By the late Senator Jesse Helms
Christian Action League
Executive Director’s Note: The late great Senator Jesse Helms was a devout Christian, American patriot, and North Carolinian. Though it was penned twenty-five years ago, it’s amazing how relevant the following article written by Helms remains. It demonstrates clearly the principles contained therein are timeless and eternal. May God hasten the day when once again we are “one nation, under God.” – Rev. Mark H. Creech
In the brief history of our own country since we gained our independence, we can look back on a tremendous heritage of political freedom founded upon a biblical faith and a biblical understanding of the nature of man. Moreover, we can look back upon the material signs of God’s blessing in a fruitful and bounteous country, with success in almost every enterprise in war and peace.
American Institutions under Attack
But within my own lifetime, I have seen the most ferocious assaults on Christian faith and morals; first on the part of the intellectual community, and then on the part of the government. Especially in the last 25 years, the federal government has not even tried to conceal its hostility to religion; now, with many of our churches in disarray, the attack is being prepared against the family as the last bastion opposing the totalitarian state. Militant atheists and socialists have gone very far in imposing their view of life and man on almost every American institution.
And what we have reaped as a nation from our many personal and collective delinquencies? Atheistic schools, rampaging crimes, God-forsaken homes, drugs, abortion, pornography, permissiveness, a sense of cynicism, and spiritual desolation absolutely unprecedented in our country’s history.
The Israelite’s in their time also opted for the “New Morality.” They were as enthusiastic as many of our contemporary thinkers about situation ethics, for we read, “In those days, there was no king in Israel; but every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).
When Did the Drift Begin?
It is debatable at just what point the United States began to drift away from its Christian heritage. But I think we reached that point when many Americans turned away from the idea of salvation through Christ to that of salvation through technology or science or material affluence or the welfare state.
When all of these turned out to be dead ends, Americans began to seek escape, and the purveyors of drugs and pornography and vicarious violence were there to meet the need. Human nature left to its own devices has always been a wretched failure at explaining the meaning and destiny of life.
America’s Only Hope
I have often meditated upon why God chose the time and place He did for His Son to be born into the world. In the long preparation for the coming of the Christ, the world had seen the tremendous achievements of many civilizations. But neither the intellectual brilliance of the Greeks; or the sober morals of the ancient Romans; nor the technological and organizational genius of the later Romans were enough to still the discontent of human hearts. God chose an obscure outpost of a decadent empire as the birthplace of His Son, and upon all the debris of human pride and presumption there came forth the anointed Savior. From that day to this, there has been only one Light of the World, one Hope of Mankind.
All through his earthly life, this Person took pains to point out that He was not in any way a political messiah. Quite the reverse holds true in Washington today, where many politicians and many factions contend relentlessly for the honor of being the very political messiah who will solve all our problems if only we give them more money and more power.
Looking the Right Direction, Learning the Right Lessons
By and large, our people look in the wrong direction for their deliverance. As Christians we need to work with missionary zeal to reinstate the rule of Christ in a demoralized country.
As the Israelites learned time and again from the last of their enemies, it was only by repentance and submission to the God of their Fathers that they could survive and prosper.
I pray every day for a rebirth of the spiritual values that made us a nation in the first place. If the Spirit of God were to rouse 200 million Americans to action, there is no describing the greatness and glory in store for this country, or the blessings forthcoming to nations now held captive if and when, once again, the United States rededicates itself to the cause of freedom under God’s Law.
This article was taken from The Rebirth of America, The Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986, Pgs. 78-79.