In 2006, then Senator Barack Obama remarked that “we are no longer a Christian nation.” Although he originally referred to religious diversity in America, many Christians in the United States felt outraged at the perceived notion that the U.S. had lost its Christian core. Then again in 2009, President Obama stated in Turkey that one of the great strengths of the United States is that we do not consider ourselves a nation belonging to any particular religious group, including Christianity. However, the lack of an established religion in the United States and the existence of great religious diversity does not negate America’s undeniable founding on Judeo-Christian principles or the overwhelming Christian majority.
MISSIONARIES IN THE U.S.
But I will not argue for or against the validity of the president’s claims, because the fact remains that whether the United States of America is a Christian nation or not, unbelievers living in the U.S. need the gospel of Christ as much as any other unbeliever. President Obama’s statements may have shocked many Americans, but they may not have come off quite as shocking to the rest of the world. In 2010, the United States received over 32,000 missionaries sent from other nations, making this nation the largest recipient of missionaries in the world. Many people may acknowledge that the Christian church in America lacks a true passion for Christ, but many people, perhaps implicitly, regard that as good enough, and still see the United States as saved. However, those 32,000 missionaries would disagree.
A STAGNANT CHRISTIAN MAJORITY
According to Christianity Today, Ghanaian evangelist, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills explains that the Church has lost its zeal and has wandered from the main message of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Because of this, he seeks to send a message of faithfulness to God’s Word to the United States. The Christianity that most often makes the news is the “Christianity” of Westboro Baptist Church, rather than the Christianity of God’s perfect grace. Even in the United States, people can walk through their whole lives without witnessing true Christianity, forming false ideas of who God is and what he has done. Many people in the United States believe that God only loves or that God only judges, or even that he does not care at all. That is, if they believe in God at all. This is due to the stagnant Christian majority in America. Many churches and their pastors concern themselves more with portraying themselves as culturally relevant and entertaining rather than staying true to Christ’s message of sin and salvation.
Of course, churches in the United States should still send missionaries to other nations. Though many perceive it as a tired and old message, the mission field does not only live in other countries, but rather in every unbeliever. It is not a new message to the missionally minded, but it endures as an important and essential one — our “Judea” of Acts 1:8, the United States of America, needs the true Gospel too.
