A lot of Christian leaders today are expressing concern at President Obama’s messages about America being no longer being a “Christian nation”. The President said it once in his inaugural address and again when he traveled in Europe this year. Let’s look a minute at that. What exactly is “A Christian Nation”? Does such a thing actually exist?
What is a Christian Nation?
The early followers of Christ were called “Christians” because they acted like Christ.
….And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Acts 11:26b NKJV
The word was used for men and women who had repented of their sins and turned to Jesus and were following Him in their actions and words. They had a personal relationship with Jesus and were anointed by the Holy Spirit. Christ was Lord of their life. They often died for their faith.
Since Christianity was – and is - a personal thing between a man or woman and God, you really can’t have a “Christian Nation.” The term in common usage today might refer to:
1. A nation that has repented of its sin and turned to God (as Nineveh did to the disappointment of Jonah)
2. It might also refer to a nation in which the majority of its citizens are followers of Christ.
3. A third definition might be a nation that has embraced Judeo-Christian values and leads from the moral and spiritual integrity of those values.
If you look at America today against any of these three definitions, at least by items 1 and 3, it is certainly not a Christian Nation and President Obama is right.
Is the American Majority Christian?
The recent (2008) American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut was based on a survey of 54,000 interviews. This survey shows that 75% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, down from 90% in 1990. That is a majority Americans if those that that called themselves Christians actively professed, lived, and acted their faith.
You might have an interesting discussion on whether we were even once a Christian nation on the basis of the faith of early Americans, but we seem to have lost our way somewhere along the line. I like George Barna’s story of the frog in the kettle. Put the frog in the water and bring the heat up slowly and the frog won’t jump out. The frog never realizes the danger. The American church is at much of the same place.
America’s Spiritual History
Let’s begin by first realizing that God is not “for” or “against” America. God has a Plan – a big one – in redeeming Man (as you) to Himself. God created the world, then created the man and woman, and then placed them in the Garden. God loved Man – in fact, that is why He created you. God’s purpose in creation was for Man to love and glorify God. But then that whole Plan fell apart when Satan came into the Garden and led the man and the woman to disobey God. God then promised a Redeemer who would come and restore the relationship again between Man and God. That Redeemer did come in Jesus, who died and rose to restore the original relationship. For love to be love, however, God had to leave Man the choice. God is still acting today. The choice is there for you. The Plan continues.
Israel became the chosen nation for the coming of Christ – their role in the Plan. America is also a chosen nation in turns of what God wants to do through that Plan. That doesn’t make it a Christian nation. Just like you are chosen by God for what He wants to do through you – whether you are a Christian or not. And God’s chosenness doesn’t make you a Christian. God chose Pharaoh to release the Israelites, but that didn’t make him a Christian. Before the white man ever came to America, God was already at work here in terms of that Plan. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to discover that Plan and help make it happen.
Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards
Columbus had near mutiny on his hands as he pursued a vision he apparently never shared with anyone on those ships. Our only clues to this vision are in his journals, where he even quoted Scripture to support his vision. Columbus wanted to carry the Light of Christ into the darkness of undiscovered heathen lands. His very name meant Christ-bearer. Columbus felt called by God to carry the Christ to the heathen lands. Columbus and his ships first landed in the area of the Bahamas in 1492; and after they had explored the islands there they went on to what is now Cuba. On each island they planted a large wooden cross.
Unfortunately, Columbus lost sight of his calling as his greed for the gold in the new land increased. Moreover, those early settlers indulged their sexual appetites with the Indian women, resolving by violence when the Indians protested. The settlers broke into factions, fighting each other instead of working together. Columbus tried to use their thirst for gold to unite the men and eventually he lost sight of any spiritual vision God had given him. The entire Columbus era in Central America soon deteriorated into plunder, lust, and murder.
The Spanish with the Portuguese began exploring the New World at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Their mission was gold, conquest, and colonization. Ruthless in their conquest, the Spanish Conquistadors also brought with them some monks - Franciscan and Dominican Friars. These monks had a deep love for God and very committed to their relationship with God. They planted orphanages, schools, and missions.
The Reformation Reaches the New World
In Germany, Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation with his 95 Thesis nailed to the door of the All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg in 1517. The paper was in Latin (so that the common people could not read it), but it was quickly translated into German and then printed on the Gutenberg Press and circulated. Luther’s basic thesis was that salvation was by faith and faith alone – a premise that cut dramatically into the sale of indulgences. The theses spread quickly – in two weeks the theses was circulating throughout Germany, and in two months throughout Europe. In 1529 the Church of England (Anglican Church) separated itself from Rome, thus bringing England under the broader aspects of the Reformation movement.
As this Reformation swept Europe, the Lord’s’ work grew in America as the influence of the Franciscans continued into the southwest area of America. The first white man to explore America was a Spanish Franciscan friar named Marcos de Niza. His journey into New Mexico (1539) led later to Coronado’s famous expedition to search for the seven cities with the streets paved with gold.
Spain tried with several attempts to colonize Florida, but each attempt failed. Finally, in 1562, a group of French Huguenots (Calvin Protestants) trying to escape religious persecution settled northward of Florida in what is now South Carolina. Another group of Huguenots tried to settle in Florida but were massacred by a Spanish expedition. In the larger picture, one wonders if the Huguenots became the martyrs for the larger vision God had for America.
The Coming of the French
The French were the next group to attempt to settle America. The Jesuits began their settlements in the northeast area to the country. These were brilliant and strong men with deep convictions and committed to the service of God under the leadership of Jesus Christ. Their ministry began around 1534-1540. The Jesuits took their mission or reaching the Native Americans for Christ in humility and seeing them as equals. There were many French and Spanish martyrs during this early time of the Church in America.
Oregonian that got picked up. Find out what is really missing in the current economic strategy. 
Before puberty, the brain lacks much of certain important chemicals needed for decision making: serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. When the child reaches puberty and the growth hormone begins to be released, these chemicals begin to be released. The brain then begins to function as an adult brain. The difference is that before puberty the child is simply responding behaviorally to the perceptions given to it and extracting these projected perceptions as reality. After these chemicals begin to be released, the child can begin to reason as an adult and can choose to shape their own view of reality. 
