AMERICA AT A FORK IN THE ROAD

A Nation in Need of Another Great Awakening

By Chef Charles Knight

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”
— Psalm 33:12, NKJV

America did not develop in a spiritual vacuum.

From the earliest colonies, Christianity profoundly influenced American family life, education, morality, law and community. The thirteen colonies differed considerably in denomination and religious practice, but biblical Christianity became one of the major forces shaping the civilization that eventually produced the United States of America.

To understand what has happened to America, we must begin with what Americans once taught their children—and why they taught them.

WHY TEACH A CHILD TO READ?

In early New England, one of the great motivations for literacy was remarkably simple:

TEACH THE CHILD TO READ SO THE CHILD CAN READ THE BIBLE.

Massachusetts made that connection explicit in its famous 1647 school law, later known as the “Old Deluder Satan Act.” It described keeping people from “the knowledge of the Scriptures” as a work of Satan and required towns of sufficient size to provide instruction in reading and writing.

Scripture itself commanded parents to teach the next generation:

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children...”
— Deuteronomy 6:6–7, NKJV

The principle was profound:

THE BIBLE CREATED A NEED FOR LITERACY.

LITERACY CREATED A NEED FOR EDUCATION.

EDUCATION HELPED CREATE AN INFORMED PEOPLE.

AN INFORMED PEOPLE COULD PARTICIPATE IN SELF-GOVERNMENT.

A person capable of reading Scripture could also read sermons, newspapers, political pamphlets, laws and eventually the arguments over independence and constitutional government.

Education was not merely about making a living.

It was about developing knowledge, wisdom, character, conscience and responsibility.

THE BIBLE IS ALSO A BOOK OF WORLD HISTORY

Somewhere along the road, modern culture began treating the Bible as though it were little more than mythology, children's stories and religious tradition.

That seriously understates what the Bible is.

To Christians, the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

But whatever one's religious beliefs, the Bible is also an extraordinary collection of ancient texts deeply intertwined with world history.

Its pages concern Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.

They describe kings, governors, wars, migrations, captivity, taxation, agriculture, commerce, marriage, law, government, political intrigue and the rise and fall of civilizations.

The Bible speaks of historical rulers and officials including Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Herod and Pontius Pilate, as well as cities and geographical locations that remain identifiable today.

That does not mean archaeology has proved every event in Scripture, nor can archaeology prove a miracle or the existence of God.

But neither should serious education reduce the Bible to a collection of cartoon stories.

THE BIBLE IS A BOOK OF FAITH, A BOOK OF MORAL TEACHING AND AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF ANCIENT HISTORICAL WRITINGS.

Christians believe something greater:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God...”
— 2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV

DARWIN, EVOLUTION AND THE QUESTION OF ORIGINS

Consider the contrast.

A young Charles Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands in 1835. He worked with the scientific knowledge and equipment available during the nineteenth century. He did not have modern genetics, DNA sequencing, molecular biology, radiometric dating or today's scientific technology.

Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859.

Modern evolutionary biology subsequently developed far beyond Darwin. Genetics, paleontology, population biology and genomics now form part of the scientific case for evolution, which scientists use as a theory in the technical scientific sense—a broad explanatory framework, not merely a guess.

Christians should understand that argument accurately before challenging its implications.

But there remains a question science alone cannot settle:

WHY DOES ANYTHING EXIST AT ALL?

Science can investigate natural processes.

The Bible addresses the ultimate question of origin and purpose:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
— Genesis 1:1, NKJV

And regarding mankind:

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
— Genesis 1:27, NKJV

That principle has enormous consequences.

If human beings are created in the image of God, their fundamental worth isn't bestowed by government.

Human dignity precedes government.

That has profound implications for life, equality, morality, liberty and human responsibility.

FAITH, EDUCATION AND THE NECESSITY OF WORK

Early American education was also preparing children for reality.

There was nothing resembling today's national social-safety system—no Social Security, unemployment insurance, SNAP, Medicare or Medicaid.

Families, churches, neighbors and communities helped people in genuine need.

But for ordinary Americans there remained an unavoidable reality:

YOU HAD TO WORK.

Farm the land.

Learn a trade.

Become an apprentice.

Operate a shop.

Raise livestock.

Build something.

Grow something.

Sell something.

Provide a service.

For many families, work wasn't simply a lifestyle choice.

WORK MEANT SURVIVAL.

Scripture was direct:

“If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”
— 2 Thessalonians 3:10, NKJV

But personal responsibility existed alongside dependence upon God:

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 4:19, NKJV

There was no contradiction.

FAITH DID NOT ELIMINATE WORK.

WORK DID NOT ELIMINATE FAITH.

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
— Colossians 3:23, NKJV

Parents therefore weren't simply asking:

“WHAT WILL THIS CHILD DO FOR A LIVING?”

They were confronting a much bigger question:

“WHAT KIND OF PERSON WILL THIS CHILD BECOME?”

CHRISTIANITY AND AMERICA'S EARLY COLLEGES

Look at many of America's oldest institutions of higher learning:

Harvard — 1636

William & Mary — 1693

Yale — 1701

Princeton — 1746

King's College, later Columbia — 1754

Brown — 1764

Queen's College, later Rutgers — 1766

Dartmouth — 1769

Their religious histories were not identical, but Christianity's influence upon early American higher education is unmistakable. Several had important denominational purposes, and educating ministers was a major objective of some.

America did not originally assume that faith and intellectual achievement were enemies.

THEN CAME THE GREAT AWAKENING

During the 1730s and 1740s, extraordinary religious revival swept through the colonies.

Jonathan Edwards became associated with revival in Massachusetts.

Theodore Frelinghuysen and the Tennents became influential in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

George Whitefield traveled throughout the colonies preaching to enormous crowds.

Before there was a United States of America, colonists separated by hundreds of miles were participating in a common spiritual movement.

The Great Awakening did not single-handedly cause the American Revolution. But it strengthened intercolonial religious networks and emphasized personal conversion, conscience and religious liberty.

A generation later, thirteen colonies declared themselves independent.

After independence came the Second Great Awakening.

Cane Ridge, Kentucky, became famous for its great 1801 revival.

Western New York became known as the Burned-over District.

In 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier began a small prayer meeting on Fulton Street in New York City that developed into a much broader prayer revival.

Religious awakenings occurred among Civil War soldiers.

D. L. Moody became one of America's great evangelists, with Chicago an important center of his ministry.

Beginning in 1906, the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles helped propel Pentecostal Christianity around the world.

Consider the geography:

**MASSACHUSETTS.

NEW JERSEY.
PENNSYLVANIA.
NEW YORK.
KENTUCKY.
CHICAGO.
LOS ANGELES.**

Again and again, America's great spiritual movements began not with government, but with preaching, repentance, prayer and transformed lives.

FROM CENTERS OF REVIVAL TO CENTERS OF SPIRITUAL CONFLICT

There is a striking irony in American history.

Many places associated with America's Christian educational heritage and greatest awakenings are today places where some of America's fiercest cultural disputes occur over biblical morality, sexuality, marriage, family, abortion, religious authority and what children should be taught.

Christians therefore have reason to ask:

IS THIS MERELY CULTURAL CHANGE—OR ARE WE WITNESSING SPIRITUAL WARFARE?

Scripture provides the Christian framework:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age...”
— Ephesians 6:12, NKJV

But notice exactly what Scripture says:

“NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD.”

People are not the enemy.

Not the atheist.

Not the Muslim.

Not the Democrat.

Not the Republican.

Not the teacher.

Not our neighbor.

If Christians believe satanic forces oppose God's purposes, Scripture tells us that the battle is fundamentally spiritual.

And therefore our weapons must also be spiritual:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”
— 2 Corinthians 10:4, NKJV

WHAT HAPPENED TO EDUCATION?

The transformation occurred over generations.

Government-operated schools expanded.

America became increasingly religiously diverse.

Protestants and Catholics fought over Bible reading and religious instruction.

Teacher education became professionalized.

State educational bureaucracies expanded.

Many universities gradually separated themselves from their original denominational identities.

Much American education traveled a long road:

CHRISTIAN AND DENOMINATIONAL

↓

BROADLY NONSECTARIAN

↓

RELIGIOUSLY NEUTRAL GOVERNMENT EDUCATION

Then came two landmark Supreme Court decisions.

In Engel v. Vitale (1962), the Supreme Court ruled against government-sponsored prayer in public schools.

In Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), it ruled against state-required devotional Bible reading and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in public schools.

Let's state the history accurately.

The Bible itself wasn't outlawed.

Students can voluntarily read Scripture, and the Bible can be studied academically.

The Pledge of Allegiance wasn't outlawed either.

Nevertheless, something profound had changed.

THE BOOK THAT HAD HELPED MOTIVATE AMERICAN LITERACY NO LONGER OCCUPIED ITS FORMER INSTITUTIONAL PLACE IN THE GOVERNMENT CLASSROOM.

Over the following six decades, Americans increasingly fought over family, sexuality, abortion, gender, parental authority, religious expression, history and what children should be taught.

Why does education matter?

Because:

TODAY'S STUDENT BECOMES TOMORROW'S TEACHER, PROFESSOR, LAWYER, JUDGE, JOURNALIST, BUSINESS OWNER, PASTOR, VOTER AND POLITICAL LEADER.

Change what a generation believes and eventually that generation changes the institutions it inherits.

AMERICA NEEDS MORE THAN ANOTHER ELECTION

Government matters.

Elections matter.

Courts matter.

School boards matter.

But if America's deepest problem is spiritual, politics alone cannot provide a spiritual solution.

God's instruction begins somewhere else:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
— 2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV

Read the entire passage carefully.

“MY PEOPLE.”

It doesn't begin by demanding that someone else repent.

It begins with God's people.

HUMBLE THEMSELVES.

PRAY.

SEEK MY FACE.

TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS.

Then:

I WILL HEAR.

I WILL FORGIVE.

I WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.

REBUILD WHAT WAS LOST

If Christians believe America has wandered from its spiritual foundations, complaining isn't enough.

Rebuild the home. Parents must accept responsibility for teaching children faith, character, discipline and responsibility.

Rebuild the church. Preach Scripture courageously while loving those with whom we disagree.

Rebuild education. Teach children to read. Teach Scripture. Teach history. Teach science. Teach them to examine evidence. Teach them how to think rather than simply what to think.

Teach them to work.

Teach personal responsibility.

Build outstanding Christian schools.

Support homeschooling.

Build universities where faith and serious intellectual inquiry can again exist together.

Become teachers.

Become professors.

Serve on school boards.

And participate in government.

CHRISTIANS: PRAY—AND VOTE

There is another responsibility American Christians should seriously consider:

VOTE.

The people of the biblical world did not live under America's constitutional republic, so Scripture contains no command saying, “Go to the polls and vote.”

But Scripture repeatedly addresses stewardship, responsibility, government, conscience and our obligations toward the communities in which God has placed us.

Paul instructed Christians:

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority...”
— 1 Timothy 2:1–2, NKJV

In America, citizens possess something most people living in biblical times never possessed:

A VOICE IN CHOOSING THEIR GOVERNMENT.

That voice carries responsibility.

The next nationwide general election is November 3, 2026.

Christians who choose to participate should pray, study the issues, examine the candidates, seek wisdom, vote according to an informed conscience and participate peacefully in the constitutional process.

No political party is the Kingdom of God.

No candidate is our Savior.

Christians can reach different conclusions about candidates and public policies.

But if you care about your children's education, religious liberty, the family, justice, your community and the country your grandchildren will inherit, do not surrender your voice through indifference.

PRAY.

STUDY.

DISCERN.

VOTE.

Then continue working when Election Day is over.

Because an election cannot create a Great Awakening.

A president cannot create repentance.

Congress cannot change the human heart.

A court cannot restore a family.

Government cannot replace the church.

AMERICA DOESN'T SIMPLY NEED TO BE TAKEN BACK

AMERICA NEEDS TO BE CALLED BACK.

Back to truth.

Back to character.

Back to work.

Back to personal responsibility.

Back to strong families.

Back to faith.

BACK TO GOD.

The First Great Awakening didn't begin in Congress.

Cane Ridge didn't begin in Washington.

Fulton Street didn't begin in the White House.

Azusa Street wasn't created by government.

They began when ordinary people prayed, repented, preached and believed.

Perhaps Christians have spent too much time asking:

“WHO WILL TAKE AMERICA BACK?”

The greater question is:

“WHO WILL BRING AMERICA BACK TO GOD?”

God has already told His people where to begin:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
— 2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV

America is standing once again at a Fork in the Road.

The road back begins with:

THE HOME.

THE CHURCH.

THE SCHOOL.

THE BIBLE.

WORK.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.

PRAYER.

ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP.

Our ancestors understood principles that a free society can never afford to forget:

FAITH DOES NOT ELIMINATE WORK.

FREEDOM DOES NOT ELIMINATE RESPONSIBILITY.

EDUCATION WITHOUT CHARACTER CAN PRODUCE KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT WISDOM.

SCIENCE SHOULD NEVER FEAR QUESTIONS, AND FAITH SHOULD NEVER FEAR TRUTH.

LIBERTY WITHOUT MORAL RESPONSIBILITY CANNOT LONG REMAIN LIBERTY.

PRAY FOR AMERICA.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN.

SERVE YOUR COMMUNITY.

EXERCISE YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

VOTE ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH, YOUR CONSCIENCE AND YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUES.

And then pray that America's next Great Awakening begins exactly as the others did—

WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE ON THEIR KNEES BEFORE AN EXTRAORDINARY GOD.

Chef Charles Knight
Fork in the Road Series