I don’t know a person alive today who believes America is in better shape now than when they were born. I suppose if I hung out with a different crowd, perhaps I would hear someone make that claim, but I’m not sure I would buy it! Our country is crumbling from the inside out, and we as believers would be wise to consider whether America’s internal war is political or spiritual.

It is all a matter of worldview. For those who look to God’s Word as the standard of truth, I’m not sure how one could think the battle going on today is not spiritual. We are watching the stage being set for the tribulation. One glimpse of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 paints the picture of our world today. A falling away from faith is happening among church-goers who are not anchored in the Word, deception and delusion are becoming the norm, and the lawless one is at work in our world.

Politics is only the fake veneer hung upon the resistance of truth found only in God’s Word. This is a spiritual issue. Let’s see if you agree.

We are now midway through pride month and we have seen a trans ladyface promoting Bud Light, a satanist sell his LGBT line of clothing to children at Target, North Face hire a drag performer to target 2-7 year olds, and the LA Dodgers support a demonic hate group whose sole agenda is to profane the Catholic faith and degrade the Christian faith.

Before I get to the spiritual element, let me say this out loud: If you are a Bible-believing Christian, not a single dime of your money should go to any of the afore-mentioned companies.

But how did we get here? What spiritual element are we missing? In a nutshell, God is God…and we are not. Yet, humans yearn to have the power and authority that only God has. We want to be like Him…knowing good and evil.

Really since the beginning of human history, that has been the case. Genesis 3:1-5 tells us so:

3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” ⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

(Emphasis mine)

You see, God didn’t intend for us to even have to worry about good and evil. The first 2 chapters of Genesis clearly tell us that everything God created was good. It was a world without evil. Then sin entered the picture when Satan convinced Adam and Eve that God was holding out on them, and that they could be like God if they would only take the bait.

It was taken, and ever since then the bait has led us all down paths of deception. The Jewish people fell for it:

…everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

~Judges 17:6

The prophet Isaiah put it this way:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

~Isaiah 5:20

Isn’t that exactly what we see today? All of us are guilty of sin, but the propensity toward sheer willful, blatant evil is disgusting.

As Christians, what are we to do? There is a spiritual aspect and a practical aspect. Spiritually, our lives must be characterized by repentance, and then acceptance of the tremendous depth of grace God has given to redeem us from our sinful selves. In that, we are drawn into deeper, more intimate relationship with Him. That produces boldness in us to live out the practical aspects.

Living it out practically looks different for each one of us because God’s gifts and callings to each of us are unique. But there is glue that holds it all together, and that glue is TRUTH…Biblical truth. It is for truth that we must fight, and we fight when we engage the culture. Never should we allow evil to happen before our very eyes without fighting against it. For some, it is very outward and bold, such as standing up to say, “That is not right, and we will not stand for it.”

For others, it may be committing oneself to prayer. Prayer is powerful and it changes things. If you do not have the boldness to speak out, then have the commitment to speak upward! Plead God’s mercy and offer prayers of repentance for our people as Daniel did!

The battle, dear friends, is spiritual, not political. Let’s do what God calls us to do spiritually. Sure, being engaged politically may be a practical outworking, but keep the main thing the main thing, then engage civically as an outpouring of your spiritual reality.

Can America ever be Godly again? I don’t know. But I do know we have not a prayer if we don’t try!