The Systemic Problem in America

In I Samuel 8:5-6, after years of national decline, Israel asks Samuel to give them a king to judge them “like all the nations.” Samuel then proceeds to tell them in verses 10-22 that the king will be a “taker” of Israel’s resources to enrich himself. He will even take 20% above the tithes God had already established to provide for their national life and function (I Samuel 8:15-17).

This is the natural tendency of political life and the course of nations and their leaders. Our founders recognized that centralized power in the hand of a king or governmental authority results in the abuse of power. They had seen that story before. That is why they established a system to limit the government’s role, emphasizing personal freedom and liberty, placing the responsibility on the individual to pursue his own life, liberty and happiness. Personal responsibility and volition were established by God Himself in Genesis 2. That is how God designed us to live, in subjection to him, of course.

It is also human nature to avoid responsibility and blame others for problems and decisions we or those close to us have made. See Genesis 3:6-13. Others often make decisions that affect us through no fault or actions of our own. The boss or CEO of a business that is our employer. The politician aiming at the rich who makes policy that affects the little guy, or the one who chooses to drive a car while under the influence. Examples are endless. That’s just life! Many things are out of one’s control when it comes to injustice and obstacles in life. Some problems are our own fault! But we control our own attitudes and have the most say in the course our life takes. 

The problems of America are not rooted in the system of government but in the nature of man. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5. Some forms are better than others, but all of them are run by flawed men.

National life is always messy business as in Genesis 14, but life itself is a gift from God and is enjoyed to the fullest when we as individuals live with his divine truth at the center of our lives. That is our systemic answer! Personal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ’s payment for sin on the cross is the way we receive eternal life, actually his life, to then be lived out through us! Then yield to him walking by faith in the truth of his word to us today, “the gospel of the grace of God” through the apostle Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13).

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

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