What Ails America? Jesus, Not Religion Is the Answer
Religion is not the way to God. Morality is not the way to God. Goodness is not the way to God. Money is not the way to God. There are not multiple ways to God. There is only one way, and it is through Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ is the only way to know God personally.
Look Around and See the Lostness
America is lost without Jesus Christ. We are a nation of people who are lacking meaning and purpose.
How much longer will people keep killing other people? How much longer will people keep abusing others? How much longer will people keep filling their bodies with drugs and alcohol? How much longer will people keep devaluing others? How much longer will all of this and more continue?
People who are spiritually lost without Jesus Christ will continue to live like they are spiritually lost without Jesus Christ. That is why America needs Jesus more now than ever before.
People Need Jesus
I believe in the exclusivity of the gospel. That means that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Jesus was asked by his friend, Thomas, how we can know the way to heaven.
John 14:6: Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus is the only Savior. Jesus is the only Lord.
When Christianity really began to advance in the first century, a collision of worldviews began to occur. Faith and culture began to collide. With boldness and clarity, the Apostle Peter declared,
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
This was true then, and it is still true today.
Each of us is separated from God. We are all sinners. We are destined to a life of purposeless and an eternal destiny that is separated from God in a place called hell.
The good news is that we can be saved when we repent of our sins and place our faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone. We can be delivered from the way we are living and the choices we have been making. When we believe Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised from the dead on the third day, we can be saved from our sin. Faith is believing in and trusting Jesus Christ and Him alone for our salvation.
When this happens, Christ forgives us of our sins, comes into our lives, and promises us eternal life in heaven when we die.
That is why I strongly believe that Jesus Christ is still the answer for every person in America and the entire world.
Praying into This Spiritual Lostness
Evangelism cannot be separated from prayer. When we realize the lostness in America and the world, we will begin to pray into this spiritual lostness. If we want to be used of God to penetrate this lostness, we need to lean into it with prayer.
The prayer movement in America cannot be separated from evangelism. If prayer and the desire for evangelism are genuine, they happen simultaneously.
More about this next week. Why is this important? Because America needs Jesus now more than ever before.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the senior pastor of Cross Church and president of the National Day of Prayer, which each year mobilizes millions of Americans to unified public prayer for the United States of America. He's the immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Follow him on Twitter (@ronniefloyd), Instagram (@ronniefloyd) and Facebook.
