There's been a lot of hand-wringing lately in the Christian ...

There's been a lot of hand-wringing lately in the Christian community about the demise of America. Here's the problem: "Demise of America" really means the demise of a "Christian" America. Christianity isn't a system of government. It's not a business practice. It's not a way to move up socially. Or, at least, it isn't supposed to be. For hundreds of years in America, a form of Christianity has been all of those things, but all of that appears to be changing. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has studied history. Take a look at countries where Christianity was a way to move upward socially, specifically Western Europe. Most Western European countries are almost entirely secular now after centuries of cultural, political, and social dominance by Christianity. Christianity is now expected to continue to move away from Europe and increase greatly in sub-Saharan Africa. Another place where Christianity is growing greatly is China, a place where it was illegal to be a Christian and, as far as I understand it, is still illegal to be a Christian outside of the state-sponsored Church. Estimates say there are now more Christians in China than in the United States. It represents about 12% of the total population, but that number is increasing which is the opposite of what is happening in countries where Christianity is supposedly the dominant social and cultural force. The earliest Christians became believers at the cost of their lives: socially, culturally, politically, and physically. Persecution caused them to flee from city to city, spreading the Gospel further than anyone could have possibly imagined. Think if Christianity had been immediately accepted by the Roman and Jewish authorities in Israel. It would have remained limited to the small region in the Middle East occupied by ancient Israel. It would have become a religion of that specific country. People of other countries would have refused to accept it out of a desire not to support a rival country. Point is, Christianity has always been a religion of the downtrodden, the underdogs, the people with nothing else. The entire point of Christianity is that you completely surrender yourself and your life to Christ. You say, "I've got nothing. I want nothing except Christ." Becoming a Christian should't benefit you in business, or politics, or power. When Paul came to Christ, he gave up a position of great power.  If you come to Christ in order to benefit in any way besides salvation then your motivations are wrong. When you come to Christ under great duress you know the importance and sacrifice involved. That's why Christianity is growing so fast in China, that's why it's increasing wildly in Iran, where more Christians have come to Christ in the 33 years since the Islamic Revolution than in the 1400 years prior. I came to Christ like many people I know, when I was around 6 or 7 it all finally clicked. I grew up in church with loving Christian parents. I am deeply blessed and fortunate to have grown up in a family where the Bible was taught and in a country where that was allowed. But a majority of the people I know that came to Christ in the same way as me either completely rejected the message as they got older, or never fully understood what it meant to follow Christ and only found out much later in life. Don't hear me say that I'm hoping America becomes more hostile to Christianity or religion in general. America is at it's best when it is a free society allowing everyone a "pursuit of happiness" and if that is in a religion they should be free to practice that religion. In the early church it wasn't the Good News because your life on Earth would dramatically improve (monetarily, socially, etc.) It wasn't the Good News so your country would be safe from natural disasters and attacks from enemies. It wasn't salvation to entire nations. The Roman Empire lasted for over a thousand years, not because of it's own righteousness or Christian beliefs. Genghis Khan conquered almost the entire known world, but not because of the Gospel. But he's dead. The Roman Empire has fallen. America, too, will one day go away. The Gospel will remain. The Gospel will remain and has remained because Jesus is King of an empire not tied to borders. There is such a thing as a "Christian" nation. It's the Kingdom of Heaven, not America, or the Holy Roman Empire, or any country in the future or past founded on Christian principles. You can't legislate Christianity because Christianity is Christ in you, not laws or rules to follow. The only nation chosen by God is the nation of Israel. Not America. So don't lament the loss of America's Christianity. Lament the incorrect way we have approached the Gospel as a society. Lament that instead of actually listening to what God tells us, we hijacked Christianity to become a set of empty morals in the same way the Pharisees did. Yes, it will go well with us if we follow God. For example: The Bible warns against drinking to excess. I think it's pretty well established that following that command is going to make your life better. But the Bible also guarantees that in this world we will have trouble. This idea that foreign attacks or natural disasters are a result of America turning our back on God is a poor view of history. There have always been massive disasters in the 200+ years of American history. The White House was burned down in the War of 1812. Over 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 caused the death of around 8,000 people. The Dust Bowl caused 500,000 families to be homeless in the 1930s. I could literally find a major issue and loss-of-life event in every era of American history. So the suggestion that God has now taken away his protection of America because Gay marriage is now legal is asinine. God protects America as much as he protects every other nation. America isn't favored, to suggest that we can earn God's favor as a nation is a suggestion that we can earn God's favor as individuals and that's the exact opposite of the Gospel. This topic could be explored in entire books, but my entire point of this post is a challenge. Mostly to myself, but also to anyone who is upset by the loss of a "Christian" America. Preach the Gospel like someone who understands the severity of believing in it. Preach it like you actually believe it. Don't try to gain America back. Try to gain the souls of those around you. Make changes at the level you can make it. Getting angry on Facebook or Twitter doesn't solve anything. I'm challenging myself because I struggle as much as anyone in this. The only Christian nation is the Kingdom of Heaven, let's increase the citizenship of that first and worry about finite nations second.