The question is often asked, “Is God judging America?” My answer is an emphatic, “YES.” You say, “I haven’t seen any fire and brimstone raining from the sky.” Well, neither have I, but fire and brimstone are not how God is judging America.

Romans 1:18-32 is one of the most terrifying passages in the Bible. The passage explains what God will eventually do to people who persistently, consistently, and steadfastly refuse to come under His lordship. He will “give them up” (or “give them over”) to uncleanness, immorality, and wickedness so that they can fully indulge in the lusts of their hearts. This “giving up” allows them to dishonor their bodies by letting their debased minds and vile passions run absolutely amuck.

I used to drive a school bus, one that had a governor on its motor. A governor is a device that kicks in when a bus reaches a certain speed. Its purpose is to slow the motor down to keep the bus from going any faster. In the case of the bus I drove, the governor kicked in at 50 m.p.h.

Just as that governor served as a restraint, the Romans passage teaches that God reaches a point with hardened sinners where He takes His governors off their lives and says, “Go as fast as you can and live as dangerously as you want. I’ve tried to help you, but your heart is so set against Me that you won’t heed Me. So have it.”

I once heard a baseball coach say to his players, “Boys, if I yell at you, it’s because I care about you. The day I stop yelling at you, that’s when you need to worry because it means that I’ve given up on you.” The Romans passage explains that God works the same way in the lives of individuals. It’s when He stops yelling that the situation gets scary.

You see, God is right now pouring out His wrath (1:18) upon America by allowing sinful men and women, people who are dead set in their rebellion against Him, to do whatever they want. Do they want to engage in homosexuality and lesbianism (1:26-27)? God has disabled their governors. Do they want to live lives marked by “sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and evil-mindedness” (1:28-29)? God isn’t yelling at them. Do they want to be “whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful?” God is sitting up in heaven and watching it happen without lifting a finger to stop it.

But how can God’s lack of action be classified as Him pouring out His wrath? It earns that classification because God understands something that hardened, calloused rebels don’t: He understands that the rebel lifestyle, when carried out to its desired extreme, is a fire that ultimately gets so big and so hot that it consumes the rebel himself. Even as the rebel genuinely believes that he is living the high life, in reality he is only destroying himself. In this way, he virtually judges himself and pours out God’s wrath upon himself.

Furthermore, it seems clear to me that God is also employing this “hands off” approach in regards to our nation as a whole. He’s letting us have the corrupt, greedy politicians so many Americans favor. He’s letting us have the perverse, immoral national laws so many Americans will take to the streets to get enacted. To sum up, He’s letting a bunch of ungodly, undiscerning, and unbroken sinners have their way. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why our nation stands on the brink of ruination.