Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. – John Adams

Have you heard the story of a woman who was walking down the beach and saw a little bottle embedded in the sand. She couldn’t tell what it was, so she reached down, picked it up and rubbed the sand off. A genie appeared and said, “I will grant to you one wish.” 

She said, “One wish. I thought genies granted three wishes.” He said, “Well, the economy is tough right now. We’ve had to cut back to only one wish.” For some reason this woman happened to have a map with her, one of the Middle East. She pulls it out and says “Genie, look at this map of the Middle East. My wish is that these countries stop fighting and begin getting along. In fact, I want peace and harmony in all the world.” 

She may have been a peacenik, but the genie said, “Now lady look. Even genies have limitations. It simply can’t be done. These countries have been fighting for hundreds of years. I can’t get them to sign a peace treaty. I’m sorry. I can’t grant you that wish. Come up with something else.” 

She thought for a moment and said, “You know what genie? I’ve never found the right man. If you could bring a man to me that’s considerate, loves to cook, will help with house cleaning, pick up after himself, get along with my family, and won’t watch sports all day. I want one who will smother me with love and affection all of my life. That’s my wish – one good man.” And the genie asked, “Can you get out that map again?”

We don’t need a genie. There’s always hope! Personally, I’m weary of Christians, even preachers, saying that America is done, our best days are behind us, that our only future is God’s judgement. They’ve missed that God loves to do the impossible! Throughout the Bible, when it seemed the darkest, God miraculously stepped in!

My assurance of hope for America is that God saved the worst sinner I know – ME. I was a mess and couldn’t see how anyone could love or rescue me, but God did. He sent Jesus to die for all my sins. He transformed me into a new person who is forgiven and will live forever! So, as we end the month of July when we’ve remembered America’s 250^th birthday, we need to understand that…

America’s hope is NOT political. 

Too many Christians are looking to the government for hope. They let politics have far too much free rent space in their minds. Looking for the government to change our country is like attempting to control the weather. Too many Christ-followers are more attune to the media or social media than they are their Bibles. 

Throughout history God repeatedly transforms lives, cultures, nations and governments from ancient Israel to Babylon to the Roman Empire. Neither Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar nor Rome’s Caesar could stop God’s plan. God is omnipotent. All other powers are very limited. 

America’s greatest problem is spiritual. Before Jesus returned to heaven, He commanded His followers to share the gospel, make disciples, and to be salt and light. Only lives transformed by the gospel transform a culture and a nation. Jesus never told us to vote the right way or to focus on politics. 

All the suggested solutions for our social problems have been tried and failed. From education, jobs, housing, healthcare, addiction programs, secure border, more police, less police…the list goes on and on. While there are great needs in those areas, they won’t solve our greatest problem – our hearts. As a result, all these solutions have a short shelf life.

Too many Christ-followers focus on the wrong solutions. For example, having a job will help an individual and we should help people find jobs, but the best job will never change a heart. 

The answer to our problems doesn’t come by way of the National Mall, the Oval Office, a remembered founding or a reclaimed country. It comes by way of an old rugged cross, by the shed blood of the Savior to the throne of grace. We don’t come through a mascot, we can only come through a mediator: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all (2 Timothy 2:5-6). The gospel and transformed lives are the only hope for us and for our country. 

America’s only hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Many fail to understand that the Declaration of Independence was a document of independence from Great Britain, yet at the same time, a document of dependence upon the divine providence of Almighty God. You can’t separate righteousness and freedom. The reason we keep losing our liberties in America is that we keep losing our righteousness. 

Righteousness means responsibility is assumed. The more responsibility you assume, the more liberty you have. But when there is a decline in character, there will always be growth in government. You cannot be irresponsible as an individual or society and expect to remain free.

Our best moral, cultural and political reformation efforts are band-aids for brain tumors. Our only hope is the spiritual transformation that comes from the heart transformation of the gospel. That’s why evangelism is the foundation for where worldviews are transformed. If we evangelistically engage this culture in a loving, prayerful, wise and compelling way, the power of the gospel can do wonders in ways we’ve never imagined. 

As Romans 1:16 states, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. The gospel isn’t an idea. It’s power, the supernatural work of God in providing the substitute for us and our sins, Jesus, taking the judgment we deserve so we can be forgiven and declared justified. It’s the supernatural energy of God who meets our greatest need, to be forgiven and made acceptable to a holy God. It’s acceptance always results in the transformation of a life (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

And it’s ours by faith! Not by morality, good works, going to church, extravagant giving or even by breaking bad habits. It’s not by any effort of our own. It’s by trusting in the gift that God has given us in Jesus Christ. 

The gospel is our only hope. It’s America’s only hope. So, instead of fretting about how bad our world is, let’s share the only thing that can bring about true change – the gospel! To borrow from some of our political slogans – what America needs is “hope and change” and Christ-followers who are committed to the mission to “Make Jesus great again!”