The Soul: What to Do?

            In the previous post I established why I think America is collapsing. My answer is the demise of the family (and fatherhood specifically).

            In this post I’ll write about how to fix America. Naturally, I think the answer is fixing the family. Now, some people I know think the answer is fixing the education system. I’ll tell you why that is incorrect.

            The kids who GO TO the schools COME FROM homes. Now, if the home is messed up, the kids generally could care less how well they do in school. This doesn’t depend on how good the individual school is, it’s just that kids won’t care unless there are people at home to push them forwards.

            Stats back this up (kids coming from single-parent homes or step-parent homes not doing as well in school). However, I just want to dismiss the “education is the key to fixing the country” thing people say.

            Now, how do we fix the families in the country? We start by FIXING THE CHRISTIAN FAMILIES. When people look at us, they should see something that they want and desperately need. What are these things? Peace, joy, security, direction, purpose, and all those others things. But what do they see?

Statistics (Don’t You Love Them?)

            The numbers vary, but generally the “Christian” couples’ divorce rate is around 40-50%. Ouch. Now, those numbers go down based on how serious* the Christian couples are concerning their faith. Stricter Christians (those generally more on the conservative side) have lower divorce rates, and the numbers go down the more fundamental you go (i.e. more tenets of faith you hold to). But wait, there’s more:

            61% of Christians said they would have sex before marriage**. Ouch. 59% said that cohabitation is alright after dating for more than six months. Ouch. But wait, there’s more:

            In the Catholic church (and in some Protestant churches), child abuse has been a problem. Hundreds of thousands of kids have been abused by “leaders”. Ugh. But wait... I don’t feel like continuing. This is enough.

So How Do People See “Christians”?

            Let’s go through these lovely statistics. Those outside of Christianity see pain, lies, faithlessness, promiscuity, pregnancies, STDs, hypocrisy, and abuse. So, let’s go evangelize! Let’s go convince people that Christianity is the only way! Let’s go tell people that Christianity will heal the soul and set it free!

            Uh, no. We won’t fix the education system, or the family, or the soul, or the nation, until we fix ourselves. Until two Christians make the commitment to wait until marriage. And until those two Christians wait until death to part. Until Christian leaders see the souls behind the bodies of the people they work with. Until the world sees that we are who we say we are.

That’s Just It

            Let’s read about what God wants us to be. Matthew 5:14 states, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” (NIV)

            Christians think of “light of the world” and think “aww, that’s cute.” That’s just because we don’t understand the context. The verse before (13) goes something like:

            “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

            The majority of Christians are not salty and so God won’t use them. Why? They are no different than those they are supposed to be seasoning. If salt tasted like french fries, would we put salt on french fries? No, nothing would happen (I don’t think, don’t quote me on the fries thing).

Fixing the Soul

            We’ve established that America is messed up. This is because the soul of the nation and of the individuals are messed up. We’ve also established that the downfall of the family and fatherhood is responsible for messed up souls.

            How do we fix the family (and therefore all the other things)? By showing that there is an alternative to dysfunction. But we have to BE the alternative. We have to be the light of the world that people can look to and say, “I want to be like that.” They join the light, change, and become examples for others. Pretty soon enough changed lives will change a nation.

            But it starts with you and me. Will we pick up our crosses and follow Jesus? Then our souls will be changed, and the world will soon follow.

*But really, "seriousness" doesn't matter when you say you are a Christian. Already you've labeled yourself, being serious or not doesn't change how people see you. They don't differentiate between those obeying Christ and not. The damage is done.
**I could've used the stats about actual teenage sex in Christian circles. But that's depressing, so I'll just trust those who say they would have sex if they could and roll with that.