained by their understanding of the will of God, imperfect as it was. Both sides recognized that there was a God in Heaven to whom they will be held accountable. They were both answerable to the same higher authority.

In today’s national divide, the left rejects the sovereignty of God. The Democrat National Convention in 2012 attempted to remove acknowledgement of God from their platform. Today’s Democrat Party represents, for the first time in American history, a worldview that outwardly rejects the God of the Bible, and places humanity in that position of the ultimate authority.  There is, however, nothing new under the sun. This is simply the age-old demonic attempt to subvert the authority of God.

We, the people of God, must do two things to preserve the liberty our parents passed on to us. We must first pray like it all depends on God, and secondly, we must work like it all depends on us. In this nation, of the people, by the people and for the people, we must raise our voices to communicate one clear message whenever we hear anyone referring to a particular group in order to set them apart for criticism or favor. We must assert the truth in love that we are “One Nation Under God.”

Yes, one nation. Even President Lincoln reminded us of the Biblical truth that a house divided cannot stand. We are under God, meaning that we do our best to live up to the creed expressed by the Father of our Country, George Washington who told us;

“…it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—“

Thomas Jefferson echoed these sentiments when he said,

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath?”

We may debate what it means to be under God, or what God’s will is for us; we may debate how His laws should apply to modern life, but we dare not debate whether we are, in fact, under God and subject to His sovereignty unless we are ready to forego His favor.

As “people of the book” we hold the words of life, of truth and of freedom. It is up to us to answer every charge that seeks to divide us, and to degrade us into tribalism. We must declare in one clear voice that we are “One Nation Under God.” That must be our battle cry for such a time as this. We must never tire of declaring it until it is once again the dominant view of what it is to be an American.

Just as George Whitefield was an instrument in the hand of God to bring on a “Great Awakening” by preaching this same message–God’s Word is the same yesterday, today and forever–so will we see the Greatest Awakening when we boldly declare this eternal truth to an unbelieving generation and to the principalities of the air,

“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,”—Ephesians 3:10

So let us vow to never let a charge of division go unanswered. Let us be determined to reject intimidation into silence, but rather be prayerfully seeking the wisdom and prompting of the Holy Spirit to speak the truth in love, the truth that we are “One Nation Under God,” and nothing less. And I am convinced we will see “The Greatest Awakening!”

Share your prayers in the comments below for our nation to truly be one nation under God!

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