What Makes America Great?
by Terry Wane Benton
It would not be the crimes that many have committed in the past or present, as such are always a blight on even the most remarkable ventures of freedom. It would not be the record of sexual immorality that produces unwanted children who would pay with their lives for the sins of the parents in abortion. It would not be crimes that are committed from town to town that fill the prison cells across this great land. It would not be hypocrisy of religious leaders who refuse to tell the truth of God's word lest they lose their pay, all the while refusing to warn people of sin to ensure their own status in a sin-weakened church.
No nation is great because of sin or even material prosperity. But what makes America great is that the freedom of speech has allowed many corrections to come about. A nation is not great because of the hypocrisy of men who kidnapped and enslaved and used people for their own profit, but because there was freedom to speak of that hypocrisy and abuse and bring it to levels of correction that otherwise would not happen at all.
What makes America great is not the hypocrisy of racial prejudice that many practiced in the past or present, but the freedom of speech that led men to bring about corrections. What will continue to make America a great country is the freedom to speak the word of God openly so that sin can be exposed and corrected. When freedom of religion and freedom of speech are taken away, there will be no corrective voices that have a chance of changing hearts and minds for the better.
No, America is not great because it is perfect in righteousness and perfect in "justice for all", but because the ideals are still in place to give the citizens a chance at making their own lives good. There will always be a blight because freedom also allows a certain amount of personal bad decision-making. This has always been true of every nation.
It is the corrective ability of preaching truth that gives people the best opportunity for a good and meaningful life, and the corrective voice of freedom of speech is the thing that makes for improvements, without which no improvements can be made. When the voice of truth in churches is silenced, when the voice of truth is never allowed, then America will cease to be great. We can take advantage of our opportunity to give truth a hearing and a voice, help reform the hearts of all kinds of sinners, because right now America is great enough to allow it.
Pray and work to exalt God and His word, and the country will be the better for it, at least in your part of the country. Spread God’s word, the voice of truth, because our country is great enough to allow it. It may not always be this way, so use it wisely, well, and regularly!
