Q&A with Allen Jackson: God has a plan for America

Do you ever find yourself worrying about the future of the United States?

As a follower of Christ, are you concerned for the state of our nation? We can easily fall into a fearful mindset when we consider where our country is headed.

My Faith Votes challenged Pastor Allen Jackson to answer those very questions. He pastors World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, TN.

We tend to run and hide from God’s judgment, avoiding it at all costs, but Pastor Jackson believes that’s God’s judgment is something to revere and celebrate. It showcases God’s righteousness and commitment to justice even amidst what we may consider chaos.

Of course, no specific passage in Scripture mentions the United States. Nonetheless, Pastor Jackson believes that God’s judgment and America’s trajectory is fulfilling prophecy. America, he says, “wasn't birthed out of the mind or by the will of human beings — God called us into existence.”

Jackson notes that while the U.S. has never been an exclusively Christian nation, it is a uniquely Christian nation with its fundamental institutions — the legal and academic systems, for example — having solid Judeo-Christian roots.

“Our founding documents clearly emerged from biblical principles and Scriptures,” Jackson says. “God has used our nation as a vehicle for biblical messaging from its inception.”

God’s plan for the future, then, includes a role for the United States. Jackson points out that’s why the Church in America must be “awake and engaged” and not overrun by unbiblical influences from secularism or progressivism.

Christians are meant to change the world for the glory of God, but remaining silent in the political sphere does not change our nation for the better. There is no better way to affect change on a national scale than at the voting box and America’s millions of Christians, if they would merely commit to voting, would drastically affect each election.

Jackson advises, “we've got to become a bit more sophisticated as voters.” Christians, whose eternal home is the kingdom of God, must seek to impact this earthly kingdom by diligently fulfilling our responsibility as citizens to vote. And if we take them seriously, our religious convictions — the values we cherish based on principles found in Scripture — should influence our politics. Christians in America must, Jackson exhorts, “understand that we are salt and light, that our goal is not comfort and convenience.”

Check out the full interview here.