It is right to have a heart that would continually give to others, and it pleases God to see this wonderful characteristic in our lives. However, in the areas of giving, helping and influencing, Jesus also teaches that we must employ discernment: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). Consequently, God gives us understanding and instruction when it comes to why, to whom and how we give of our time and resources as well as how to act and react in the face of opposition:
- The poor are always with us. In both the Old and New Testaments, we see God’s desire for His children to show compassion to the poor and needy yet Jesus observed that the poor would always be with us (Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7). This perpetual state indicates we will not solve world hunger nor are we called to but, to those within our sphere of influence, we should minister physically as God provides in order to minister spiritually which is the point.
- Keep to the point. In every miracle Jesus performed, it proved a physical provision to demonstrate a spiritual truth. In fact, in every conversation Jesus always brought the individual or group to a point of decision. Just like Jesus, we see to the physical needs of people in order to minister to them spiritually, physically demonstrating the compassion of Christ as a testimony complete with invitation to receive Jesus as Savior.
- Ask for wisdom. He will give us wisdom to recognize genuine need, discerning between an opportunity and a distraction (James 1:5) as we pray. Not every opportunity is a call nor is every need a mandate which is why God provides guidance through His Word and His Spirit.
- Family first. Scripture is clear that when it comes to providing for others God commands us to care for orphans and widows in our midst as it is a priority for Him (Psalm 68:5). Paul lays out more detailed instructions in the care of widows (1Timothy 5:1–16) teaching that, for a widow to be supported by the local church, she must be over the age of 60, been faithful to her husband and have led a godly life. And she must have no family member to care for her (1Timothy 5:9–10). The bottom line is that widows and orphans who meet the spiritual criteria within the fellowship should be receiving the care they need, without anyone getting overburdened by the responsibility. As for other physical family members within our households, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1Timothy 5:8); of course the same qualifiers regarding a godly life applies.
- Needy. The New Testament does not give any specific command concerning refugees, but we do find specific commands concerning individual treatment of others. Jesus said the greatest commandment, right after the command to love God, is “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). And in one of the end times’ judgments, Jesus will commend those who helped the hungry, the thirsty, and the stranger (Matthew 25:35). So, without a doubt, Christians have a mandate to show compassion to the needy.
- Refugees. Jacob and his family could be considered refugees in Egypt, fleeing the famine in Canaan (Genesis 46:1–4). When Moab faced destruction at the hands of the Assyrians, the Moabites pleaded for Israel to take in their refugees (Isaiah 16:3). Edom was condemned, in part, for refusing to help Jewish refugees (Obadiah 1:14). Psalm 146:9 says, “The Lord watches over the foreigner.” Ruth, who was more of an immigrant than a refugee, was welcomed in Judah, but note, in her words to Naomi, her willingness to assimilate into Jewish culture: “Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). The Old Testament Law contained this instruction pertaining to refugees and immigrants in Israel: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt” (Exodus 23:9). This principle is reiterated in Leviticus 19:33, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.”
- Xenophobia. Xenophobia is fear or hatred of anything strange or foreign, particularly as it relates to people. A xenophobe often has a severe dislike of those from other cultures. Accusations of xenophobia sometimes come up in debates about illegal immigration or how a country should respond to refugee crises. People may also be charged with xenophobia in discussions of racism and discrimination or if a person refuses to interact with those of another culture, even when traveling to a foreign land. Xenophobia is wrong for a Christian. Genesis makes it evident that God is the creator of all people and that each of us is made in His image (Genesis 1:27). It was God who scattered the people after the Tower of Babel incident (Genesis 11), effectively creating a situation in which there will always be those who are foreign to us. Clearly, sin has marred humanity, but the Bible nowhere indicates that one nationality or ethnic group is superior to another. In fact, “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22–23), so we are all in need of the Savior. Revelation 5:9–10 and 7:9–12 indicate that heaven will include people from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” With Christ in our lives, we have no room for xenophobia. Hating or fearing people who are foreign to us is not biblical.
- Ungrateful. The command to “shake the dust off your feet” appears only four times in the New Testament. In each case the command is spoken by Jesus to His disciples when He sent them out two by two (Matthew 10:14; Luke 9:5). In Mark 6:11 Jesus says, “And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Shaking the dust off the feet is a symbolic indication that one has done all that can be done in a situation and therefore carries no further responsibility for it. Embedded within this symbolic gesture was the implication that God also saw the dust-shaking and would judge people accordingly. There was a spiritual significance to a disciple of Jesus shaking the dust off his feet. It was a statement of finality about people who had been given the truth by any means, based upon biblical compassion, but who had rejected it.
- Pacifism. In Jesus’ interaction with the Roman centurion, Jesus received the soldier’s praise, healed his servant, and commended him for his faith (Matthew 8:5–13). What Jesus did not do was tell the centurion to quit the army—for the simple reason that Jesus was not preaching pacifism. In fact, Jesus’ disciples owned weapons (see ‘self-defense’). The book of Ecclesiastes presents life’s balance of contrasting activities: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: . . . a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, . . . a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3, 8). These are not the words of a pacifist. Jesus did not sound like a pacifist when He said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ‘For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD’” (Matthew 10:34–36). While Jesus is not stipulating warfare, He definitely embraces the conflict that comes with the incursion of truth. We are never commanded to be pacifists, in the usual sense of the word. Rather, we are to hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). In doing so we must take a stand against evil in this world (which requires conflict) and pursue righteousness (2 Timothy 2:22). Jesus modeled this pursuit and never shrank from conflict when it was part of the Father’s sovereign plan. Jesus spoke openly against the religious and political rulers of His time because they were not seeking the righteousness of God (Luke 13:31–32; 19:45–47).
- Self-defense. While the Bible gives no all-encompassing statement on self-defense, the proper use of self-defense has to do with wisdom (the ability to know what is right and wrong) based upon understanding by comparing scripture to scripture, and employing tact. In Luke 22:36, Jesus tells His remaining disciples, “If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” Jesus knew that now was the time when His followers would be threatened, and He upheld their right to self-defense. Some situations may call for self-defense, but not retaliation in kind. Jesus’ command to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39) has to do with our response to personal slights and offenses, the context of Jesus’ command being His teaching against the idea of “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” (V 38). Therefore, our self-defense is not a vengeful reaction to an offense. In fact, many offenses can simply be absorbed in forbearance and love (Luke 6:35, 36). So while the Bible never forbids self-defense, and believers are allowed to defend themselves and their families, defending ourselves does not necessarily mean we must do so i every situation as, in the situation, we tactfully work to represent Christ.
- Governmental authority. There is nothing unbiblical about a country having defined borders. To avoid chaos, countries must have laws, and, for laws to be meaningful, they must be enforced. Laws should be just, and they should promote Biblical standards. But nothing in the Bible prohibits a country from having borders, and Scripture never forbids a country from enforcing its own laws including its boarders which entails regulating those who cross them. Just the opposite: Romans 13:1–7 indicates that the government has God’s authority to punish lawbreakers. Whether the punishment is imprisonment, deportation, or even something more severe, it is within the rights of the government to determine. Christians, in dealing with injustice, should work to ensure the laws of the land are just, but they should not work to circumvent existing law in a manner contrary to Scriptural precepts regarding authority and subjection.
- Sanctuary. The motivation for many in the sanctuary movement is a belief that God commands and commends their action given illegal immigrants are human beings, created in God’s image and worthy of care and respect (Genesis 1:27). They cite Old Testament passages such as Exodus 22:21 and Leviticus 19:34: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Does God expect that His commands to Israel be made the standard for all nations? If the answer is yes, then we must also ask, “Why only those commands?” If we’re going to claim that this civic instruction is God’s law for every culture, then we must treat all the Mosaic laws equally including Leviticus 25:44–46, which says, “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life.” Are we to believe that God’s command to love the foreigner is more binding than His command, just a few verses later, to take foreigners as slaves? While citing Levitical law sounds authoritative to those who don’t read the Bible in context, the inconsistency is too glaring to ignore. Ancient Israel was a theocracy, a people ruled by God alone and established for His own glory (Judges 8:23; 1 Samuel 12:12; Jeremiah 13:11). The foreigners accepted into Israelite culture were expected to become Israelites. They were to follow the same laws, offer the same sacrifices, and worship the same God (Exodus 12:49). In fact, in 2 Kings 17:25–26, a group of immigrants neglected to worship the Lord in the way He had commanded, so He sent lions among them to kill them. Yet, this is not the modern expectation given those circumventing immigration policy based upon a misguided and therefore misapplied Biblical precedent not only foster mistreatment of immigrants but circumvent a government’s responsibilities as outlined in Romans 13:1–7.
- Resistance movement. Here’s a verse-by-verse summary of Romans 13:1-7: the passage starts with a clear-cut command to submit to “the governing authorities” (v1a). Immediately following the command is the reason for it: namely, authorities are God-ordained (v1b). Therefore, resisting earthly authority is the same as resisting God (v2). Rulers are a deterrent to evil in society (v3); in fact, a ruler is “God’s servant,” bringing retribution to the wrongdoer (v4). Christians should submit to human authority not only to avoid punishment but also to maintain a clear conscience before God (v5). Specifically, Christians should pay their taxes (v6) and pay the proper respect and honor to “God’s servants” (v7). The commands in Romans 13 are quite broad, aimed at “everyone,” with no exceptions listed. In fact, when Paul wrote these words, Nero was on the throne. If Romans 13 applies to the cruel and capricious Nero, it applies to all kings. The early church followed the instructions of Romans 13 even during the wicked and oppressive reigns of Claudius, Caligula, and Tacitus. No qualifications or “outs” are given in the passage. Paul does not say “be subject to the king UNLESS he is oppressive” or “you must obey all rulers EXCEPT usurpers.” The plain teaching of Romans 13 is that all governments in all places are to be honored and obeyed. Every ruler holds power by the sovereign will of God (Psalm 75:7; Daniel 2:21). New Testament examples of believers paying proper obedience and respect towards government authority include Luke 2:1-5; 20:22-25; and Acts 24:10 (see also 1 Peter 2:13-17). This is not to say that God approves of everything governments do or that kings are always right. On the contrary, Scripture has many examples of kings being held to account by God (e.g., Daniel 4). Furthermore, Romans 13 does not teach that Christians must always obey the governing authorities, no matter what. The one exception to the general rule of obedience is when man’s laws are in direct conflict with the plainly revealed law of God. Examples of God’s people practicing civil disobedience include Peter and John defying the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:19; 5:29), the Hebrew midwives refusing to practice infanticide (Exodus 1:15-17), Daniel ignoring the Persian law concerning prayer (Daniel 6:10), and Daniel’s friends refusing to bow to the king’s image (Daniel 3:14-18). So, as a general rule, we are to obey the government; the lone exception is when obeying man’s law would force us to directly disobey God’s law.
- Influence. In first-century Thessalonica, a mob dragged some Christians through the streets shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also” (Acts 17:6). It is only right that Christians, and by extension, the Bible should have an influence on society. God is the Creator of the world and the humans who inhabit it (Genesis 1). From the very beginning, God designed the world and people to ‘function’ a certain way as delineated in Scripture. When society doesn’t follow the convictions that God gives us in the Bible, life simply doesn’t work as well. As Creator, God’s the only One with the insight into how life functions to our best benefit, and He shares that wisdom with us in His Word. The Bible is described in Hebrews 4:12 as “alive and active.” This means, in part, that the Bible is as applicable and relevant today as it was when it was first written. When the Bible is properly understood, its influence on society can only lead to less crime, less divorce, less sloth, and more charity. Scripture says it best: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”(Psalm 33:12).
Isaiah 55:10–11 says, “As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven…So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void.” The word void means “empty.” The remainder of verse 11 explains that God’s Word “will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” God’s Word will always prosper; God will succeed, and those who receive His Word will be overcomers (1 Jn. 5:4) as we seek to give, help and influence for the Kingdom of Go