They had everything to lose.
Having studied every Republic in the history of mankind, the men of the Second Continental Congress knew what their chances of failure were. Today, we know them as the Founding Fathers of the United States, but back in 1776, the Declaration of Independence had a higher probability of being a death warrant than a birth certificate. If they lost the ensuing battle, the penalty of defeat would be severe: they would all be hung as traitors to the English crown.
Why did they do it?
Though they were some of the most successful people in Colonial America at the time, the foremost titles of the Founding Fathers weren't that of lawyers, businessmen, physicians, or inventors: they were Followers of Christ, leaders of families, and citizens of their country in that order. They cared about their freedom to serve God, serve others, and strive for success because those things were the very core of who they were. When those freedoms were jeopardized, resting on their laurels wasn't an option - they would rather go down fighting with the greater reward in mind than submit to a life of unbridled compromise. Choosing action over passivity, courage over cowardice, and sacrifice over convenience, they started what we now know as the American experiment.
It took a fight.
Though it took 56 men to declare America's Independence, it took the blood of over 1.3 million men and women over the course of America's first 250 years to keep America's Independence. Freedom doesn't run on autopilot: it requires the conscious commitment of each generation to address the threats that face it. Some cases, it involves putting on a uniform, taking up arms, and being prepared to give what Abraham Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion" in service to one's country.
Is it worth dying for?
Death is not a natural part of the design our Creator blueprinted for humanity; it is a direct consequence of mankind's intentional decision to reject his Creator. Because of that decision, every human being has a limited time on earth before spending eternity in one of two places depending on his choice of relationship with the Lord. Throughout Scripture, we see example after example of death as a sacrifice, most notably Jesus' death on the cross as the ultimate Sacrifice for the transgressions of those who choose to repent to God for their sins. Though Jesus was completely innocent had no obligation to take on the punishment for man's sins upon Himself, He decided to die a painful death on the cross before rising again three days later as that was the only way our default destiny of eternal judgement in Hades could be replaced with the choice of eternal communion with our Lord in Heaven. Indeed, Jesus suffered the pain of death because He loved humanity too much to see us undergo destruction. In a similar manner, the privilege of freedom we not only enjoy, but embody, as Americans simply cannot exist without men and women who are willing to defend against those who wish to see it not only destroyed, but violently destroyed. Defending our freedom inevitably means putting oneself in harm's way, and failing to defend our freedom inevitably means putting oneself - and one's country - in greater harm's way. Freedom is worth the fight - even to the point of death.
No lights. No camera. Just action.
America has sustained it's 250-year legacy of freedom not just through the actions of 1776, but through people who have embodied the spirit of 1776 throughout the many junctures of our Nation's history. While these people have taken the form of movers and shakers such as Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Douglass MacArthur, and Charlie Kirk, they have also taken the form of everyday citizens who fulfilled their civic duty to live as responsible citizens: engaging in responsibilities such as voting, sharing thoughts with elected officials, or helping those in need.
Is it all a lost cause?
At times, it seems like the world is falling apart at every direction we look towards. One does not need to look far to find a news article about how bad our community, nation, and world is becoming. It is in these times that we often find ourselves in a state of doubt, falling into a negative spiral of pessimistic thinking on the premise that the fight is already lost. If we as Followers of Christ indeed believe that the entirety of Scripture is true, then we would know that this premise is false. There will come a day in our future where the Lord will bring an ultimate end to the corruption that we as humans allowed and levy justice to the world's wrongdoings in according to His standard. For Followers of Christ, the fight is already won. This truth is not a hall pass to a laissez faire attitude devoid of care in earthly affairs; to the contrary, it is a call to arms to enter the grind harder than ever before. We as Christians have a message of hope that our country - and our world - desperately needs. What makes the Gospel so great is that it is a Message not exclusively delivered through words, but distributed through action. The antidote to the hopelessness we see in our country is found in Jesus, and we as Christians in America's semiquincenntennial age are the vehicles for that antidote. Rather, the question facing Followers of Christ today is this: will we run the race set before us and do so with endurance? If the answer to the former is yes, our Republic has hope.
250 years later, the mission continues.
History is indeed just that: His Story. The question facing us as the next generation of American citizens is whether we'll reign in the course the Lord has set before us to be a part of His Story. At Club America at HEED, we're looking to fill as many pages as we can.
Let's begin.
