"What Kind Of An American Are You?"

 


There has been a trailer for an upcoming movie produced by A24 that has been circulated around the web and on social media which speculates as to what the next civil war in America might be like and how it might start and about a minute and twenty-two seconds into the trailer, some journalists are confronted by an armed man who asks them:
 
“What Kind Of An American Are You?” [1]
 
Personally, the film which is called Civil War, does not seem like anything I care to watch (perhaps some of you out there who do decide to watch it might succeed on changing my mind) but that very question that is asked, to me sounds like a very important question that we all need to be asking ourselves and the time that we should all be asking that very question needs to be NOW! Not “when all hell breaks loose” because whether or not we take the time to ask ourselves that very question and decide as to what kind of Americans we really want to be may very well make the difference as to whether or not the things we dread and fear may befall our nation ever do come to pass and the sooner we begin asking ourselves this very question, perhaps the better off we will be as a people and as a nation.
 
If asked the question, “What Kind Of An American Are You?” What do you think your response will be in that very day?  And I believe the answer each and every one of us gives that question really comes down to this:
 
What it is that each and every one of us believes in and how America as a nation is defined in each and every one of our minds.
 
And then the next question we should be asking ourselves is this: What kind of an American does each and every single one of us want to be? And what that all comes down to is this: What kind of a “person” does each and every single one of us want to be?
 
And finally, what is it that each and every one us envisions for our country?
And whether or not we, regardless of what political ideology each and every one of us may hold to, are still able to find any common ground with one another is going to determine as to what happens to us as a nation.  If we can still find common ground, then the nation may yet still survive, but if we have reached a point to where we can no longer find common ground with one another, then the nation can no longer stand because it requires unity for a nation to abide and not just the appearance of unity or a unity built upon superficialities, but there has to be a like-mindedness on what is needed to hold the nation together and what direction we want it to go be the direction decided be for the better or for the worse.
 
What holds a nation together are a shared culture, a common language, and an economic and political system to which we, as a people consent to submit ourselves to and not only that, but dedicate ourselves to maintaining and what has held our nation together to this day has been the following:
 
A shared culture.
A common language.
And a common political and economic system that we have agreed to submit to and maintain.
 
While no one seems to be arguing as to the necessity of the use of a common language within our nation, there is much debate and division over what kind of an economic and political system we want which all comes down to what kind of a culture we are wish to embrace and what kind of a culture we wish to embrace depends on what values and principles we wish to embrace and what we wish to embrace as a people comes down to what each and every one of us on an individual basis wishes to embrace.
 
And the most divisive and contentious issues in our nation are not economic or even political but are moral and spiritual because the founding principles upon which any given society rests are moral and they are spiritual.
 
At present there is arising within our nation two opposing cultures and two opposing ideologies.  Either one will eventually prevail and dominate over the other, or neither will prevail over the other and the two sides may simply agree to go (and hopefully and prayerfully in peace) their separate ways which will result in America ceasing to exist in its present form and divide into two or more different nations.
 
There is one culture and ideology that adheres to and preaches:
 
Absolute unchanging truth.
Moral absolutes.
That no institution or establishments of man, be they of civic authorities or private entities, can ever be trusted, and that no man, be they credential or uncredentialed, affluent or non-affluent, or whether they are in a position of power and authority or not can ever fully be trusted but that all men are by nature inwardly corrupt and that by nature any establishment built of men will also by nature be inherently corrupt.
That the rights we are given to us are not given to us by any earthly ruling power or by any man, but by an incorruptible authority who is the source of all truth and therefore the definer of what is right and wrong and the decider of what our rights as human beings are because we are created by this authority who is the Creator of all things and that by Him all things are made and by His sustaining power do all things abide and persist.
That there is a God in Heaven who is owed and entitled to due reverence and worship, not just in the private sector or in the privacy of our own homes and respective places of worship, but also in the public square as well and who must be at the center of every aspect of our lives and culture.
That all men should live in accordance to the dictates of their own respective faith and conscience.
That all businesses and institutions should operate in accordance to their own respective principles and conscience.
That all people, regardless of skin-color, age, gender, creed, station in life, occupation, economic or social status, must be subject to the same standard and no class of people should be favored above another.
That no one should impose their favored set of values upon everyone else.
That everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs, to express them openly, and to make the best case they can for them.
That when the public is confronted with differing and opposing opinions on any given matter, no matter what it might be, they have the right to be presented with the case made for each viewpoint and that each person to whom the case for each viewpoint on any given matter is presented needs to be able to draw their own conclusion on any matter being debated based upon the facts that they are presented with from all parties involved.
And to be as independent of other people as you possibly can and to empower others to be as independent of others as they possibly can so as to avoid succumbing to a state of dependency.
 
But then, there is another culture and ideology that:
 
Denies absolute truth, even to the point of denying the most basic facts.
Denies moral absolutes (anything goes no matter who it hurts)
That constitutes some institutions as being inherently evil while treating others as being intrinsically good (i.e. religious and private entities are treated as being inherently evil while civic institutions are treated as intrinsically good while the corruption and evil within these supposedly intrinsically good institutions is dismissed and ignored) because it denies that man is inherently corrupt by nature and therefore it is not man that makes any given institution corrupt, but rather it is certain institutions that corrupt him.
That we are not born with certain unalienable rights but that what rights we have are determined and given to us by the established authorities and not by God and that it is the established authorities who alone determine what is truth and what is not and what is right and what is wrong and not the God who made us.
That seeks to eliminate God from the public square and from every aspect of life.
That either seeks to eliminate from society any worship or reverence of anything divine and any belief in the supernatural or in supernatural intervention or demands that any religious practices permitted be conformed to the laws and decrees of men, even if those laws and decrees are at odds with any person’s respective faith, creed, and conscience.
That demands an ideological conformity.
That seeks to crush and silence any dissent from its preferred narratives without any consideration that the favored and official narratives on any given subject may be inaccurate, lack any basis in fact, and founded on lies and deceit.
And whose established system seeks to keep its subjects in a state of dependency and therefore in a state of captivity and bondage.
 
These two cultures and ideologies cannot coexist with one another within the same borders because both are established on different spiritual foundations that are at enmity with one another and though there may be well-meaning people from both sides of that aisle who may attempt to bring harmony and reasonable compromise between the two sides, any attempt to do so will inevitably end in failure because these opposing cultures and ideologies are products of unseen spiritual forces that are at are ever at war with one another for the hearts, minds, and souls of men and this current polarization that we are facing and the sharp political, economic, moral, religious, and cultural divides within our nation is but a manifestation of that unseen spiritual warfare and it is a spiritual warfare in which there will be no neutral ground.
 
Each and every one of us must inevitably choose a side and anyone thinking they can take a neutral stand clearly does not understand the forces at work around them or even within their own selves or within the people around them.
 
There can only be two solutions to the ideological divide and that is either a willing conformity to one ideology or the other or for the two sides to simply agree that it would be best for them to go their separate ways and therefore become two separate nations and if the best thing ends up being a “national divorce” and hopefully one that is peaceful and without any bloodshed, then I say so be it but that will not be the end of the spiritual warfare at work within the or within the possible two separate sovereign nations that will have once been the United States as we presently know it to be.
 
One of these two nations is eventually going to become more powerful and influential than the other and the stronger of the two is eventually going to overtake the weaker and how strong and stable each of these two newly formed nations become depends on how dedicated each respective people at every level and within each branch of their respective society will be at maintaining their each respective system.
 
But this spiritual warfare is not merely confined to the United States, but it rages all around the world in every nation, has throughout history undergone different phases and stages, and will continue to do so until it is brought to its final conclusion and this warfare for the heart, mind, and soul for the people of America is the same warfare for the hearts, minds, and souls of the people of every nation, and of every kingdom and empire that has ever existed throughout history and continues to persist and which began not on the earth, but in a place beyond the earth and outside of this present universe called the Kingdom of Heaven when a certain angel, a guardian of the cherub, to be more specific, who served at the throne of God Almighty, was lifted up in his own pride and conceit and thought he could make himself equal with God and acquire that which was reserved for God alone who made all things and as a consequence was cast from his position. (Is. 14:11-21, Ezek. 28:12-19)
 
That angel who attempted to exalt himself against his Creator was called Lucifer who, after his fall, became better known as Satan or the Devil.
 
And when God created the heavens and the earth, there was no evil in them, nor death, or decay, nor any pain, grief, sorrow, hardship, suffering, or misery of any sort, for it was created to be a world filled with contentment, happiness, peace, unity, and harmony to be shared between God, man, and nature.
 
But Satan, being that fallen angel, crept into that good and wonderful world and ruined it when he caused the first man Adam and the first woman Eve who was the wife of Adam, to do something that they were warned by God not to do.  In the very place where God had established Adam and his wife Eve, there were two trees; one being the tree of life which would have enabled Adam and Eve to live forever and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:9)
 
Of every tree, Adam and Eve were allowed to eat the fruit from, including the tree of life, but the tree that they were forbidden to eat the fruit thereof was the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil being warned that in the day that they ate that fruit, they would surely die (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3) but Satan, in the form of a serpent, falsely assuring them that they would not surely die from eating that fruit but that it would instead advance them to more superior state caused them to do the very thing that God had commanded them not to do (Gen. 3:4-6) and rather than bring them greater enhancement, they were brought down to an inferior state in which they felt shame (Gen. 3:7) and rather than being spared the penalty of death, the sentence of death was brought upon them as they were warned (Gen. 3:19) and furthermore, they would never be able to eat from the tree of life that would have enabled them to live forever. (Gen. 3:22-24)
 
But the sentence of death did not stop with Adam and Eve.  For in the day that they ate of that forbidden fruit, a corrupting condition called sin entered into them and changed their inward person into that which was contrary to what God had created man to be by turning the nature of man from that which was inherently good into a nature that is inherently corrupt and evil and it by this inherent corruption that the divinely inspired Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16) call sin and it is sin by which Adam and Eve were subjugated to the sentence of death and the sin that entered into them was then inherited by all of mankind since that day because it is from Adam and Eve that we descend and because we are their descendants we have inherited within ourselves also the sin that entered into them and therefore we are all born into sin and in some form or fashion all of us sin (Rom. 5:12) and as a consequence we all die just as Adam and his wife Eve have died because as it is written, the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) but the consequences of sin do not stop with death, but because of sin, a curse is brought upon the entire creation which is why it is written that the entire creation groans and travails in pain to this day. (Rom. 8:19-22)
 
That being said, sin is not only responsible for bringing death to humanity, but it has also caused death and decay to reign over all of creation and brought upon it every kind of discord, dysfunction, disorder, misery, hardship, sorrow, grief, evil, and darkness that there ever has been and ever could be and it is for this reason that we watch the beauty of this world continue to fade, why plants and animals are going extinct, why both man and animal are subjugated to old age, disease, and famine, and why there are wars, violence, and poverty and so forth and it is only going to get worse as the sin and evil of this world increases.
 
By a lie, and the first lie ever known to man, (Jn. 8:44) did Satan cause Adam and Eve to do the thing that caused sin to enter into them.
By a lie did Satan bring death to Adam and Eve through sin and also to all of mankind by the sin that entered into Adam and Eve and from them was passed down to all of mankind since Adam and Eve are the ancestors of all people.
By a lie did Satan bring ruin to all of creation.
By a lie did Satan usurp the dominion over the earth that was given to man (Gen. 1:26) and claim lordship over the earth (Mt. 4:8-9, Lk. 4:6-7) which is why he is called the father of lies and a murderer, (Jn. 8:44) the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, (Jn. 10:10) and because of the lordship he has claimed over the earth, why he is called the prince of this world. (Jn. 12:31, 16:11)
 
And it was in that day when Satan caused Adam and Eve to commit that one act of disobedience that the age-long war between God and Satan became a war for the hearts, minds, and souls of men.
 
And to this day, that war is fought in every heart,
In every mind,
In every soul,
In every home,
In every family,
In every neighborhood,
In every community,
In every place of worship,
In every academic institution,
In every workplace,
In every business and corporation,
In the media and on social media,
In the entertainment industry,
In the halls of government at every level and within every branch,
In every locality,
In every state, province, region, and nation,
And in every kingdom and empire for every heart, mind, and soul.
 
One side desires reconciliation and friendship with our souls.  And one side seeks the destruction of our souls and the side that desires reconciliation and friendship with our souls has provided us redemption and offers it to us continuously and every day speaks to our hearts, our conscience, our souls, and tries to reason with us and open our eyes and understanding for the need of redemption while the other side does everything in its power to blind those whom it holds captive to the need of redemption and everything it can to hide and suppress anything that might lead the captive soul to recognize the darkness that they are in and the judgment in which they are in danger of facing to embrace the redemption that will lead them out of the darkness of the side that holds them captive and delivered from the judgment that is to come because there is coming a day when the sin and evil of this world is going to reach a measure that will invite divine judgment which will not only require the elimination of all that is evil and sinful, but also the elimination of those who are still in their sins because a God who is good and holy cannot allow evil to abide forever nor can He allow that which is evil or sin to dwell directly in His presence or in His Kingdom which is without sin and in which evil has no part because sin is not merely confined or defined by our outward performance or even by what comes out of our mouths, but it is the inward corruption of our nature which causes us to do by nature that which is contrary to how God created us to be which is why it is written that we are not defiled by that which is outward but by that which is within us of which the outward becomes the result. (Mt. 15:11, 18-20)
 
That does not mean, however, that we are not capable of being a morally upright person or that our sinful nature renders incapable of doing good things, but our goodness, because sin, which is ever present within us, causes our goodness, even at its best, to fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) which is moral perfection and if God is perfectly good, then nothing less can be expected of any of us because sin taints, distorts, corrupts, twists, and even destroys more than we can possibly comprehend and therefore nothing sinful, including those who are in their sin, can ever be admitted into Heaven by their own merit which, because of sin, will always be insufficient lest Heaven be defiled by the taint of sin just as the earth has been defiled for it is not just the outward performance, acts, behavior, deeds, or even the words that come out of our mouth that are taken into account, but also the very thoughts, motives, and attitudes of the inward person as well and because sin causes our own merit to fail us, the only way we can escape eternal damnation is by an unfailing merit and a merit that does not come from within us, but a merit that comes from another and it is a merit of perfection that we ourselves do not possess but is only possessed of our Creator who, in His love for us, is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9) which is why the Son of God who has always been with God and is Himself God (Jn. 1:1) came into the world to take upon Himself the demanded penalty for sin on our behalf so that we, who are morally flawed and imperfect, may be saved in Him who is perfect for it was He, being without sin (2 Cor. 5:21) who was able to serve as that needed and required perfect and unblemished sacrifice (Heb. 7:26-27) needed to take away the sins of the world and the man who came to us as God incarnate (Jn. 1:14) to take away the sins of the world is Jesus Christ, who for our sakes, lovingly offered Himself up as that perfect sacrifice on our behalf through His death and the shedding of His blood upon the cross on which He was crucified thereby satisfying in His death the required penalty for sin thereby purchasing redemption on our behalf and after having died for our sins was then raised again from the dead so that we may by our faith in Him for the forgiveness of sins and the saving of our souls from what would otherwise be an everlasting damnation filled with an unrelenting torment beyond imagining, may be justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) so that if we, in faith and in sincere repentance, will call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, may be saved (Rom. 10:13) and with salvation, we become a new person in the Lord Jesus, (2 Cor. 5:17) no longer taking pleasure in those things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
no longer desiring to walk in the lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ Almighty, no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
no longer relying on worldly resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, (Mt. 6:25-33) recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God,
no longer fearing what men can do to us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
no longer looking to corruptible institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
no longer seeking our own glory but the glory of God,
no longer rallying behind corruptible men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
no longer seeking to align ourselves with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
and no longer trust in the wisdom of the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
 
And with the forgiveness of sins and that inward transformation, comes also reconciliation with the Heavenly Father (2 Cor. 5:18) from whom our sins once estranged us and just as we are spiritually freed from the condemnation of sin and a Christless eternity of torment, so we also look forward to the promise of also being liberated from bodily death when our bodies which were born into sin and in which sin dwells will also be liberated from death when our present forms subjugated to corruption and death are transformed into sinless incorruptible bodies that will never die (1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) for where there is no sin, there is no death and finally, creation itself will be liberated when Satan who is the enemy of our souls and the destroyer of the things which God creates is cast out of this world and receives his final sentence which will be an eternity of torment from which there will be no relief and not only he himself, but all those who have set themselves against their Creator and have rejected His love and offer of forgiveness (Rev. 20) and after the adversary has received his final sentence, the creation will be made anew and it will be one in which there will be no sin, no evil, no death or decay, nor anything that causes pain, suffering, misery, hardship, or grief of any sort, for all of these things will be done away with.  Instead, there will only be peace contentment, joy, happiness, and harmony before the Lord God Almighty. (Rev. 21-22)
 
 
If you have not done so already, and desire a life filled with meaning and purpose instead of emptiness and “boredom”, and if you desire to be at peace about where you will be spending eternity, then I urge you reader today to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.  It is but a simple and sincere prayer of repentance away:
 
 
 
"Lord Jesus I need you.
 
 
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
 
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
 
 
Amen."
 
 
Know that God is not concerned with the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
 
 
 
End notes:
 
 
 
1.  A24, “Civil War” Trailer, (1 min 22 seconds in) YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDyQxtg0V2w
 
 
 
Scripture references:
 
 
 
1.  Isaiah 14:11-21
 
2.  Ezekiel 28:12-19
 
3.  Genesis 2:9
 
4.  Genesis 2:16-17
 
5.  Genesis 3:3
 
6.  Genesis 3:4-6
 
7.  Genesis 3:19
 
8.  Genesis 3:22-24
 
9.  Romans 5:12
 
10.  Romans 6:23
 
11.  Romans 8:19-22
 
12.  Genesis 1:26
 
13.  Matthew 4:8-9
 
14.  Luke 4:6-7
 
15.  John 8:44
 
16.  John 10:10
 
17.  John 12:31
 
18.  John 16:11
 
19.  Matthew 15:11, 18-20
 
20.  Romans 3:23
 
21.  2 Peter 3:9
 
22.  John 1:1
 
23.  2 Corinthians 5:21
 
24.  Hebrews 7:26-27
 
25.  John 1:14
 
26.  Romans 4:25
 
27.  Romans 10:13
 
28.  2 Corinthians 5:17
 
29.  Revelation 21-22
 
30.  Matthew 6:25-33
 
31.  Matthew 10:28
 
32.  2 Corinthians 5:18
 
33.  1 Corinthians 15:51-55
 
34.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
 
35.  Revelation 20