The Ideal

In four years our nation will celebrate its 250th birthday.  I’m not sure what that is called. I remember the bicentennial observance in 1976. I was just over three weeks away from my 17th birthday, and preparing to enter my senior year in high school.  At the next big one I will have reached “full retirement age” for social security purposes.  Ah, the years flow by.

            This past weekend we celebrated Independence Day.  I know that in recent years there has been the attempt to “cancel” many of our founding fathers.  As a student of history, I can’t agree to that. And yet, I am reminded that all of our predecessors had clay feet. They were all sinners.

            While serving as author of the document that includes the line, “We believe that all men are created equal,” Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.  There is certainly a contradiction in those actions. So, how might we think about them?

            Here’s one man’s opinion, but I believe it is supported by Scripture. Our founding documents set forth the ideal. The words are true, and we should aspire to live by them. But the truth is that we fail.  Thomas Jefferson failed. Brad Butler fails. Again, we all fail. The biblical doctrine for that is called, “the depravity of mankind,” which does not mean that we are all as evil as we could be, but that we are all sinners by nature, and that every aspect of our lives is touched and tainted by sin.

            The sad truth is simple. Sin is real. It impacts us all. And if left there, we are all in extreme trouble. 

            But the good news of the Gospel is this. Jesus has come and lived the one perfect life. And then He gave that life for us. Because of His sacrifice, we can all live forever. We can be freed from the bonds of sin. 

            I am always grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. But I am even more thankful for the freedom offered in Christ.  I pray that you will find and enjoy that freedom as well.