In
a meeting with Delaware Indian chiefs in 1779, George Washington commended them
for their request that their youth be trained in American schools. He assured
the chiefs that America would look upon them “as their own children” and then
said,
"You do well to wish to learn our arts and our ways of life and
above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and
happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention."
Compare
Washington’s attitude with government policy today that forbids those working to
resettle refugees in this country from talking about their faith or mentioning
the name of Jesus. This multicultural, politically correct government policy has
rejected Washington’s vision for America and denies people the hope and
happiness of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
The
Original American Vision
Indeed,
the original American vision was for a land of individual liberty and a place from
which the Gospel would be spread to the ends of the earth. America’s Founders
were not shy in expressing this vision for they believed, that in this world,
real freedom could only be realized in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This
link between freedom and the Gospel was expressed by America’s second
president, John Adams, just two weeks before the adoption of the Declaration of
Independence. In a letter to his cousin, Zabdiel, a minister of the Gospel, he wrote, “Statesmen, my dear sir,
may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion [Christianity] and
Morality alone, which can establish the Principles, upon which Freedom can
securely stand (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 174).
Adams was not expressing anything new or
novel for the idea of freedom rooted in the Gospel of Christ was a common
American belief brought here by the very first European immigrants to this
land. Consider the following quotes.
“From these very shores the Gospel
shall go forth, not only to this New World, but to all the world.”
Rev.
Robert Hunt, April 29, 1607, as he and the Jamestown settlers, who had just
landed at Cape Henry, gathered in prayer around a large oak cross they had
brought from England.
“Having undertaken for the glory of
God and the advancement of the Christian faith . . . a voyage to plant the
first colony in northern Virginia.”
From
the Mayflower Compact, the governing document of the Pilgrims who formulated it
upon their arrival in the New World in November of 1620.
“Whereas we all came into these parts
of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of
our Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the Liberties of the Gospel in purity and
peace.”
Opening
statement of the Articles of Confederation for ‘The United Colonies of New
England,” dated May 29, 1643. This confederation of New England towns and
colonies was formed for mutual security and to arbitrate land disputes among the
growing population.
“Might it not greatly facilitate the
introduction of pure religion among the heathen, if we could, by such a colony,
show them a better sample of Christians than they commonly see.”
Benjamin
Franklin in a 1756 letter to George Whitefield, the most famous preacher of the
Great Awakening, in which Franklin proposed that they partner together in
founding a Christian colony on the Ohio frontier.
“Pray
that the peaceful and glorious reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known
throughout the whole family of mankind.”
Samuel Adams, Founding Father and Governor of
Massachusetts. This call to prayer was part of a proclamation for a Day of
Prayer that he issued as Governor of MA in 1795.
“Pray
that all nations may bow to the scepter of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
and that the whole earth may be filled with his glory.”
John Hancock, Founding Father, President of the
Continental Congress and Governor of Massachusetts. This statement was part of
a call for prayer he issued while Governor.
“The
policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity.
The first wish of those who enjoy this precious gift ought to be that it may be
imparted to the whole race of mankind.”
James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution
and America’s fourth president, voicing his opposition in 1785 to a bill that
he perceived would have the unintended consequence of hindering the spread of
the Gospel.
“The
philosophy of Jesus is the most sublime and benevolent code of morals ever
offered man. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen.”.
Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of
Independence and America’s third president, who took money from the federal
treasury to send missionaries to an American Indian tribe and to build them a
chapel in which to worship.
“Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind, and
let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ.”
From
a public prayer prayed by George
Washington, America first president.
No Real Liberty Without the Gospel
It is obvious from the
above quotes that America’s Founders believed freedom and Christianity to be
inextricably linked. They believed so strongly in the Gospel as the basis of
human freedom that they unashamedly prayed and publicly expressed their desire
to see it spread throughout the earth.
Recent presidents have
sought to export American style democracy to other nations apart from the
Gospel of Christ. Indeed, the entire Western world is seeking to secularize
liberty and remove it from any association with faith.
The Founders would say
that such efforts are futile since true liberty cannot be had apart from the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Washington made this plain in his Farewell Address
where he warned the fledgling nation that two things—Christianity and morality--must be guarded if they
were to be a happy people. These, he said, are “indispensable supports” for political prosperity (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 169).
The linking of liberty
with the Gospel of Christ in America was obvious to the young French
sociologist, Alexis de Tocqueville, who came to America in 1831 to study her
institutions. Arriving on the heels
of the Second Great Awakening, he exclaimed, "The religious atmosphere of
the country was the first thing that struck me on arrival in the United States"
(Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 168).
He also observed that the means of improving the government were the same means employed in conversion and the advancement
of the Christian faith. He concluded that, in America, “From the beginning,
politics and religion [Christianity] contracted an alliance which has never
been dissolved” (Hyatt, Pilgrims and Patriots, 168).
Reject the Lie, Recover the Vision
The
day after approving the First Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make
no law concerning the establishment of religion or hindering the free exercise
thereof,” the Founders issued a proclamation for a national Day of
Prayer. They could do this because the First
Amendment was merely their way of saying that America would never have an
official, national church like the nations of Europe at the time. Nothing more!
Modern secularists
have been very successful in turning the First Amendment on its head and convincing
much of America that it bans expressions of faith from the public square. More than any other tool, this Lie has been used to trash George Washington's vision for America.
It
is time for this generation to rise up, reject the Lie and recover the vision
of Washington and America’s Founders. It is time to realize, with the Founders, that true freedom and happiness can only be found in Jesus Christ and to purposely
withhold the Good News from anyone is cruel and inhumane.
Finally,
America’s Founders, to one degree or another, were all impacted by the Great
Awakening (1726-1770). A nation
birthed in Spiritual awakening can only survive by being blessed with such periodic awakenings, and
these have been a part of America's history. Our land is ripe for another such
awakening and it will come as God’s people earnestly pray and boldly proclaim the truth that is in Jesus.
George Washington, I am sure, would approve this message.
George Washington, I am sure, would approve this message.
This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt's book, Pilgrims and Patriots, available from Amazon and his website @ www.eddiehyatt.com.
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