The Second President of the United States, John Adams, said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for a government of any other." In other words, unless our country remains Christian the Constitution will not function properly. Is John Adams right? Can our society survive without the Christian faith? There are many who would say that religion does not have the influence it once had. I agree. But they go on to say that religion is no longer relevant, that it is not necessary to creating a good world, that there are no absolutes, no objective truth. Are they right?

Dennis Prager, the Jewish social critic and scholar, says his favorite response to that question is a story, "Say you are walking down an alley at 11:00 p.m. in New York , Miami, or Los Angeles. The dim streetlights illumine your car 300 yards away. Suddenly, you see ten young men wearing leather jackets swaggering down the alley toward you. Would you feel more comfortable if you knew that those young men had just come out of a Bible study?" Every time Prager has asked that question the answer has been 'yes.'

In spite of what they say in polls, on the most practical level, people acknowledge religion's positive influence. Our society cannot exist without Christianity. So if society cannot function, if indeed our very Constitution will not work without the restraints of religion, then let me ask you a more critical question: Can Christianity exist without the cross?

Let me answer that question up front. No. Remove the cross from our faith and it is a house of cards. It will crumble under the slightest weight. Why is that? What is Christianity without the cross?

1. It is a sect without a savior.
2. It is a doctrine without self-denial