Is Romans 13 the Best Text for this Situation?

6/15/2018

Much has been said in the past couple of days about Attorney General Jeff Session’s comments referencing the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 13. Paul gives instructions in this text about obeying the government because they are given their authority by God and worthy of respect.

This is most certainly true. Before you write it off as being ridiculous, go and learn more about the Roman government that is in power as Paul is writing this. You’ll discover that he’s living under an emperor who is violently anti-Christian and this is not a reference to simply Christian governments.

However, while the command for respecting our government is true, I’m not sure if that is the most helpful place to go in Scripture when talking about the way that we treat other people.

If Christians are going to invoke scripture when discussing policy and especially policies related to the treatment of other human beings, might we also consider:

“Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”(Mark 12:28-31)

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”(Luke 10:25-37)

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:34-40

Having laws are important. God has instituted government and given it authority for good order and keeping the peace. However, as Christians we are called to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves and to care for those who we find around us. We really have no excuse not to do this.

3 Comments

Jerry Schlund

6/16/2018 09:43:39 am

AG Sessions used a biblical reference to lend virtue to the enforcement of a law that can have unpleasant consequences. I believe our laws should be enforced and that he is wrong to use God to justify the unpleasant consequences. I am raising a child because the law said that what the mother did justified separating him from her. The fact that a law has unpleasant consequences doesn’t mean it should not be enforced. An unenforced law is no law at all.

The larger issue is what type of immigration policies should we have? Should it be illegal to enter our country without following the defined process? If we decide it is against the law should we enforce those laws? If we decide to not have laws or not enforce existing laws is there even the need for a border?

I understand that your verses pointed out how we should *individually* treat others. Sessions used the Bible to justify the government enforcing laws and when you use the Bible to counter this argument some will take it as an argument to not enforce the law. I would appreciate suggestions as to how a Christian’s individual responsibilities should impact their interaction with the government.

Advocate not enforcing laws? Advocate breaking laws? Advocate changing laws? Advocate eliminating borders? Offer to work with the government to care for the children separated from their parents? Offer to help people enter the country legally? Provide assistance to them in their home countries so they don’t want to leave?

Tom Schlund link

6/19/2018 08:42:52 am

Hey Uncle Jerry,

I think you have some good points that can't be forgotten in this discussion. Hopefully I was clear that I think that God has given us government for good order and for protection and that is a good thing. Laws are important and it is important to enforce laws.

My issue with the Attorney General's comments was that it appeared as if he was using scripture to justify the mistreatment of other people. It seemed that his argument was that I (he) am the government, God says you should obey the government, so you should quit complaining because I'm the government and God says you have to obey me" That's why I titled this "Is Romans 13 the best text for this situation?" I don't think that is a good place to start. I think if you're going to make the Christian case for the treatment of immigrants or anyone else for that matter, you have to take all of Scripture together and when you do that you hear that Jesus' words are to love our neighbors as ourselves....and even to love our enemies.

I think categories of neighbors or enemies covers just about all people in the world. So Jesus' command is pretty clear....love other people. Your question about the interaction between Christians and their government is a good one and one that I think people struggle with all the time. We don't have a theocracy so our government isn't bound to Scripture as their driving force so we can't expect that every decision that they make will be in accord with God's Word or even follow the principles of loving or caring for others. In fact, we can probably expect the opposite a lot of times because we know that sin has infected all of us and caused us to be selfish and self-centered and that the love that we're talking about as Christians only comes from knowing God and receiving the love that he shows to us.

I think Christians are bound to follow Romans 13 and obey the government as long as the government doesn't create laws that oppose God or his Word. I think that if Jesus has commanded us to love all people that we should advocate for laws that are kind and compassionate. Does this mean that there are no consequences for actions? No. However, there are still compassionate and loving ways to handle difficult situations.

Your other ideas are good too ...Christians can work with the government to care for the children, they could assist with the legal entry process, or even provide care in their home countries (more difficult but theoretically possible).

There are all sorts of things that I think Christians can do to help this situation while still supporting laws and legal methods of entry into the country. What I don't think Christians can do is validate the current process as being the best of what we could do or even what we should be doing. I don't care if people argue that the policy was put in place by a previous administration, or that people haven't been concerned until now, or that the parents are violating a law so they should know better and this is just what they get, or any of the other reasons that I've read for why this is ok.

A pastor I know (who no one would ever accuse of being liberal) tweeted this last night and I think it is good:
"Human rights trumps politics. It's not the church's job to write immigration laws or set border enforcement policy. It is our job to speak for the broken and hurting. We must be pro-life and pro-family at all times - especially when it's inconvenient."

Anyway that's a lot of rambling on my part. I know this is a difficult issue from a political perspective. I just don't think it's that difficult from a basic human care perspective. If Christians are going to be taken seriously in conversations about life, marriage, and families, we have to speak not only in hypotheticals but also in reality.

Victoria Addington link

4/28/2023 12:40:14 pm

Thank you for letting me know that we should discuss policies related to the treatment of other human beings. My friend wants to legalize their church governance. I think it's best to turn to a church governance lawyer with vast experience in the field.

Is Romans 13 the Best Text for this Situation?

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