Have you ever wondered why the great and powerful civilizations of the past have disintegrated and ceased to exist? I thought about this as I read some insightful words from the renowned Christian scholar, Alec Motyer. He said:

“In a world created by a good God, evil and injustice are ‘inherently self-destructive.’ The resulting social disintegration ‘expresses [God’s] wrath. He presides over the cause and effect processes he has built into creation so they are expressions of his holy rule of the world.’”

In other words, God has designed the world in such a way that pride, deceit, greed, cruelty, and exploitation lead to natural consequences—specifically, disintegrative consequences—that are a manifestation of His anger towards evil.

This reminds me of the magisterial study of the rise and fall of civilization by the distinguished historian Sir Arnold Toynbee in the 1940s. Toynbee studied twenty-one of history’s greatest civilizations that have since disintegrated and no longer exist. He concluded they all committed a kind of cultural suicide. They were not overrun by another civilization, but destroyed themselves from within. And what I find to be so interesting, Toynbee’s research shows the disintegration began when people stopped believing in morality, and followed their desires and impulses.

I believe our founding fathers understood this fundamental truth. They were seeking to create a government and nation that would last. The Federalist Papers was a series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, to promote the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The Federalist Papers made it very clear that unless we create a virtuous society—a society grounded in morality—it will not be one that is going to endure.

They also believed that there is a divine moral order that governs life, and that the God of the Bible is the moral lawgiver. In essence, He is telling us how life should be lived. He has provided a moral compass so we don’t get lost, and a road map to avoid moral confusion.

In his farewell address, George Washington said:

“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”

The great American statesman Daniel Webster echoed this sentiment:

“If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we or our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity.”

Will Durant, the celebrated American writer, historian, and philosopher,  is known for his eleven- volume series The Story of Civilization. Though neither a friend or foe of the Christian religion, he made this observation: “There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of [God] and religion.

Clearly, when there is no God to provide moral authority, people will follow their desires and impulses. Over time, order breaks down and disintegration sets in.

Author David Berlinski, in his popular book; The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions gives another explanation for this disintegration:

“What Hitler did not believe and what Stalin did not believe and what Mao did not believe and what the SS did not believe and what the Gestapo did not believe and what NKVD did not believe and what the commissars, functionaries, swaggering executioners, Nazi doctors, Communist Party theoreticians, intellectuals, Brown Shirts, Black Shirts, gauleiters, and a thousand party hacks did not believe was that God was watching what they were doing. And as far as we can tell, very few of those carrying out the horrors of the twentieth century worried overmuch that God was watching what they were doing either. That is, after all, the meaning of a secular society.”

As a leader, if there is no God, no one to provide a moral law, no one to hold me accountable, then why not rule with an iron fist? Why not imprison those who are opposed to my vision and the laws I seek to impose?

This may be what Christians face in the future. However, we must continue to follow Christ, continue to be salt and light, continue to love our enemies, and always remember who is ultimately in charge of the universe as well as our country.

Richard E Simmons III is the founder and Executive Director of The Center for Executive Leadership and a best-selling author.