With
all that has been happening in our country, the United States… the
shootings in Dallas, the nationwide protests… the social tensions
that plague us as a nation… I have felt the need to look back at
what we are about as a nation. To return to its beginnings. To try
and remember why we are here in the first place… why we exist as a
nation. And that brings me back to what John Winthrop called us in A
Model on Christian Charity. We are intended to be “That city upon
a hill”, but are we? Have we really ever lived up to our calling?
all that has been happening in our country, the United States… the
shootings in Dallas, the nationwide protests… the social tensions
that plague us as a nation… I have felt the need to look back at
what we are about as a nation. To return to its beginnings. To try
and remember why we are here in the first place… why we exist as a
nation. And that brings me back to what John Winthrop called us in A
Model on Christian Charity. We are intended to be “That city upon
a hill”, but are we? Have we really ever lived up to our calling?
When
Winthrop used that phrase, he was referring to the gospel of Matthew.
The full quote from Matthew 5:14-16 reads:
Winthrop used that phrase, he was referring to the gospel of Matthew.
The full quote from Matthew 5:14-16 reads:
“Ye
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be
hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on
a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”.
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be
hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on
a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”.
It
was Winthrop’s prayer that this nation would be a beacon of light to
the world. A place were people could come and hear the Good News.
A place were people could practice their Christian faith freely,
without persecution from the state. A place where the individual
could be a self-made man (or woman), free from the rigid social
constraints of class conscience Europe. A place where you could own
land and the government couldn’t confiscate or occupy it at will
(hence the 3rd amendment which came later). A place where
all men could be free to live a quiet and peaceable life. This
unfortunately is not the America we live in today.
was Winthrop’s prayer that this nation would be a beacon of light to
the world. A place were people could come and hear the Good News.
A place were people could practice their Christian faith freely,
without persecution from the state. A place where the individual
could be a self-made man (or woman), free from the rigid social
constraints of class conscience Europe. A place where you could own
land and the government couldn’t confiscate or occupy it at will
(hence the 3rd amendment which came later). A place where
all men could be free to live a quiet and peaceable life. This
unfortunately is not the America we live in today.
This
year, in the month of July alone, There
were at least 5 black women killed in police custody
and according to the website, “Mapping
Police Violence.com,
there were at least 102 unarmed African Americans killed in police
violence in 2015. That’s approximately 2 a week. I don’t believe
this is the America Winthrop envisioned and it certainly isn’t the
land of the free or the home of the brave where we can all live a
“quite and peaceable life”. [1Timothy 2:2]
year, in the month of July alone, There
were at least 5 black women killed in police custody
and according to the website, “Mapping
Police Violence.com,
there were at least 102 unarmed African Americans killed in police
violence in 2015. That’s approximately 2 a week. I don’t believe
this is the America Winthrop envisioned and it certainly isn’t the
land of the free or the home of the brave where we can all live a
“quite and peaceable life”. [1Timothy 2:2]
Now
I will be the first to admit, that not all of our Founding Fathers
were as progressive as the document they wrote, which states that
“…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ” There were some that
didn’t believe that the Africans they enslaved were human at all,
which is one of the reasons we had a three fifths compromise… a
compromise which violated the spirit of our Constitution… a
compromise which never should have been made and unfortunately, a
compromise we are still feeling the repercussions of. In God‘s
economy, no one is three fifths God’s creation… or three fifths his
son or daughter and Christ did not die for three fifths of a soul or
three fifths of the people, but “God so loved the WORLD (all of it
and everyone in it) that He gave his only begotten Son, so that
whosoever that believes on Him shall not parish, but have everlasting
life.” [John 3:16]
I will be the first to admit, that not all of our Founding Fathers
were as progressive as the document they wrote, which states that
“…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ” There were some that
didn’t believe that the Africans they enslaved were human at all,
which is one of the reasons we had a three fifths compromise… a
compromise which violated the spirit of our Constitution… a
compromise which never should have been made and unfortunately, a
compromise we are still feeling the repercussions of. In God‘s
economy, no one is three fifths God’s creation… or three fifths his
son or daughter and Christ did not die for three fifths of a soul or
three fifths of the people, but “God so loved the WORLD (all of it
and everyone in it) that He gave his only begotten Son, so that
whosoever that believes on Him shall not parish, but have everlasting
life.” [John 3:16]
Now
this is not the first time we as a nation, have had problems living
up to our better selves. Unfortunately, it took a civil war to
correct the error of the three fifths compromise. It took the civil
rights movement to correct the error of Jim Crow and the real
question is what will it take to right our course in the current dark
night of our nation’s soul? One good thing about all of the turmoil
we are currently experiencing is that it is bringing the poison of
racism (and hopefully all the other “isms”) to light, so that we
can be, once and for all purged of it and the love of God shed abroad
in our hearts, so that we can truly be that shining city on a hill
Winthrop envisioned.
this is not the first time we as a nation, have had problems living
up to our better selves. Unfortunately, it took a civil war to
correct the error of the three fifths compromise. It took the civil
rights movement to correct the error of Jim Crow and the real
question is what will it take to right our course in the current dark
night of our nation’s soul? One good thing about all of the turmoil
we are currently experiencing is that it is bringing the poison of
racism (and hopefully all the other “isms”) to light, so that we
can be, once and for all purged of it and the love of God shed abroad
in our hearts, so that we can truly be that shining city on a hill
Winthrop envisioned.