What made America great?

Unity amidst diversity is what has made America unique.

The unifying factor has been the common fundamental ¹values that drove men and women to leave their homeland and establish a new country. Ever since America's founding, these same values have drawn men and women here over the years from every part of the world. The same values ²embodied in our founding documents.

The diversity has been the richness of our various cultural backgrounds.

So while we are different (described as a melting pot) culturally, we have also been the same i.e. had the same basic common values. On the great seal of the United States is the phrase "E Pluribus Unum" which is Latin and means "out of many, one." Many nations and cultures, but one united by the same values and a common goal -  freedom to carry out our lives as we see fit under God's guidance and direction. 

Both unity and diversity made America great and strong. We all marched to the same drummer (i.e. had the same common values/goals) while bringing a richness and variety of resources, cultures, and skills in pursuit of this common cause. All of which blended to show the richness and diversity of God himself and how each of us uniquely reflects his image.

Both are necessary for America to continue to be great and strong. However, we have drifted from our common values over time, which has been the glue that has held us together in all our diversity.

Freedom was the primary common value that moved our forefathers to come. The main one among the very earliest settlers was being free to worship and serve God as they believed he had called them to, without government interference. And not just any God, but the God who says loving Him with all our heart first is the most important thing, and out of this loving our neighbor. According to the bible (often derided in today's culture), the pursuit of this is good and right; not pursuing it is destructive. All other freedoms flowed from this.

In all that America has offered, we have never guaranteed happiness, only the freedom to pursue happiness. (Think of the movie "The Pursuit of Happiness" starring Will Smith).

This is not theory but our history. Yet some today -- not the vast majority but a tireless, driven and loud minority (politically, not ethnically) -- want to throw away the common values our country was founded on that have proven to make us the bastion of liberty and flourishing over the years.

The foundational value that made America great is that we recognized God is great. This was the primary value held by the vast majority of Americans. It should be mentioned that the "Great Awakening" had occurred only 30 years prior to the Declaration of Independence. The fundamental values of that awakening were still fresh in the hearts and minds of many Americans. 

A free people must be self-governed to remain free. The governing principle/values of loving God with all we are and have, and our neighbor as ourselves, is what keeps and makes us free. These internal governing principles/values minimized the need for external governing, allowing maximum freedom. Our need to return to greatness is not rooted in a political, economic, or cultural solution but a spiritual one. We can not love God and others -- treat others with value -- as we are designed to until we know the love of God ourselves, individually and as a nation i.e. we won't and can't value others unless we understand how God values/loves us, demonstrated in Him sending His Son to restore us back to Him. 

If we, as a people, are to continue to be the country where men and women are free to develop their abilities to the maximum of their potential for the glory of God, we must return to those common values of loving God and neighbor that made us strong from the beginning. In short, we need a spiritual awakening, not just a political or moral change. Change comes on the outside when our values (loving God and neighbor) on the inside are correct. Political and moral change is the fruit of loving God with all we are and have. This starts with God's people - i.e. the "church" universal - first. 

¹For a further discussion on values, culture, and racism, click here. 

²Though racism was a part of our society in the beginning, it was the founding principle that all men are created equal that eventually led to the black man being recognized as someone with the same rights and dignity as every other citizen. The HBO series on John Adams is an excellent recounting of how the compromise of this principle was an unfortunate, destructive, and unwanted part of our beginning for many.  

Values, culture and racism

Can certain elements within a culture be wrong? 

What drives and shapes a culture? 

Are racism and culture somehow connected?

Culture in great part is the fruit of a given groups values. What we value shapes the way we conduct our lives. For example if a people group values art, art will be a major part of their culture and history, or music, or colorful attire and so on. 

Over time a people ¹group with similar values will repeat certain conduct driven by those values which eventually becomes a pattern or part of that groups *culture. 

You may have heard of a sports team talking about how a new coach or players changed the culture of the team. In essence, they are saying there was a change in values i.e. what is most important.

Is there such a thing as ²right or wrong, good or bad culture? It depends. Many aspects of a culture are likely neutral and based on the unique talents, skills, environment, and resources distributed throughout a people group. However, the degree to which our values are aligned with God's values is the degree to which our culture will honor God. 

*NOTE: 

• A "group" can be identified by ethnicity, region, religion, the objective or goal of the group as a whole, vocation, world view or any other common yet distinguishing feature of that group. 
• Also in discussing "culture" I am including behavior patterns that can be moral, immoral or amoral.  

²I am also assuming there is real objective morality. Many today reject the notion of an absolute right and wrong i.e. there is no objective moral standard. This will not be a topic of this paper, but if you wish to explore this issue more click here and here.

Certain aspects of any culture are more God-honoring than others. Likewise, a culture that is less in line with God's values overall will be less honoring to God than one that is. Not because we say so, but because God does. 

God says, for example, loving others as we would have them love us is better - a good or higher value - than coveting or stealing our neighbor's property or taking our neighbor's life. 

A culture built on the former (on love) honors God and is therefore superior to one built on the latter (envy, revenge, disrespect, or destruction), not only morally but practically or functionally. Cultures that ignore these absolutes never reach the potential of the strengths or abilities of its people and can - and usually do - ultimately self destruct or languish over time. The reasons? It simply goes contrary to our individual as well the world's design. 

In a word, a culture built on God's value system aligns with how we are designed to function and generally flourishes long term over and against one that isn't. Good - i.e. God honoring - values cause a culture to flourish, bad - God dishonoring - one's cause it to languish. 

Culture in itself is not sacred. Only God and his standard of love is. To the degree a culture embraces God's standard, it becomes sacred. To the degree it doesn't, it is not.

A classic illustration is when a spiritual awakening occurs within a particular people group or community. Before such an event, a group might display certain cultural characteristics that are destructive and harmful such as a high murder or theft rate or a high level of substance-abuse, familial abuse or infidelity, etc. After such an event many of these kinds of behaviors either diminish considerably or may disappear altogether  -- while those qualities which are amoral usually remain. That group or community becomes kinder, more diligent in good deeds, often more stable and productive economically, and frequently experiences a significant reduction in crime. Such events have occurred to all kinds of people groups historically ³regardless of race or ethnicity of the group. For some examples click here.

³Race (ethnicity) is irrelevant to God as far as our being in a relationship with Him and aligned with His design. He has no racial preference. He neither regards nor discards ones race over other races. To use a biblical description God is "no respecter of persons" i.e. He has no regard for those distinguishing characteristics man values above and apart from Him, genetic or otherwise.

Culture and race are not one and the same

Though culture, values, and race are often very closely connected, they are distinct. One does not automatically or necessarily follow the other. 

To say it another way, we must identify and isolate bad behavior and distinguish it over against a supposed "bad group." There are no bad groups per se. A particular behavior, on the other hand, can be right or wrong within any given group. 

The standard is entirely different. Morality is the standard, not group identity. The focus should not be a group but on appropriate or inappropriate (i.e. moral or immoral, loving or selfish) behavior. Certain behavior is inappropriate no matter which people group takes part -- e.g. virtually everyone recognizes things such as lying, stealing or murder is wrong. They undermine trust. A society can't function well without trust or an overall morality, i.e. the recognition and execution of right and wrong behavior. 

If we do not distinguish the difference between morality and race, we fall into the common mistake made today that all people within a given group are bad because a particular behavior is common to that group e.g. all cops are bad because there are some bad cops or all Latinos are gangsters because some are gangsters, or all liberals or conservatives are bad because some are bad, etc. 

Many wish to tie race (or ethnic group) and culture together as if they are the same. They are not. Because of this, if someone questions a certain aspect (behavior) of a groups culture -- regardless of which group is questioning or being questioned -- some will cry racism when it has nothing to do with race i.e. it's not genetic its spiritual, moral and/or philosophical i.e. determined by their beliefs and values. (Keep in mind I am assuming there are absolutes i.e. there are things that are always right or wrong regardless of what group we are a part of e.g. loving our neighbor versus desiring or stealing our neighbor's stuff etc.)

For example, if theft or murder or familial abuse -- or whatever deficiency or vice common to a group -- is more statistically common within a certain people group, to raise this fact is not racial, it's moral. We are addressing a specific behavior, not an emotionally charged racial matter. 

Values that are contrary to who God is and who we are -- as God's image-bearers -- corrupt any group regardless of its ethnicity-color-race etc.

The objective standard of loving and honoring God has absolutely nothing to do with one's race or the color of one's skin and everything to do with the beliefs and disposition of one's heart. All peoples are equally able to display or not display God's majesty and beauty because all of us -- regardless of race or background etc -- are created in God's image.

To say it another way, there is nothing innately valuable or odious about any culture simply by virtue of ethnicity or skin color. Again, determining what is good or bad within a culture is measured by a totally different standard than ethnicity. 

Anything within a culture that seeks to honor God should be embraced and anything that dishonors him should be abandoned, regardless of what group these qualities are or are not present in, be that western, eastern, middle eastern, African, Latin, Asian or any other people group.

Western Culture

What made western culture flourish morally, in work ethic and materially/economically, etc over other cultures had nothing to do with the skin color of those in that region and everything to do with the influence of Gods values/standards/laws expressed in and through God's people (the church universal). This was a major foundation for the development of the European culture during the Byzantine period and later on in the Reformation.

Of course along with strengths were also vices. Vices and strengths are a part of all cultures -- all cultures, after all, are made up of broken people -- depending on how closely a people group adheres to God's direction or not -- vices are due to our rebellion from God's prescribed directions; virtues are due to being aligned with those directions. The issue becomes which culture is more virtuous with less vices. Again we must look to an absolute standard outside ourselves to determine this i.e. to God and his law of loving him with all we are and have and our neighbors as ourselves. 

What we call "Western Culture" in turn spread to North America via the pilgrims and separatists who had high regard for God's laws/design. This is not to say the church -- made up of fallen people -- was (or is) perfect but simply recognizing the nature and extent of it's more positive than negative influence.

To say it another way, if the racial makeup of the group that settled in and developed the west were Latin, Asian or Negro (I use Negro technically, not derogatorily) versus Caucasian, and had the same value system, the outcome would have been *exactly the same.

*There may be slight genetic variations within a given people group possibly resulting in a minor difference in how those values would have been carried out e.g. as a people group, Asians tend to have higher IQ's and are smaller in stature than Caucasians. However, how much of this is environmental is uncertain. Some say 50/50, others suggest difference %'s. Asians growing up in the same western Europe region with the exact same environmental factors such as geography, diet, and climate etc may in fact turn out exactly the same in group characteristics similar to Caucasians  i.e. larger in stature with a slightly lower IQ. On the other hand, Caucasians living in the locations Asians lived, with the same diet, my turn out smaller in stature with a higher IQ. For an interesting discussion on this particular point click here. 

However, overall, to say one race is superior to another or preferred over another merely by virtue of race or skin color i.e. genetics, -- which was also the Aryan argument used by the Nazi's -- is the essence of racism no matter who holds such sentiments and what color one's skin is i.e. it's just as wrong and destructive for one race as it is for another.

The unfortunate reality is racism is generally a part of every people group and not unique to Caucasians, contrary to increasingly common assertions by the progressive side of the political spectrum.

All groups display different innate qualities genetically that are strengths or weaknesses compared to other groups -- again how many environmental factors come into play, if at all, is uncertain. All groups are each unique and bring something unique and of value to the human family, that others don't. This simply makes them different, not necessarily superior or inferior overall. In this sense, diversity is good because it expresses a facet of God's image that other groups or individuals do not. So in this way this expression of uniqueness would be superior to those who do not display it simply because something others don't display is experienced and shared.

This is also true among siblings within a given family -- who are obviously of the same ethnicity. Certainly, no one would argue one child is more or less worthy of the parent's love and honor within a given family. But they will all have their own unique strengths or lack of them and make unique contributions. They all have their place and play a significant role in the family unit.

There can be superior cultures. There are never superior races.

To give higher regard to certain values and behavior over others is good and right. To give higher regard or respect to one race over another is not -- which is not the same as having a fond affection for the neutral or best things in our own culture. This is normal and true of all cultures. Considering one race as superior to another however is the essence of racism, regardless of which people group displays this view. This means whites, blacks, Latinos, Jews, Asians, and so on can all have racist tendencies. It is the dilemma of being broken as a human race.

The biggest factor that overrides all of this is our commonality. We are all beings created in the image of God and are equally invited to be in a relationship with God and able to do so. All groups reflect his glory in our own unique way. Again, "God is no respecter of persons" i.e. He doesn't have a higher regard for your "station" in life over another's.

This was also recognized by the founders of America in our founding documents -- even though not consistently put into practice. It was because of this world view expressed within those documents and their writers that slavery was finally abolished -- even though abused by some in the beginning. It was followers of Christ who were the primary agents of its eventual abolition -- William Wilberforce, a committed Christian, was the key leader of the abolition movement in England, whose effects were eventually felt in America leading to the eventual abolition of slavery on both sides of the Atlantic. 

The constant focus on America's past mistakes out of the many good values it was built on is simply an attempt to divide us as a nation.

We must always pursue and embrace superior (i.e. God-honoring) values but reject racism in all its forms no matter what culture or sector of society it is found in, for all men and women are equally in God images and therefore have dignity; all are created to honor God. We must, therefore, embrace all fellow humans equally as God's image-bearers, no matter what their race or skin color.

But equally true, we must recognize and be aware there is behavior that is contrary to our design and destructive to our fellow man thereby dishonoring to God as well, no matter what race displays this behavior. Pointing out destructive behavior is not racial or racist, it's moral and deals with the flourishing and betterment of all men and women as well as honoring to God.

For a discussion on racial tension and keys to diffusing it click here. 

For a discussion on a personal experience of discrimination click here 

For a further discussion on identity politics click here

Conflict ---> clashing values

Our greatest conflicts with others come as a result of *clashing values. 

Values are simply those things that we believe are most important. 

Values are subjective and personal. They may be real and valuable to us personally, but they are not necessarily valuable **objectively. 

These are things or areas we are personally and emotionally invested in. What you and I believe is valuable are ***often not the same. When we are not in agreement, we clash.

Conflict is not necessarily bad, however. It forces us to reassess our values and helps us determine what is most important, e.g. must I really have this (or that) to be happy? Do I love God more than I love this particular person, thing or experience?

To understand and address conflicts we must know ****what we value and why we value it. The "why" is the hard part because it touches on our brokenness; our distrust and unbelief, which is usually hidden out of conscious view,  buried deep within us. The why addresses whether we do things for our honor or God's. 

This is the result of our rebellion. When we ate of the forbidden tree we died. In what ways? In all ways. We not only disconnected from God but others as well as ourselves. We are no longer integrated, but fragmented, spiritually, psychologically, and emotionally. 

This conflict of clashing values - a fruit of brokenness and blindness - is part of the pain and struggle of living in a broken world and why we cannot avoid it, even why conflicts break out between spouses, siblings, on a local or worldwide scale. We are broken, the world is in bondage, therefore we struggle. It is inevitable.

"...I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.' " Joh 16:33

If our hope is only in the pleasures of this present world we will ultimately be disappointed. Our hope must be elsewhere; it must rest in the truly and infinitely valuable, God himself. When it does, when He is a focal point and what we value most, we will find ourselves in harmony with others who also value God above all other things.

For a further discussion on hope click here. 

For a discussion of how values shape culture click here. 

For a further discussion on the basis for what is truly valuable click here. 
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*When our basic needs are not meet such as food, shelter, and water conflict occurs i.e. we will fight for our physical survival. However, for this discussion I assuming these basic needs are met.

**God determines this, we do not. If you are interested in a fuller discussion click here.

***even the most simple everyday things we rarely give thought to (until it bumps up against someone who does it differently) like which end of the toothpaste do we squeeze, or how do we load the dishwasher or what style of clothes do I wear or music do I listen to or hairstyle do I choose, etc.

What makes the church unique is having a common overarching value that binds us together, which is God himself as revealed in Christ. This unifies the church in the midst of great diversity. It was also part of the glue that held our nation together during its earliest days. The value of freedom was a main value we cherished nationally. 

****Much of what we value and are attached to is the fruit of our brokenness. We settle on things from past experience that we come to value over time and become emotionally vested in. If a certain thing, behavior, or person reinforces our sense of significance, we learn to repeat it. We return to whatever delivers what we need most, which is love.

Many of these values are formed unconsciously at the emotional level, not a rational one. Some from the earliest stages of life, even before we could speak. Behavior that made us feel valuable, important, or worthwhile, we repeat to the point it becomes an unconscious and embedded part of our character and how we respond to our world.

For example, as a child in our earliest stages of development, we may have made others laugh by acting a certain way. We liked the affirmation so we repeated it. Some of those went on to become famous comedians. Or we may have experienced rejection for acting another way so we avoided it. Or we may have had certain behavior reinforced such as food given to comfort us when we were crying. This resulted in food becoming a source of comfort later in life when things go wrong and so on.

This is also true of both good and bad behavior e.g. if a child experiences negative consequences for being honest, they will learn to avoid being honest or even outright lie. If they are rewarded they will become more honest. 

the most valuable values us

Our value is reflected (indicated) by the value of the one who values us i.e. the value of the one who values us, says something about our value. 

For example, our being valued by our pet, that is totally dependent on us, is completely different - and far less significant - than being highly regarded (valued) by an extremely important, successful, well know and highly sought after leader of a high profile organization who needs nothing at all from us. The more influential this leader is, the more significant their regard for us is and becomes.

To say it another way, if the one who values us is of great value, doesn't that also say something very significant about our value? I would suggest, the more important or significant the one is who values us, the more significant our value must be.  

Now, what if the one who values us is the most valuable being in the universe? A being that all other things and beings are totally dependent on for their very existence and sustenance. And not only does this all-powerful and all-sufficient being value us, they value us to such an extent they actually gave up something they valued most so that we might have a relationship with them and share in all they are and have.

The more it costs someone to engage or take part in something, the more they value it. i.e. we are only willing to pay a high price for something we place a high value on. We simply would not be willing to give or sacrifice a lot for something we valued little. 

If the value of something is determined by the price paid for it, how valuable we must be in the eyes of God who gave up His infinitely cherished Son to have us. 

31  "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son (i.e. that which is most valuable to the Father) but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Rom 8

Joh 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (clung to), but (let it go and) made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  Php 2:5-8

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."  2Co 8:9  

For further discussions on our value click 

• Created for glory 

• Worthless, rotten sinners? 

• Does God value us? 

Crowned with glory and honor

Does God actually value us?  If so, why? After all, aren't we all a broken mess? Yes, we are! Yet he values us never the less. 

"For God so loved (valued) the world - i.e. His creation full of His creatures who bear His image - he gave..." something. 

And what did he give? That which is of infinite worth… His only begotten Son.

Is this not a very clear message of our infinite worth as well?

So how does this work? Why does He value us this much? 

Because He values Himself first. 

But what exactly does this have to do with us? 

He made us like Himself, with the capacity to appreciate and enjoy who He is. Not ¹unlike how the Father and Son - in, by, and through the Spirit - enjoy each other. 

Because we are like Him - in His image - this enables and gives us the capacity to value Him - i.e. to recognize His infinite worth in the same ¹way He does. He values that we are able to value Him; that we can participate and share in His infinite glory and the delight it brings Him as well as us. He values Himself imaged forth in us.

In ²addition, He delights in multiplying and spreading His glory/value to others through us. 

How is this possible?

Next to Him (and His Son) we too have the capacity - as His image bearers - to display his glory in a way no other being or thing can.

In ³Psalm 8:3-5 we are told...

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

    and the son of man that you care for him? 

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the

¹heavenly beings (Elohim) and crowned him with glory and honor.

Throughout scripture, we are told God is crowned with glory and honor, yet in this Psalm, we are told we too are crowned with glory and honor. The word here for heavenly beings is Elohim in the original Hebrew. This is a name used for God that is always plural (i.e. God is a community of love and relationship as Father, Son, and Spirit). It is the same word used in Gen 1:27  "So God (Elohim) created man in his own image, in the image of (Elohim) he created him; male and female he created them."  

Of all creation, only we have these characteristics -- glory and honor -- in common with God and are like him in this way. Nothing else, no other created being does.

Because God values Himself, he values His image in us and our being able to value him and display His value (glory) to others. This not only brings joy to more image bearers but also greater joy and glory to Him. 

Because he is glorious, He designed us to experience,  appreciate and share His glory.

For more on how we are hard-wired for glory, click here. 

For a further discussion on being created for glory, click here. 

For a discussion on how value and love are connected, click here.

For more on what God is like and how we are like him click here and here. 

For more on how God's glory is our highest good click here. 

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¹Qualitatively if not quantitatively.

²This also makes us valuable. This is the functional or practical part to our value. 

Being His image bearer is the basis of our intrinsic value. This is true simply because of who we are i.e. who God made us to be, not because of what we do. This has nothing to do with our actions but with our capacity to be filled with and pour forth God to others. This is a capacity created by God and given to us by Him - our Creator.

When we understand this it changes our view of every human being on the planet. Each of us is in God's image with the capacity to show forth God in a way that no other image bearer or anything else in creation can.

What we are able to do is because of who we are. We have this capacity to do, because of our intrinic value as a bearer of God's image.

To actually live according to this design is the basis of our existential or functional value. This is to live out who we are and were created by God to be. Living this out is our realized value, possible only because of our intrinsic value of being like God.

³Psalm 8:5

(ASV)  For thou hast made him but little lower than God, And crownest him with glory and honor.

(CEV)  You made us a little lower than you yourself, and you have crowned us with glory and honor.

(ERV)  But you made them almost like gods and crowned them with glory and honor.

(GNB)  Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor.

(ISV)  You made him a little less than divine, but you crowned him with glory and honor.