What the Debt Crisis Means for the American Church

The real issue, however, isn’t the budget, the debt ceiling or
anything else, as much as it is a philosophical battle over the
direction of the country. This is the root of the intransigence and
increasing bitterness exhibited by both parties.

People
defend philosophies more vehemently than they do money. It’s like
defending one’s religion as one side against the other claims to be
the only source of truth. And make no mistake, politics and political
ideology have the force of religion in America.

For this
reason, no matter what solution Washington comes up with to deal with
the immediate crisis, the danger will not have passed. The battles
and the paralyses will continue well into the future on this and
other issues—progressives versus conservatives, neither side
willing to concede anything to the other, and each characterizing the
opposition as evil. The debates will remain bitter and accusatory
while our president appears ever more impotent to provide the
leadership necessary to carry us through.

Some
months ago I prophesied a serious third-year crisis at the
presidential level that would profoundly impact the nation for years
to come. One would have to be blind not to see it shaping up in
current events. At that time I called us to urgent prayer concerning
this. I do so again.

In writing all of this, I am not being
political. I am rather pointing out the deeply divided condition of
our nation. Divisions range from politics to religion to race. Not
since the Civil War have we seen so many fractures in so many places
at such deep levels. We are no longer “one nation” and no
longer does our nation regard itself to be “under God” in
any effective sense.

The
bad news is that we are beyond healing. Certain trends have been
allowed to go too far unchecked, and we now live with a shattered
national consciousness and a broken sense of who we are as a
people.

This situation requires a change of strategy on the
part of Christians. We cannot make America what it once was. The
America many of us grew up with and came to love is gone forever. We
must therefore surrender our bitterness and anger over this state of
affairs and deal with the situation as it is rather than as we
believe it once was or how we would like it to be.

I have
long since surrendered the idea that we are a Christian nation or
that we will return to any kind of admission we were ever such. I
refuse to debate whether we ever truly were. What is important is my
nation, my true citizenship is the church of Jesus Christ, and I will
direct my prophetic cries to her heart. She is black, white, brown,
Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian and Slavic, to mention a few. I
cannot and will not confuse my loyalties by making my love of America
a point of faith.

Use your vote in the coming days to express
your conscience in the political realm but invest your truest effort
in strengthening the Lord’s bride and bringing about her health. This
is a struggle we can win. The storm is coming, icebergs lie ahead,
Titanic will sink because no one has the power to turn the ship, and
we, the church, must be ready with lifeboats and supplies and lights
to dispel the darkness and secure spiritual homes to rescue those who
will be drowning as the ship founders.

I’ve been on record
saying that it won’t be as bad as many are saying, but it will
certainly be bad enough. For us who have prepared ourselves and our
churches effectively, it will be the moment of glory as God increases
His acts of mercy, His demonstrations of power and His love through
us who will step forward boldly and with passion.

This
is our time to rise and shine, not to join the world in fear and
depression. The world will hurt as increasing sin bears its
inevitable fruit in destruction. Many will cry out to be saved. We
must be ready.

Let the “sons of God” (Rom. 8:18-19)
who have absorbed His nature and character (Rom. 8:29) arise at last
as the earth suffers the birth pangs of the coming kingdom of God.

About the author:·R. Loren Sandford is the founder and senior pastor of New Song Fellowship in Denver. He is a songwriter, recording artist and worship leader, as well as the author of several books, including Understanding Prophetic People, The Prophetic Church and his latest, Renewal for the Wounded Warrior, which are available with other resources at the church’s website.