What's Wrong With America?
“And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” Genesis 4:8
Why? Why has American culture turned into such a moral cesspool? There are endless examples but the mass shootings in the last two weeks are particularly on my mind. Why does a man shoot up a grocery store of people of a different skin color than him? Why does a young man shoot his grandmother and then murder a classroom full of children? I’ve seen various answers to these questions. Some blame inaction in Washington. Others blame racism and radicalization. Some say fatherlessness is to blame. Others say it's the gratuitous violence in media and video games. Some blame guns. Others suggest that the problem is America’s addiction to psychotropics. Some say an overly permissive and affirming culture is at fault. Still others suggest our social media obsession is to blame. Finally, some suggest that the lockdowns over the last two years have pushed many people into a mental health crisis. Some or all of these factors may have contributed but not one of them fully answers the question why.
For that we must look at our worldview. Western culture has adopted a novel view of human nature. Modern America, and probably much of the modern West, adopts the view that human beings are fundamentally good. The prevailing view is that as long as a person is given the proper environment, nurture, education, and opportunity people will flourish and society will progress. Through technology and education man’s potential for good becomes limitless! Unfortunately reality tells the opposite story—people are not basically good.
God’s Word declares our true condition. We are fallen, sinful and broken. Romans 3 explains that we are all under sin: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have no known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18). Don’t let the offense of the Scripture be lost in popular euphemism. The Bible says something much more than that we all make “mistakes.” Yes, we make mistakes, but more specifically we are sinners. There is a difference. We are not basically good people who occasionally make mistakes. We are sinful people who are incapable of any good before a Holy God. Notice what the Bible is saying here. The Bible is not saying that only those who commit heinous crimes are sinners. The Bible says that not one of us is righteous. When we understand this, it becomes remarkable how the sort of evil on display in the news recently is not even more prevalent than it is.
Man’s problems and America’s problems are heart problems. We have a spiritual problem not simply a societal problem. We can pass laws. We can make reforms. We can change the way we do things in our society. However, none of those things actually change the heart. The good news is that God can. In comes Jesus. Jesus died in the place of sinners, the Innocent for the guilty. He did this in order to bring us to God. When a person repents and believes on Christ there is a change, not a superficial change but a heart change: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). Jesus transforms a heart of hatred into a heart that is capable of loving others. Jesus changes a heart of rebellion into a heart of obedience. Jesus, we need You!