Tag: Globalism

A BALANCED BIBLICAL OUTLOOK

Of all the things a pastor does, chief among these things is a pastor’s calling to be a faithful teacher of the Holy Scriptures in their parish community. Consequently, with all the Bible quoting going on these days concerning the current issue of global mass migration, I would be remiss in my pastoral calling and obligations if I did not offer a balanced biblical instruction about this issue. There’s a lot of Bible cherry picking, self-righteous virtue signaling, guilting and shaming going on concerning this issue right now. Also, this global mass migration issue is especially important as we observe the 25th Anniversary of September 11th this year.

In any ethical discussion, Lutheran theology always asks first and foremost, “What does God’s Word within the Holy Scriptures tell us?” So, what does the Word of God say about things such as national boundaries and sovereignty, rule of law and law enforcement, hospitality to strangers and charitable service to those in need?

Acts 17:26–27 states that God “made from one blood every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the Earth, having determined the times set for them and the boundaries of their dwelling places.” Deuteronomy 32:8 and Genesis 10–11 present the distinctions and boundaries of nations as deliberate God-ordained acts of divine providence. In other words, the beautiful tapestry of nations and ethnicities is not accidental but on purpose. It is divinely ordered according to God’s creative and redeeming will.

Therefore, there is nothing wrong or immoral with modern ethno-states (for example: Japan, Norway, Israel, Korea, Armenia, etcetera) who seek to maintain a majority ethnic population for their nations. On the other hand, there are exceptional nation-states that are intentionally multi-ethnic “melting pot” countries in which both naturalized immigrants and native-born citizens assimilate and grow together to form a unique and united national culture. Our own United States of America is the preeminent example of a “melting pot” nation-state in which our “one nation under God” (from The Pledge of Allegiance) is indivisibly molded and formed according to our founding documents and principles rooted in the worldview and traditions of Western Judeo-Christian Civilization.

Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–14 describe civil rulers as God-ordained agents of maintaining law and order for the sake and wellbeing of their citizenry. So, any governing authority’s primary duty is to its citizens. In addition, 1 Timothy 5:8 treats failure to provide for one’s own household as a denial of the faith. Consequently, in a similar way, the nation-state functions as an extended household that maintains preferential care for its citizenry. This ordering of care is not un-Christian; it is the biblical structure of “ordered love” (ordo amoris). Basically, biblical ordered love and justice do not require a nation to allow mass migration at the expense of other duties, responsibilities and concerns.

It is true that the Bible clearly and repeatedly commands hospitality to the Ger which is the Hebrew word for “resident alien” or “sojourner” (see Leviticus 19:33–34, Deuteronomy 10:18–19, Exodus 22:21). Yet, the ger was expected to live under Israel’s law (Leviticus 24:22 and Numbers 15:15–16), observe the Sabbath, and they could not automatically claim full citizenship rights and equal political power or supplant the covenantal identity of Israel. Therefore, the biblical virtue of hospitality was never a blank check for allowing overwhelming mass entry. Israel controlled its borders and required assimilation to its national laws and culture.

It’s also important to note that the New Testament does not reverse this Old Testament pattern for the governing authorities of a nation-state. Moreover, according to the New Testament, the Church of Jesus Christ is a global and multi-ethnic spiritual body that prays and advocates for peaceful international relations, but the Church is not a political body dedicated to eliminating borders and erasing national distinctions. Interestingly, the famous John Lennon song, Imagine, has become a kind of globalist anthem over the past 50+ years, uplifting the ‘dream’ of a world without borders. However, biblically speaking, the content of this song cannot be considered to have any kind of spiritual or ethical weight for faithful Christian believers. This catchy but unbiblical song is simply not the creedal manifesto that some modern Christians have made it into.

Of course, our Lord Jesus did say, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35), and his Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) addresses personal and ecclesiastical responsibility toward neighbors in need. But individual charity and communal charity do not constitute a divine command for governments to blindly follow, because any dutiful governing authority must weigh issues of scale, speed, legality, compatibility, and long-term effects on the common good. These are governing considerations that private charity does not face in the same way.

Moreover, mass migration also creates space (unholy space) for human trafficking and the exploitation of both migrants and citizens alike. So, the desire for legal boundaries, secure borders, well-ordered migration with rational limits, a process of assimilation, and a genuine refugee prioritization within capacity, is not an un-Christian desire. It is consistent with both compassion and the God-given duty of a nation-state to its citizens. For example, the Prophet Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the battlements of Jerusalem is a prime biblical illustration of the good and moral responsibility of a government to its citizens before all other responsibilities.

Lastly, it is very important to say that the Holy Bible nowhere justifies indifference to refugees fleeing genuine persecution. The same biblical texts that uphold borders also forbid oppressing the resident alien who is lawfully present. All nations may (and should) receive true refugees and lawful immigrants who can be absorbed without destroying the rule of law and social trust. So, the biblical witness regarding the present issue of mass migration is a clear witness against mass scale and speed that destabilizes a host nation. The biblical witness is clearly against the elevation of global mobility over and above the rights and duties of citizenship, and it’s against treating borders as morally illegitimate. However, it is also clearly not a rejection of all migration or of mercy toward the sojourning stranger who comes with well-meaning intentions and under lawful terms.

My sincere prayer is that this balanced biblical instruction will be useful and helpful to you during these bewildering times we are living through.

Grace & Peace, Pastor Tim

REFORMATION HOPE IN CHRIST

Martin Luther, the great evangelical catholic theologian and Sixteenth Century reformer of the Church, lived in a time of colossal challenges and hardships. In addition to the many troubles Martin Luther experienced due to his efforts to increase Biblical literacy, promote Christian revival, and reform the entrenched corruption of the Church of Rome and the Holy Roman Empire, Martin and Katie his wife also lost two of their six children (probably due to the plague) during their life together: first their infant daughter (Elizabeth Luther) died at only 7 months old, and then years later their teenage daughter (Magdalena Luther) died at 13 years old. Moreover, Europe was under constant attack by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and there was populist unrest and revolt all over the place.

Martin Luther lived in extremely uncertain times, and it’s very unlikely in the year 1523 that Luther could have foreseen with any amount of certainty how all of his work would ultimately turn out. In that early Sixteenth Century timeframe (a pivotal time of immense transition from the Late Medieval era to the Renaissance era), Martin Luther’s evangelical catholic reformation of the Church was not a steady and glorious march of gospel revival and spiritual restoration. Indeed, it was never smooth going. Rather, it was messy, and it had its share of radicalism and extremism. However, one thing was for sure, it was quite clear that something a lot bigger than one person, a lot bigger than even the great Martin Luther, was taking place.

Furthermore, all of this socio-political and religious turmoil wasn’t happening in a technological vacuum. For it was a time of new technologies such as the printing press. It was a time in which an innovator who was a mathematician, astronomer and Church canon lawyer, named Nicolaus Copernicus, published his great scientific work that kicked Planet Earth out of the center of the Solar System. It was also a time in which the map of the globe was growing increasingly extensive and detailed, being charted by the expanding empires of Portugal and Spain.

What new kind of world was emerging out of all this? Which aspects of all this great change were good and righteous and constructive? Which aspects of all this change were destructive, unrighteous and demonic? How was God’s Holy Spirit calling, gathering and enlightening his Church for such times as this?

Today, 500 years on from Martin Luther in 1523, in this Year of our Lord 2023, we the modern-day Church of Jesus Christ find ourselves living through a similarly pivotal time of colossal challenges. We are still trying to help our youth climb out of the developmental stagnation they endured resulting from the unprecedented “stay at home” directives, requiring them to do school and learn, to build relationships and develop life skills, all from their bedroom desks on laptops and tablets. And sadly, we are still contending with old radical ideologies that have been repackaged for our digital era, causing great harm in their wake.

Additionally, the tried and true principles of life and liberty, of family and faith, and so on, are all under tremendous pressure. New technologies and discoveries are wiring us up and plugging us in (whether we like it or not) for both good and ill. Our technology can be used to keep us informed and connected, but this technology is also used to keep us propagandized and contained.

So yes, something new is emerging, and the world is changing at a lightning pace. But the question always remains: Which changes are good and Godly, healthy and constructive, and which changes are not?

I believe God is still calling and shaping us, his Holy Church, to be faithful witnesses within the world that is presently emerging, no matter what the cost to us might be. We just need to be enlightened and shaped by God’s grace and truth, first and foremost, and to be ready and willing to answer God’s call.

Forever secure in God who is “our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1) we can be bold in our witness of the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. For as Jesus declares to his disciples of all times and places, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim