Jeff Sessions and Romans 13

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has managed to unite Christians as diverse as Franklin Graham and Pope Francis. He has won condemnation from delegates of the Southern Baptist Convention, leaders of several evangelical organizations, and all the major Protestant denominations. How did he do it? By quoting the Bible to defend the indefensible, totally inhumane policy of separating young immigrant children from their families who cross the border illegally.

Sessions pleads that he is simply following the law, and that the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 13 that we are all “subject to the governing authorities.” Therefore, the policy is biblical. Sessions seems oblivious to the fact that this same passage of scripture was applied exactly the same way in the 19^thcentury to justify slavery. But he’s also a former federal prosecutor, and he’s smart enough to know how disingenuous his remarks are.

There is no law mandating the separation of children from parents illegally crossing the border. At issue is not the law, but how the justice department has chosen to interpret and apply the law. It is therefore a matter of policy. No previous administration of either party has chosen to apply laws protecting the border in this draconian way. Infants and young children are being cruelly and suddenly ripped away from their parents and placed in crowded, chaotic holding facilities. These children will likely be traumatized for life. The justice department has determined that threatening this trauma is a good way to discourage illegal border-crossing. Hit’em where it really hurts, in other words. (The policy is eerily reminiscent of candidate Trump’s promise in 2016 to go after, not only terrorists, but also their families.)

Whatever he says about U.S. law, Sessions is in violation of a higher law. And he’s compounded his crime by quoting the Bible. So let’s spend some time with the

text he referenced, the beginning of Romans 13, which reads, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.”

1. Paul was writing to the church in Rome at a time when the Jews there were contemplating a tax revolt. (See verse 6.) At that time, the church was still part of Judaism. Paul is discouraging an open revolt. Why? Because there are more important things to die for than lower taxes. He didn’t want followers of Jesus risking their lives for anything less than being faithful to God’s kingdom.
2. He spells out the God-ordained function of earthly governing authorities: to punish those who engage in “bad conduct” in order to secure the well-being of all. To the extent earthly governments do this, they are acting in God’s behalf. But this hardly means that God demands obedience to unjust laws, their unjust application, or even to unjust governmental authority. In fact, the entire book of Revelation could be fairly interpreted as a resistance to the authority of Rome when it engaged in the active persecution of people on the basis of their religion.
3. The word “law” is nowhere to be found in this passage. Paul wasn’t even addressing “laws.” He was addressing the larger principle of governance, which is only legitimate so long as it executes the justice that God demands of any nation. (It’s important to note the way Paul qualifies respect for governing authorities in verse 7, where he says “pay what is due them– taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.” When governments act disrespectfully or dishonorably, they are dueneither respect nor honor.)
4. Many of Paul’s readers were not Roman citizens. They lived under Roman law, but they had no legal or civil status. So Paul is stating implicitly that governing authorities are responsible for securing the well-being, not only of their own citizens, but of all the people within their borders, whether they are “legal” or not. On that basis alone, the current application of U.S. immigration laws is in direct violation of the biblically-stated purpose of earthly government. Sessions’ policy is literally endangering the lives of thousands of innocent children. It doesn’t matter how they got here. They are, to use the language of the Bible, “strangers” among us, as well as “the least of these.” They belong to two groups whom God demands – through the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the teaching of Jesus – be treated with compassion.

If Jeff Sessions wants to get into a scripture contest with all his “church friends” whom he condescendingly chided on national TV yesterday, he will lose. And by engaging in a policy that so obviously violates the laws of God, he has forfeited the right to quote the New Testament.

Congress has the power to stop this injustice. They work for the people. We live (supposedly) in a democracy of the people and for the people. So if this policy continues unabated, it’s not just Jeff Sessions who stands under God’s judgment. We all do.

©2018 by J. Mark Lawson

Comments

[Paul Herpich]

Thanks for these thoughtful words. Happy that Hannah posted them on facebook. Blessings!! Paul

[Deborah Record]

Thanks for your commentary and clarification. Cannot believe our country has come to this. Breaks my heart.

[Michael Salamone]

Great clarification of the Romans passage, Mark. Also, a good reminder that we are responsible for the government we put in there. Didn't Jefferson say that if the government is not carrying out the wishes of the people, it should be disolved and a new one put in place? Maybe the time is right for that.