Imagine a man so evil that he would sell his *younger brother into slavery and tell their grieving father that the boy died a violent death. But this father was a cheat in his own right, betraying his family to gain power and wealth. His grandfather? Also a liar, who slept with his slave and got her pregnant, before abandoning her and the child.
Yet, these men—Judah, Jacob, and Abraham—became patriarchs of the Christian faith. Scripture honors their names again and again as God’s chosen ancestors to Christ.
Their sordid pasts sound very familiar to us as Americans. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Patrick Henry were among the Founding Fathers who owned slaves in direct contradiction to their expressed beliefs that slavery was wrong. *Allegedly, Jefferson even had an ongoing sexual relationship with his slave Sally Hemings that started when she was a young teen and resulted in six illegitimate children. Moreover, Alexander Hamilton was the center of America’s first sex scandal, and Benjamin Franklin was also known for his sexual promiscuity. But each of these men also expressed high regard for God and the Bible at different times in their lives, despite their moral failures and varying expressions of faith.
In recent years I’ve noticed Americans, including Christians, asking more loudly—how can we honor the founders and leaders of our nation in light of their terrible sins? Should monuments be dismantled? Should building names be changed? Some American Christians have chosen to distance themselves from their national identity, believing that the United States has been mischaracterized as a “City on a Hill.” Some believe that we are more responsible for evil in the world than anything good, beautiful, and true. Others go so far as to say the United States was not founded upon freedom, but upon the backs of slaves and stolen land.
How can we love a country like that, much less honor and stand for a country like that? But all it takes is another return to scripture to remind us of God’s gracious love, honor, and advocacy for us. God loves his people—and the world—in spite of sin.
We see divine love for Abraham as God accepted his faith as righteousness. We see this same acceptance for Moses, Rahab, King David, and the Jews; for Mary Magdalene, Peter, and Nicodemus; for Paul, Cornelius, and the Philippian jailer; and for the seven churches in Revelation—just to name a few. Each of these people and communities stumbled towards God in the midst of sinful cultural norms and personal temptations—often failing. The American Founders did, and so do you and I—“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” according to Romans 3:23.
In light of this, here are some ways we can respond to accusations made against our nation, leaders, and people for grievous sins, both past and present.
1. Acknowledge the sin, while celebrating the glory of God.
We can be sure that God does not make excuses for the sins of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Patrick Henry, George Washington, or anyone else; nor should we. We can humbly agree with anyone who points out the sins of these great American founders. But their wrongs will never nullify the good work God has done through them. God has always worked through sinful people to accomplish His will, from King Solomon to King Nebuchadnezzar and Martin Luther King Jr. to Donald Trump. God’s power is made perfect in weakness, according to 2 Corinthians 12:9.
2. Put yourself in their shoes. Context is key!
As we celebrate the good work God has done through sinful people, in spite of themselves, we also humbly reflect upon the context of their lives. As a history buff, I’ve learned that we must never measure historical actions by current standards. When we do that, we learn far too little from sins of the past, and we risk repeating them.
As we read historical stories, like The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, we see the world through their eyes. We grow in empathy for the slave and slave owner alike and appreciate the courage of offering refuge to Jews in the face of grave pressures.
3. Learn from those who went before us.
Though God works through our sin for His glory, we still experience terrible consequences that cannot be minimized or discounted. The consequences of sin in our country—because of racism and sexual sin alone—continue to reverberate across our land.
So, we pray for God’s mercy and teach others about the wisdom and saving power of Jesus. We also teach the whole story of American history—the good, the bad, and the ugly—just as scripture teaches the whole story of God’s people. The Lord’s grace, power, wisdom, and sovereignty radiate through the stories of our failures.
4. Worship the God who “bestows a crown of beauty instead of ashes.” (Is. 61:3)
Only when we take sin seriously can we fully grasp the true gift of God’s grace. The love of God holds this tension in perfect measures of mercy and justice. God models this love for us through Christ and calls us to extend it to others—past, present, and future. By His grace, we avoid making excuses for sin, we hold our leaders accountable, and we practice daily confession of our own sins—while recognizing that nothing in our lives or deeds is salvageable for God’s purposes without the riches of His love.
My Takeaway
I celebrate what God has done in the United States in spite of ourselves and what God has done through me, in spite of myself. In reflecting upon the sins of America and my own life, I’m reminded of the worship song “Gratitude” by Brandon Lake, “So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again. For all that I have is a hallelujah!”
Hallelujah, Lord God!
*This article has been updated with two corrections since it was first published on August 26, 2025. The original article erroneously suggested that Joseph was Judah’s youngest brother in the biblical account of Genesis 37; Judah’s youngest brother was actually Benjamin. The original article also neglected to acknowledge that there is some dispute among scholars that Jefferson fathered Hemings’ children. iVoterGuide thanks its subscribers for bringing these matters to our attention.
