In just a few days we will celebrate America’s birthday. She is still a youngster in terms of national longevity. Her population is approaching 300 million. She is the only authentic super-power on earth.
One of the ways to measure America is the “gate test.” That is, if a nation opens its gates, how many people want to get out and how many people want to get in? I don’t know of any Americans who want to emigrate to another country; and if they do, the gate is open. But consider the untold millions who want to become Americans. Why do so many people want to become Americans? It’s not just for money. America is a beacon of hope for the world.
Today America finds herself in two wars. First, there is the war against terrorism. Second, there is the culture war going on here at home. This is a spiritual and moral battle between Judeo-Christian values, on the one hand, and a secular—even anti-religious—agenda on the other. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, a California Supreme Court judge, describes accurately America’s internal struggle. She says, “These are perilous times for people of faith. It will cost you something if you stand up for what you believe. This is not a shooting war, but it is a war.” 1
Committed Christians are a minority in America. The respected pollster George Barna estimates that committed Christians constitute less than 30 percent of the population.2 But that should not cause us to despair. God has a marvelous history of doing great things with faithful minorities. Genesis 18 offers a perfect example.
Let me set the scene for you. Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people, was living as a nomadic shepherd in the land of Canaan. This territory today is part of Israel and the West Bank. The time is about 2,000 years before Christ. One day three men came to visit Abraham—actually they were angels sent by God. They delivered wonderful news—that Abraham and his wife, Sarah, though very old, were going to have a baby.
Having delivered that good word, the angels headed east toward the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah down in the Jordan River valley.
Verses 18 and 19 are most unusual. Here we find God actually talking with Himself. Indeed, if you have ever been caught talking to yourself, here you have a divine precedent. God ponders whether or not He ought to share with Abraham what He is about to do down at Sodom and Gomorrah. God decides that, yes, He should tell Abraham. Indeed, God usually does His work in collaboration with the faith community.
God tells Abraham that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are so great that heaven’s alarm bells have been ringing. God built this world on a moral foundation. When His moral standards are flaunted, judgment and punishment follow as surely as the night follows the day. God tells Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
