"I visited their manufactories, their commercial markets and emporiums of trade; I entered their judicial courts and legislative halls; but I sought everywhere in vain until I entered the church. It was there as I listened to the soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ, as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of the people, that I learned why America was great and free and why France was a slave. . .America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831

Having recently read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I was struck by their high view of sin. The Puritans treated sin very seriously and very differently than we do today. In fact, when Hester Pyrnne was found in adultery, she was publicly disgraced and would carry that shame to her death. Although I do think that the Puritans in this book ignored their own sin and preferred to find sin in others, I do believe that they had a correct view of sin. According to God's Word, sin is serious. . .and as a result, it must be treated seriously. But do we as Americans take sin seriously?

America has problems. What most people see as a prosperous nation is now going downhill spiritually. What the Puritans and pilgrims spent their life investing in is being forgotten today. . .We overlook the faith that our fathers had: the faith that this nation has been grounded on. One such problem is sin. We can not hope to rid America of sin. That would be impossible. But we, as a nation, learn to live with sin. We overlook it. We underestimate it. We forget that we are sinners in the hands of an angry God. And we are sinners. Most people, even unbelievers would agree with the fact that we all have some bad in us. Rarely do you meet someone that truly believes they are perfect, for we all know that we fail. But our refusal to see our sin as a crime committed against a holy God makes us treat it casually. We hide under the guise of "no one is perfect." This is true, but it is not to be used as an excuse for sin. Rather, it should show us our depravity and our need for a savior.

The Hester Pyrnnes of America are treated far differently than they were in the Puritan Era. Consider these statistics. . .

"Divorce rates have come down slightly since 1981, but part of the decline is accounted for by a drop in the number of marriages. The proportion of first marriages that will eventually end in divorce still appears to be very close to one-half. . .

Adultery and divorce are taken very lightly in our culture because of the increase of their practices. Instead of dealing with the problem, most Americans ignore it. Instead of fighting it, many succumb to the temptation to abandon their spouse that they promised "to love and cherish til death do us part". Vows made before God and witnesses are taken lightly because it has become so easy to break them. Simply file for a divorce if you are unhappy. But this life should not about our temporary happiness. We, as Christians, must not be so easily deceived by what are culture pronounces acceptable. When Jesus was on earth, he did very few things that the Jewish culture would have pronounced acceptable. He healed people on the Sabbath because he felt compassion for them. He claimed to be the Son of God because he was. He associated with tax collectors and sinners because it is the sick that are in need of a physician. And this is what put him on the cross. Obviously he was not popular. And if our goal is really to follow him then we should not be striving for popularity or acceptance, either. We should strive to be "in the world but not of the world." The world should see something different in us, because we know that what the world has to offer is not comparable "to the glory that is to be revealed to us." If we fit in with the world something is wrong. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, though it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. . ." Let us also be looked down upon because we believe that sin is serious. Let us fight for righteousness in our culture. Let us desire the same morals and beliefs to be practiced that the founders of this country desired as well. And let us be different from those around us, that we might better exemplify Christ. For the trials of today will not be comparable to the glory that awaits us!

Gracie

Statistics found here.