– Matthew 5:14 (NIV)
The Real Meaning of the First Amendment
For too long, Americans have misunderstood the First Amendment. Many have assumed that it demands Americans to remove their values from government—but that is a misconception. The phrase “separation of church and state” appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution.
The actual text says:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
It was never about removing God from government. It was about ensuring the government would not impose a national denomination—such as Quakerism, Anglicanism, or Presbyterianism—on the people. The founders aimed to safeguard churches from government control—ensuring faith could be freely practiced and publicly expressed.
Freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
So, where did “separation of church and state” come from?
The Jefferson Letter
In 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, who were concerned about religious oppression in Connecticut. Jefferson assured them that the First Amendment created “a wall of separation between church and state”—a wall meant to protect the church from government interference, not to remove religion from public life.
The letter was mostly forgotten until 1947, when the Supreme Court cited it in McCollum v. Board of Education to ban religious instruction in public schools. Then, again in the 1960s, the phrase was used to justify removing prayer and Bible reading from schools, as if Jefferson’s words were part of the Constitution—though they are not.
The Cost of Misinterpretation
The distortion of “separation of church and state” has silenced truth in schools, legislation, and civic life for decades. It has worked to remove God from our government and to push citizens of faith out of cultural influence. The First Amendment protects religious expression; it does not prohibit it. Yet the more this lie spreads, the more Biblical voices disappear from public leadership, school boards, and courtrooms.
Engagement is the Remedy
We believe civic engagement is Biblical obedience. We cannot afford to lose more history or influence. To restore truth in America, believers must engage where it matters most.
The Great Awakening Project exists to revive the Biblical worldview in key cultural spheres—such as education, government, business, and the church—by identifying key leaders and facilitating strategic collaboration for maximum impact.
NOW is the time to raise up leaders who do not keep their faith in the pews, but bring it boldly into public life, just as our Founders did.
The First Amendment gives us the right.
The Word of God gives us the responsibility.
