While the United States undeniably offers freedom and opportunity, there has always been an enduring fight to liberate its citizens from the chains of sin and darkness.
By Patrick Morley, Man in the Mirror Founder
Originally published in 2014 (updated with current statistics)
In 2003, England’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his belief in America: “I sometimes think it is a good rule of thumb to ask of a country: are people trying to get into it or out of it? It’s not a bad guide to what sort of country it is.”
America continues to be a place where people want to live. The attraction resides in our freedom and opportunity influenced by the Christianity of our founders. Patrick Henry said this: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
“While the United States undeniably offers freedom and opportunity, there has always been an enduring fight to liberate its citizens from the chains of sin and darkness.”
Many of our founding fathers were Christian, but was America a Christian nation? Not long after our independence, only 7% of Americans attended an evangelical church. By 1850, that percentage doubled. It continued to rise to a height of 76% almost a hundred years later.
The kingdom of Christ has been forcefully advancing throughout our history. However, Christian values are losing an influence on American culture. Church attendance today (47%) and the proportion of Americans identifying as Christians (68%) have been declining over the last decade or two.
Let us work harder than ever to regain ground for the Judeo-Christian values of our founders and offer the true freedom of Christ to all in America.
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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
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