Americans were treated to a startling deja vu over the weekend of June 7-8 as incendiaries, chunks of concrete, fireworks, and strangely, Los Angeles city scooters, were repeatedly lobbed at local police, federal law enforcement, and the National Guard. The images plastered across TV screens and social media feeds of a smoldering City of Angels invite a chilling, collective remembrance of the same scenes 5 years ago.
Any American paying even slight attention to the events of the last 48 hours have been assaulted with a torrent of back-and-fourths from local, state, and federal government, as well as endless tirades of passion from millions trying to digest what they’re seeing (your gracious author included).
Personal Stake
In a deeply personal way for me, the devastation and destruction is hard to process. My grandmother was born a few miles from where the worst violence is occurring. The course of my life has been marked by regular visits to Los Angeles, where I’ve witnessed increasing degradation each time I return. The city of my youth is so far gone, there are only shells of memories left – graves, old houses, the smell of eucalyptus in the air, and the Pacific Ocean sunset. Each trip back now includes many tears for what once was.
But as a Christian, I am required to keep all things in eternal perspective. This is a difficult task when viewing the embers of the things you once loved, but it’s necessary nevertheless. Despair is not an option. Hope of Heaven is not a cliche; it’s a crucial part of the Christian life that helps us weather storms and maintain hope among the hopeless. The promise of Revelation 21 is pertinent:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.
Paul’s words in Philippians are also relevant to keeping our primary focus on sanctification and being conformed to the image of Christ:
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;.
A Sea of Toxic Empathy
I could go on expounding about how the Faithful ought not to worry (and they should not), not be distracted by “political issues,” or, perhaps, as David Platt recently reminded American Christians, “…if the cross of Christ compels us to reach across ethnic and cultural divides, then how much more should the people of God care for immigrants in our communities?”
A challenge in processing what we’re seeing in Los Angeles is that American Christians are awash in a sea of toxic empathy. Even the most theologically conservative churches in the US retain a pre-exising bent towards looking the other way and consequently justifying the violation of American law when it comes to “the sojourner.” Guilt manipulation can be immediately employed to shame Christians who care about the security of their nation.
These times require careful, thoughtful, biblical thinking, but they also require a fundamental commitment to the most basic of Christian morality. Here are some specific areas where guilt manipulation is often used, but the truth of Scripture should reign supreme:
“The Alien Shall Rise”
Many Scriptures have been applied to the situation Americans find themselves in with millions of unlawfully present people in our midst. Usually, we hear catchwords like “the sojourner,” “the stranger,” and “the foreigner” used to connect our situation to commands for the Hebrews in Ancient Israel to treat those from abroad with dignity and respect.
However, the most applicable Scripture from the Old Testament about “sojourners” upon viewing hordes of rioters waving Mexican and Honduran flags amidst burning cars is probably Deuteronomy 28:43-44:
The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.
Deuteronomy 28 involves a list of the blessings promised if the Hebrews serve and honor God and His precepts juxtaposed to curses that await their failure to do so. It should be understood as a baseline truth that foreigners rising above the population of a nation is a sign of judgment. While the common sins of the US (abortion, homosexuality, divorce, etc.) will obviously yield the “due penalty of their error,” it does not mean that Christians must desire or work towards this outcome. Rather, they should look to the promise of 2 Chronicles7:13-15:
If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
The American Christian who desires peace, order, stability, and the most basic adherence to the law and order does not sin. In fact, he possesses the moral high ground, vague platitudes about “the stranger” aside.
The most basic definition of a nation involves a clear distinction of who and who is not a part of that nation. The posture of much of the discourse surrounding illegal immigrants in the US, even in the church, has been one without any clear definition of who and is not American. This inevitably leads to confusion, chaos, and, as we now see the “rise of the alien.” We’ve seen this across the country as our own homeless (often veterans of our wars) freeze to death outside hotels where random foreigners enjoy rooms free of charge that the average American could never hope to afford.
Applying Romans 13
American Christians are incessantly reminded that those illegally present in their midst are “their Christian brothers and sisters.” This is another tactic of guilt manipulation, making them feel immoral for advocating law and order in their communities and country. While the gospel should always be presented to all physically present, biblically speaking, the reminding should be done in reverse. Those who claim to be Christians and are willfully, unlawfully present in the US ought to be chastised for violating the most basic understanding of Romans 13:
Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. – Romans 13:3-5
Romans 13 was used as a near-constant chastisement directed at Christians challenging their government for its blatant overreach during the COVID-19 saga. The same outlets and leaders almost completely neglect to apply the same passage to a situation for which its application couldn’t be clearer. Again, the moral, biblical high ground belongs to Christians living according to the most basic scriptural admonishments concerning civic responsibility, advocating that their Christian brothers and sisters do the same.
The Christian Response to Seeing Your Nation Torched
The coming days will likely be filled with even more chaos and violence. Americans are in a strange position where one politcal party actually represents the “occupying aliens” and the other, for all its faults, represents whatever is left of the United States. The responsibilities delineated in Romans 13, to punish evil and reward good, could not be more clearly applicable.
The Christian who sees evil in his land, prays against it, and then takes action to oppose it, does no wrong. Can he sin in his anger at the evil provoking him? Of course, and we must make sure to “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:26) But American Christians need not be ashamed for endeavoring to keep the “alien from rising” in their midst, as a giving over to judgment.
Perhaps most importantly, in our current situation, American Christians ought to fervently pray for President Trump and those around him, as he makes some of the most difficult decisions in our nation’s history.
Pray that he will act in accordance with biblical principles for ruling a nation, most importantly to punish evil and reward good.
