The Huffington Post recently ran an article on three prominent evangelical leaders who voiced some support for President Trump's ban on Muslim refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-evangelical-refugee_us_5888d058e4b0441a8f722f12?)
The common theme in their support is that the government’s job is not necessarily the Church’s job. The pastors agree that individual Christians and churches should show mercy to those in need, but that’s not the government’s job. Franklin Graham stated that our country “should have order and there are laws that relate to immigration and I think we should follow those laws.” Ronnie Floyd stated, “We don’t advise the government on questions of national security and they don’t advise us on who and how we serve people.” Robert Jeffress stated that, “the Bible never calls on government to act as a Good Samaritan.”
I want to give all three of these men credit because they all affirm that individual Christians and churches should be taking care of those in need, that we should be Good Samaritans. I would imagine that all three of their Christian organizations provide some sort of support to immigrants and refugees. My main concern is how they have put this dichotomy between the government’s role in society and the church’s role in society. If the church has no right to criticize the government when it comes to national security, doesn’t the church lose it’s right to criticize the government when it comes to issues like marriage equality or abortion? Couldn’t someone with a secular viewpoint respond to Christian leaders who denounce same sex marriage and abortion rights with the call to stay out of it? Couldn’t someone counter Mr. Graham and say, “Our country should have order and there are laws that relate to abortion and I think we should follow those laws”? Secular opponents of a Christian worldview could easily say to Christians, “Determining who is worthy to be married is the government’s job, not the church’s job. Determining when human life begins is the government’s job, not the church’s job.”
If the church has any voice in informing the government when life begins and how to define marriage, then it has every right to demand that the government be gracious and generous in its foreign policy, especially when it comes to serving and protecting those who are fleeing great danger.
The common theme in their support is that the government’s job is not necessarily the Church’s job. The pastors agree that individual Christians and churches should show mercy to those in need, but that’s not the government’s job. Franklin Graham stated that our country “should have order and there are laws that relate to immigration and I think we should follow those laws.” Ronnie Floyd stated, “We don’t advise the government on questions of national security and they don’t advise us on who and how we serve people.” Robert Jeffress stated that, “the Bible never calls on government to act as a Good Samaritan.”
I want to give all three of these men credit because they all affirm that individual Christians and churches should be taking care of those in need, that we should be Good Samaritans. I would imagine that all three of their Christian organizations provide some sort of support to immigrants and refugees. My main concern is how they have put this dichotomy between the government’s role in society and the church’s role in society. If the church has no right to criticize the government when it comes to national security, doesn’t the church lose it’s right to criticize the government when it comes to issues like marriage equality or abortion? Couldn’t someone with a secular viewpoint respond to Christian leaders who denounce same sex marriage and abortion rights with the call to stay out of it? Couldn’t someone counter Mr. Graham and say, “Our country should have order and there are laws that relate to abortion and I think we should follow those laws”? Secular opponents of a Christian worldview could easily say to Christians, “Determining who is worthy to be married is the government’s job, not the church’s job. Determining when human life begins is the government’s job, not the church’s job.”
If the church has any voice in informing the government when life begins and how to define marriage, then it has every right to demand that the government be gracious and generous in its foreign policy, especially when it comes to serving and protecting those who are fleeing great danger.
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