Victory for phrase ‘under God’ is a hollow one

How sad for them.

Imagine the frustration felt this week by those who would remove God from our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance. After years of struggle, atheists and their sympathizers made it all the way to America’s high court, only to lose on a technicality.

California atheist Michael Newdow, backed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, was sent packing by the U.S. Supreme Court simply because he lacked legal standing to bring his case. Justices ruled 8-0 that Newdow’s custody dispute with the mother of their third-grade daughter means he cannot legally speak on her behalf.

But he’ll be back. And the phrase “under God” in the pledge will again face erasure by those who would rewrite America’s rich history of embracing God’s truth.

Man’s thirst to deny the obvious is unquenchable.

Christians ought not celebrate Monday’s victory too long. It’s hollow. The Supreme Court intentionally dropped a hot potato by ducking the atheist’s main question: Are children’s religious liberties violated when they’re forced to merely hear the words “one nation, under God” during recital of the Pledge of Allegiance? And the broader moral question — Is America a Christian nation? — will be asked as long as this country exists.

That question really cannot be answered by a panel of judges. Can eight people speak for a nation? The question must be answered one heart at a time. The Bible says that one day every person will stand before God and give an account for his life. One day, in a heavenly courtroom, God Himself will weigh not only our actions, but also our thoughts and motives.

Many will be thrown from that courtroom into a place of eternal judgment called hell, because they lack proper standing. Every person is born a sinner and, consequently, lacks standing before a holy God. But Jesus Christ — God in the flesh — died on a cross to pay the ultimate sacrifice for that sin. His atonement is freely given by a loving Creator.

Accepting Christ — acknowledging him as the Savior he really is — gives us right standing before God.

In many ways, life is like a trial. The Scriptures say that Satan, the author of all sin, stands before God day and night, accusing us of misdeeds — thoughts and actions that we cannot deny and God cannot excuse. He accuses us of things like insincerity, impure motives and hidden sin. In other words, he depicts us as the human beings we really are.

At first blush, this would seem to be a courtroom of discouragement. Not so. 1 John 2:1-2 says that Christians have “an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins…”

Think of it this way: Jesus is the ultimate defense attorney! He alone breaks down the barrier of sin and guilt that separates God from man. He’s already paid the price for that sin.

As Satan gloats now in his ability to blind people to truth, the “god of this age” one day will have to swallow that truth: God’s courtroom is rigged. Anyone who accepts Christ is instantly and forever justified before our Creator. Case closed.

Everyone, including atheists like Michael Newdow, eventually must answer the very question Pontius Pilate posed before Jesus was sentenced to death on the cross: “What then shall I do with this Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22).

In God’s courtroom, no one wins by his own merit, nor loses on a mere technicality. We are justified before God on Christ’s merits, not ours. So, unlike our nation’s high court, God cannot neglect the salient question: What did you do with Jesus?

However pleased we might be at Monday’s court decision, it is hardly time for Christians to gloat over a moral victory. Jesus wasn’t gloating about his ultimate victory over sin when he told his disciples to lift their eyes to see fields ready to harvest.

This week’s news has little to do with classrooms and flags and third-graders. It has everything to do with the primal struggle between man’s way and God’s way. It has everything to do with fields ripe with those who need to know the gospel.

Jesus said the gospel “… shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations.” As Christians, our role in life’s trial is to be witnesses who testify what we know to be true: that Jesus died for our sins, guaranteeing acquittal — and eternal life in heaven — to those who accept him.

As we proudly pledge allegiance to our flag, let us also remember our duty to those who ignore God’s truth, oblivious that a trial is under way. Imagine the frustration felt on that day when they realize they’ve rejected a loving advocate who never loses. How sad for them.