The Bible, America 250, and Restoring ‘What Really Matters’

From the president to plumbers, hundreds of Americans spent last week speaking the Word of God at the “America Reads the Bible” event in Washington, D.C. Among them, Tim Goeglein of Focus on the Family.

“The reason I was so honored to be there and to read is because you can’t understand the founding of our country without understanding the centrality of the Bible,” Goeglein told The Daily Signal.

“When you’re up there reading, you have a soulful sense, a very deep purpose, that you’re not just reading the scriptures, whether you’re in church or at another event. But that you are essentially sharing God’s holy word across the country and across the world in a way that is directly connected to the founding of the country.”

Goeglein was asked to read Joshua 17–19, which to the casual eye seems a very dry accounting of the dividing up of the Promised Land among the seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. However, Goeglein says to dig deeper, because the chapters offer insight into America’s founding and the issues facing America today.

“What was so profoundly meaningful to me is that I did a Bible study on the importance of those three chapters in Joshua. And it’s about nationhood. It’s about the division of the land. It’s about the importance of families and how they’re going to, essentially, come together in the ancient Hebrew civilization. And I thought to myself, this rings true to our own founding. So that was particularly meaningful.”

Restoring a Legacy of Faith, Freedom and Family

Providentially, the importance of families, of history, and of faith is precisely the theme of Goeglein’s new book “What Really Matters: Restoring the Legacy of Faith, Freedom and Family,” which was released earlier this month. He calls the collection a “robust, unapologetic, winsome defense of marriage, family, parenting, human life, religious liberty, conscience rights, parental rights, pronouns that have fixed meanings.”

Goeglein explains the “golden narrative” of “what really matters” is restoration. “It’s restoration, it’s renewal, it’s regeneration of the first institutions for the next 250 years of America.”

The key, he adds, is asking, “What kind of country do we want 50 years from now?”

“I argue very strongly in the book that the political class [is right to] talk about border security, immigration, taxes, war. [These are] all very important.”

“But I think very often, they don’t talk about what really matters. And what really matters are the institutions that we’re talking about today. And I think that the Bible fully and completely underscores the importance in a strong, confident nation of strong families, strong marriages, strong parents, kids who were raised well. A faith- and religion-based community that is nourishing to those communities.”

America’s seen the breakdown of these institutions since the 1960s, with a decimation of marriage and birth rates, the collapse of community, a decrease in church attendance, and an increase in loneliness. Goeglein emphasizes repeatedly that these last two are connected.

The Quiet Restoration

However, Goeglein sees a glimmer of life: first, in recent studies showing that young men are increasingly expressing a desire to be married and have children. A Gallup poll released mid-April indicates 42% of young men say religion is “very important” to them. That’s up from 28% in 2022–23. It also marks the first time men have surpassed women in this area in the 25 years Gallup has conducted the survey.

Second, Goeglein cites the growth in homeschooling.

Third, he couldn’t help but be inspired by the young people he encountered at an event connected to America Reads the Bible called “1630,” featuring young men and women aged 16 to 30. (You can read about his experience here.)

“This is not an overstatement,” he exclaimed. “I came out of that room last night and I could have levitated home. These are young people who are spiritually energetic. They know what they believe, they know why they believe it. They’re not confused about first principles. I just find it incredibly encouraging.”

It is tempting to be disheartened when looking over our current cultural wasteland. Goeglein compares it to the devastation of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires.

However, he says, “You go back now and you’re starting to see signs of regeneration and renewal. It’s like walking through a forest after a wildfire. You know, when you go immediately, you are really shocked by what you see. You go a few years later and the grain is returned and the saplings are coming back. I think we are in a period of a kind of quiet restoration.”

A restoration of what really matters. And just in time for America’s 250th birthday.

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