The American people are not happy, with the country stuck in a recession and led by self-serving politicians. But in their American optimism they believe that better days are ahead. What if they’re wrong?
Several leading Christian intellectuals who have come to the U.S. from abroad are not as optimistic. The English social critic Os Guinness has a new book out, A Free People’s Suicide: Sustainable Freedom and the American Future (InterVarsity Press). Vishal Mangalwadi, from India, delivered a lecture series at the University of Minnesota, Must the Sun Set on the West (now available through his website, www.revelationmovement.com).
Mangalwadi is making several speaking appearances in Madison this week. Last night he spoke to several hundred people who gathered at the YWAM Global Missions Center, 4802 Dakota Drive, on the topic, “American Can Be Healed.”
The American Eagle
“The American eagle is in free fall because its wings have been clipped,” Mangalwadi said, referring to the two wings of humble faith and common sense on which it has soared.
The interdependence of biblical faith and common sense no longer exists, Mangalwadi said. Biblical faith has been undermined in American society, without realizing that it formed the foundation of common sense. Today common sense is formed by Hollywood and secular universities and the necessary restraints for social order are gone.
“America is free because of the Bible and if the Bible goes America cannot sustain its freedom,” he said, with a reference to the theme of his book, The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization (Thomas Nelson).
It’s Up to the Church
In order to stop the free fall, Mangalwadi said that it’s up to the American church to focus on discipling the nation. As important as it is to reach unreached people groups, he said, the American church must bring healing to this struggling nation.
Mangalwadi went beyond his social critique to offer a practical solution that’s currently in the works, an open-source educational curriculum which he suggests should be taught to the young people in the local church. “You can take eduation back and make the church the strongest political force in America,” he said. “Every church should assume the responsibility of discipling this nation.”
John Henry, the founder of the YWAM Student Mobilization Centre and a Madison resident, introduced Mangalwadi by calling him a modern day Alexis d’Tocqueville. He noted that Christianity Today has referred to Mangalwadi as “India’s foremost Christian intellectual.” More information on Mangalwadi is available at http://www.revelationmovement.com/.
To download the audio file from this talk, go here.
Mangalwadi spoke on much the same theme in a chapel service at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s National Service Center.