In time anything created by men will cease to be. Only God will remember it. Still, when we see people ignoring a heritage of great value and treating it as worthless, we still scratch our heads in amazement, unless we are the ones who cannot see the value of what we have been given. So it is that we, the American People, are allowing our heritage to rot while a third of the country cheers, a third watches in horror, and another third remains indifferent. What is most astonishing is that the people with the most to lose are most responsible for ignoring our heritage.
What are we ignoring? Our constitutional republic.
How are we losing our constitutional republic? We the People are not using our Constitution to protect each other from the people who are abusing the rights of our family, friends and neighbors.
Most nations in the world are governed as top-down systems. That is, they are run by monarchs or by a group of oligarchs. As our Declaration of Independence promised, the United States was set up as a constitutional republic with an elected leadership possessing limited powers. So it is that instead of a people serving powerful leaders, the United States once possessed leaders who served their countrymen. For a time, the United States attempted to fulfill a vision given to us by Jesus.
Luke 22:24-27 New American Standard Bible
24 And a dispute also developed among them as to which one of them was regarded as being the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles domineer over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 But it is not this way for you; rather, the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27 For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
In a nation where people thought first of the welfare of their family, friends and neighbors, what happened? We had more empathy for each other. We did a better job of listening to each other. Instead of voting for politicians who promised to give us other people’s money, we voted for leaders who promised to protect us from each other.
Was this Camelot? Was it perfection on Earth? No. Men still remained imperfect and struggled to overcome their pride. And people still suffered unjustly, but it was better than anything else men have tried.
When did America experience the first great failure to make its Constitution work properly? That was probably the American Civil War. Instead of freeing their slaves, and trying to serve their family, friends, and neighbors, too many in the South tried to keep their servants as slaves.
Were the people in the South exclusively guilty of starting the civil war? No, but there is no doubt that the issue of slavery divided the South from the North. The South hated slavery being called a sin. So, when they failed to make the North complicit in the sin of slavery, they determined to secede from the Union.
We live in such a time again today. We sin, and we try to make others complicit in our sins. Even though most of us know that Jesus wants each of us to strive to be the greatest by serving our family, friends and neighbors as honorably as we can, we don’t. Even though we know Jesus calls upon us to love each other by honoring the service of others and by trying to be of service to others, we don’t. Instead, too many Americans have succumbed to the temptation of careerism.
careerism
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/careerism
noun
ca·reer·ism kə-ˈrir-ˌi-zəm
: the policy or practice of advancing one’s career often at the cost of one’s integrity
Read Luke 22:24-27 again. We know we are supposed to serve our family, friends, neighbors and even our countrymen for their sakes as much our own sake. We know almost instinctively that we are not suppose to advance ourselves at the expense of others. In fact, we are supposed to seek advancement so that we can be of more service to others.
Consider the origin of the word vocation.
vocation (n.)
early 15c., “spiritual calling,” from Old French vocacion “call, consecration; calling, profession” (13c.) or directly from Latin vocationem (nominative vocatio), literally “a calling, a being called” from vocatus “called,” past participle of vocare “to call,” which is related to vox (genitive vocis) “voice” (from PIE root *wekw- “to speak”). Sense of “one’s occupation or profession” is first attested 1550s.
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=vocation&ref=searchbar_searchhint
All of us are supposed to seek our vocation, not just the clergy. Unfortunately, many of us now just seek jobs to earn as much as we can, and we vote for those politicians who promise to put the most money in our pockets.
It’s the Economy, Stupid — James Carville
https://politicaldictionary.com/words/its-the-economy-stupid/
When we sacrifice our integrity, we live in sin. Sin comes at a high price. When we begin to pay that price, we begin to understand we have become slaves to sin. What is the price we are paying? We have yielded to sin for the sake of our careers.
- We have not lived this life in preparation for the next life. We have put the things of this world above the things of God.
- In order to be among those The Establishment deems the best and the brightest, we signal our virtue by parroting whatever faddish belief we believe will advance our career. If our “truth” becomes the belief that small children can choose their own sex, then to avoid being canceled, we will happily parrot that “truth.”
- We fail to seek our vocation. Instead of seeking our purpose in this life, we seek worldly success. Instead of doing the work we love — what we believe God would have us do — we seek wealth and advancement, or we become lazy because we find no satisfaction in work.
- We prioritize career over service to others. So, both our personal relationships and our relationship with God suffer.
- We fail to instruct our children Godly wisdom because we have failed to seek Godly wisdom.
- We elect people to public office who promise to give us other people’s money. Because we are willing to receive bribes, we have elected incompetent and treacherous leaders who have taken bribes.
- Because we have elected incompetent and treacherous leaders, our communities and our states have become increasingly poor, disorganized, and unsafe.
- Because our leaders are taking bribes, even from foreign powers, our nation is no longer the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nation. In addition to risking enslavement by a domestic tyranny, we risk being dominated by merciless foreign powers who will enslave our children and grandchildren in ways we cannot yet imagine.
Why the picture above? There was a time when the United States military was more concerned about integrity than it was diversity, equity, and inclusion. Instead offering new recruits transgender surgery, military leaders scorned careerism and demanded professionalism.
What is professionalism? It is what soldiers who love each other give in service to the country they love. It is the service we pray that brave firefighters and policemen will give to the people we care about when they are in need.
How do we define professionalism? Instead of using the word “professionalism,” in 1962 General Douglas MacArthur spoke of: Duty, Honor, Country.
To be what Jesus would have us be, a servant to those we love, we don’t have to join the military, become a firefighter, or patrol our community as a policeman. We can do what whatever we do honorably and in service to others. We can be a good citizen.
References
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/03/23/career-vs-professionalism-the-importance-of-continuous-learning-in-the-21st-century/?sh=719334601b94
- https://www.christianpost.com/news/what-does-the-bible-say-about-a-career-.html
- https://www.crossway.org/articles/how-we-work-reveals-who-we-are/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/03/23/career-vs-professionalism-the-importance-of-continuous-learning-in-the-21st-century/?sh=719334601b94
- https://tifwe.org/the-difference-between-work-career-calling/
- https://sofrep.com/news/careerism-cronyism-malfeasance-special-warfare-center-end-special-forces-capability/
Citizen Tom 
