The Problem with America

This is a continuation of the prior post. Sounds kind of like a broad subject area, wouldn't you say? Well, not really. You see, most of the 'problems' in our country are really symptoms and consequences, not causes. There is but one primary cause, with several sub-causes...one of which I will consider.

The root of America's problems is, simply, covenantal unfaithfulness in the church by the ministers and, consequently, the laity: "...if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (II Chron 7:14) We have abandoned God in the public sector, for sure, but worse, we have abandoned our first love in the church.

Pastors, even many of the evangelical ones, don't preach (and some don't believe) that the Scriptures both Old and New are the absolute truth and therefore relevant. Many don't even believe in 'absolute' truth at all. And certainly, most do not preach God's sovereignty over His entire creation (every cubic centimeter), the totality of Jesus' lordship, and our need to repent of sin and eat of the Lord's Supper on a frequent (I would argue for weekly) basis. Pastors (and elders) have allowed our worship to become flippant, syrupy and altogether unbiblical. And not surprising, unfaithful preaching has led to unfaithful shepherding and unfaithful following, as well. That leads to point number two.

Fathers have abandoned their various responsibilities as faithful heads of their households. As an example in Ephesians 6, Paul gives fathers both a negative and a positive command: 'do not provoke' and 'bring them up'. Many children are provoked to wrath because they do not see their fathers living out what they say. A thankful, humble, and repentant lifestyle is not in evidence. Further, children are taught one thing at home (and the same in church presumably) and the total opposite in government schools (ie. creation vs evolution). That is why so many church-going, young people either temporarily park or totally abandon their faith on the side of the road when they go through college. Some recover it, by God's grace...most do not. I have heard many a testimony of a high school or college student start with the phrase, "I grew up in a Christian home, BUT..."

When the ministers in the church do their job according to the Scriptures, and the ministers in the homes (fathers) do likewise, we will see a remarkable reformation in the church and consequential transformation in the culture that our faithful forefathers fought and died for.

The Problem with English

Unfortunately, the English language has many inadequacies, especially when translating from the original languages of the Bible. For example, one of the most commonly known shortcomings is with the word 'love'. The Greeks had four words for 'love', all of which had a particular meaning that would give a clearer indication of the speaker's or writer's intent. In English, we have to judge from the context, and if that is not possible, we are left in the dark as to the nuances of the intended meaning. Take, for instance, Jesus' words on the shore of Galilee when He restoratively asked Peter, "Do you love me?" In the Greek, Jesus used 'agape' in His first two queries but then changed to 'philos' in His third. This change illumines our understanding of Peter's heart and his reticence to characterize his 'love' as sacrificial and all-encompassing. If we had to rely on English, we would never fully grasp the subtle, yet monumental, difference. And we would not see our own reticence to commit our lives fully to Christ, as reflected in the apostle.

The same type of problem arises in Ephesians 6:4, "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." The English word 'training' (NKJ), is wholly inadequate to communicate the import and force of Paul's second command in this passage. (I'll get to the first command in a later post) In other English translations, this word is also translated as 'nurture', 'discipline', 'chastening', and 'instruction'. All of these renderings fall far short of the Greek 'paideia'.

Paul's audience would have understood 'paideia' to be far broader in scope than Sunday worship, youth group meetings, family devotions and educational curriculum. It connoted a complete cultural immersion that certainly included those things, as well as what Deuteronomy 6:7-9 describes as diligent discussion when sitting, walking, lying down, rising up, and which is to be posted on your hand, your forehead, the doorway and the fence gate. In other words, no mixed messages...a singular teaching at every hour of the day regardless of posture or location.

"Further, the point of paideia was to bring that culture about. To find a word of comparable importance to them, we would have to hunt around for a word like 'philosophy.' To find a word of comparable importance in our culture, we would have to point to something like 'democracy.' The word paideia was as central to the thinking of the Greeks as the idea of the proletariat is to a Marxist, or cash to a televangelist. It was not a take-it-or-leave-it word like whatever the original Greek word for shoelaces was" (Douglas Wilson, The Paideia of God, p. 11).