10/06/2026
My usual practice is to share my previous Values for Living article right after the newest one is published. My August article has some value to be gained by sharing it in this election season:
VALUES FOR LIVING
“Good News for Our Nation?“
One of the ongoing topics of our national discourse is, was the United States founded as a “Christian nation”? The founding was 250 years ago, so the question we really need to answer is are we a Christian nation now?
According to the Pew Foundation, the answer to that question would be yes! The current Congress began as 86.7% Christian. If we throw in the other religions that are “people of the book”, those who revere Jesus as a prominent teacher or a major prophet, those who are likely join in with those who identify as Christian, then the percentage we can work with is 94.1%.
When Jesus announced his purpose in his hometown of Nazareth, he quoted the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
those who are oppressed.” One would think that those who follow Jesus would keep his opening statement firmly in mind in all aspects of their lives, including when guiding a nation. The people of Nazareth didn’t listen, they tried to throw him off a cliff!
When Jesus was asked by a scribe (a “lawyer” of the Jewish faith) what was the most important commandment for people of faith to follow, Jesus responded with quotations from Leviticus and Deuteronomy: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like it ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And if someone is having trouble understanding another part of the scriptures, Jesus added: “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.”
The Apostle Paul must have paid attention to Jesus because he said in Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Those who are following Jesus would keep these commands firmly in mind when writing laws for our nation and overseeing how those laws are carried out.
Jesus would have been very familiar with the words of Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy (lovingkindness), And to walk humbly with your God?” It could not be plainer to people of faith, both in and out of government, we are plainly told
what is both good and required.
In Matthew 5:9, amidst a list of potential blessings, Jesus says: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” And this is not just for those who calm down conflicts. The Hebrew word “shalom” is more than that. It means: “the well-being, welfare or safety of an individual or a group of individuals” (Wikipedia).
So, people who call themselves children of God, people who would affirm that the USA was, and is, a Christian nation, ought to have Jesus’ words firmly in mind all the time! If we follow Jesus, then it will indeed be Good News for our nation and for the world! Let us indeed be a Christian nation!
Rev. Jeff Julien Pastor, Walnut Hill UMC, Pickaway County Ministerial Association
August 19, 2026 All rights reserved.
