Recent debates and changes in the political arena have caused a number of Americans to wonder aloud if the country is beginning to disintegrate. Not dissolve or disappear, but lose its essential federal and republican integrity. As more and more power is drawn to the Oval Office and White House advisors are selected without Congressional approval, it's easy to speculate about the long-term implications of such moves, especially given the durability of bureaucrats in the federal government. States, for the most part, eagerly accepted bailout money from the Altruist-in-Chief, making even that level of government more dependent on White House largesse than ever before.

At the same time, some folks see such developments as a spark to renewal of the Constitutional system our Founders created. The rising anger and unrest among the population, as witnessed in D. C. and around the country last weekend, give conservative pundits and grass-roots organizers hope that the "sleeping giant" has "awoken" - to cite one interviewee - and is lumbering to renew its strength and return government to "we the people." Are we witnessing the disintegration of the republic or its renewal?

If by "renewal" we mean nothing more than the recovery of a system of politics that stands in the way of socialism, I for one am not encouraged. That system will be managed and guided by sinful men and women who, once they splash on the fragrance of Foggy Bottom seem to lose all their best ideals and settle into the same song, next verse. What social or moral gains did the nation make under Republicans that approach anything like the moral consensus within which the Framers crafted the design of our government?

Politics alone cannot restore moral decency, civil debate, responsible government, or rule without self-interest and corruption. No change in the players will matter as long as the system is amenable to manipulation for political purposes - and it always will be. What is needed is a fundamental change in the character, not of government, but of those who govern, beginning with "we the people." The only kind of renewal that can effect such change is spiritual renewal, namely, Christian revival. I hear those Amens out there.

But revival does not come without prayer - prayers for repentance, prayers of submission to the Lordship of Christ and His Law, prayers for boldness to pursue righteousness and fulfill the mandate to bear witness, and prayers for the pure and unadulterated preaching of the Word of God in the pulpits of the land. Where are the people who will pray for such revival? Pray regularly, together, at extraordinary times, and without ceasing for God to do what only He can do in sending a fresh upwelling and outpouring of His Spirit to revive the churches, renew our mission, and awaken the lost to their need for Christ? Frankly, I don't see it. Do you? Do you see it even in yourself? Because without prayer there will be no revival, and without revival neither disintegration nor renewal will make one bit of difference in the long run.

T. M. Moore