By Marlin Kilpatrick
Every tree has a tap root. The tap root supplies the tree with the proper nutrients that will make the tree grow. The tap root is the tree’s main source for survival. Any disease affecting the tap root may have devastating effects on the tree. Indeed, the consequences may be fatal.
Our nation’s “tap root” is in serious (if not fatal) distress. Our tap root is full of disease; it is putrid with all uncleanness. We have become a spiritually sick nation. It doesn’t take a Solomon to see our nation is heading for a fall, unless crucial corrections are made, and made promptly. We cannot last as a free nation when the One who made us free is mocked, scorned, and rejected. “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Pro. 14:34).
Anyone who grew up in the 40’s and 50’s knows there was a time when our nation had at least some moral fiber. Compared with today, these years were truly an age of innocence. I was a Junior in high school before I heard the word “marijuana.” Today, marijuana (a drug) is considered beneficial for medicinal purposes, and is even being legalized in many of our states. Drugs, such as heroin, crack cocaine, et al., are common fare on many street corners in downtown U.S.A. Alcohol (another drug) freely flows among our teenagers and, often, in our places of employment. This environment has had a detrimental effect on the Lord’s church. Some members of the Lord’s church think nothing of keeping a six-pack of beer in their refrigerators. Unless alcohol is prescribed for medicinal purposes, its consumption is condemned in the Scriptures. Drunkenness is a matter of degree. To whatever degree one consumes alcohol as a recreational beverage, to that degree one is scripturally drunk. The claim that one may drink so long as he does not become drunk is surely not sound.
Our nation’s root problem is its rejection of God and His Word, the Bible. Most of our nation’s forefathers had at least a nominal knowledge of the Scriptures. Most of our forefathers were not New Testament Christians, but most had a high respect for the Bible, and they often quoted the Scriptures to explain their civil, as well as religious, convictions. Our nation is spiritually suffering as a result of several U.S. Supreme Court decisions, not the least of which are the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, legalizing abortion, and the more recent legalization of so-called “same sex marriage.” If there were ever a misnomer for marriage, “same sex” is it. “Same sex marriage” is not biblical marriage; it is biblical fornication—period. There will be no fornicators in heaven. Fornication is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21).
Today evolution is taught in our public schools as a fact, not as a theory. Biblical creation is flatly denied by our school teachers and anyone who believes the biblical account of creation may be mocked. When we watch the National Geographic channel and a group of apes are being observed, it’s not at all uncommon to hear someone refer to these apes as “our nearest relatives.” Behind such an observation is the theory of evolution. One cannot believe Jesus and believe the theory of evolution. Jesus endorsed the Genesis account of man’s creation when he said, “have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning, made the male and female” (Matt. 19:4). Man has not evolved; rather, he was made by his Creator. The theory of evolution leads to many problems for society. If man is just an improved ape, then he will care nothing about spiritual matters. Is it any wonder why most people live as they do? When our boys and girls are taught the theory of evolution, we are sowing to the wind and, like Israel of old, we shall reap the whirlwind (cf. Hos. 8:7).
Our nation’s root problem can only be solved by a return to respect for God and His Bible. Today all accountable persons are amenable to the gospel of Christ. The gospel is God’s only power to save man from his sins (Rom. 1:16). To be saved we must throw off the moral degradation which has engulfed us. We must humbly submit our wills to the New Testament of Jesus Christ. There is no other alternative. If we continue on our downward slide into immorality in any form, we will one day reap what we have sown (cf. Gal. 6:7-8). Think about it.
Biblical Notes 