A Special 2018 Kind of Father's Day Message

I've been seeing a fair bit in the news coverage lately about federal policy changes which have resulted in children being separated from their parents at the border of the United States. In the short amount of time that these policy changes have been in place the US has separated at least 2,000 children from their parents. This is leading to the erection of tent cities to house children because the re-purposed Walmarts we have been housing immigrant children in are near full capacity. This according to the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as anyone with common sense, is horrible for the mental and emotional health of children.

As a father and a US citizen I'm outraged by the trauma these children are experiencing at the hands of the federal government.  And things have taken an even more irritating turn.  Our Attorney General, who is quoted as saying the KKK  "were OK until I learned they smoked pot," cited the Apostle Paul in defense of this policy.  

I'd like to take some time to address everything that is wrong with using the Word of God to uphold this policy.   This Father's Day, let's see what The Father might have to say about how we treat foreign children.

The Lord Cares for Immigrants and Foreigners

Throughout the Old Testament God's People are immigrants, exiles, slaves and sojourners.  When they are given their own land to live in The Lord gives them this command:

Exodus 23:9
 You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 

and

Deuteronomy 10:17–19   

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.  Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

 Furthermore the prophets later rebuke Israel for mistreating foreigners and Jesus when teaching on how to be a good neighbor uses an outsider (a samaritan) as the righteous example.

A full reading of scripture makes it clear God cares about immigrants and expects his people to treat them with kindness.

The Lord Cares for Children

If the fact that Jesus teaches us to call God our Father doesn't say enough about God's love an affection for children, consider some of the following.  The Lord provided Israel with several laws to protect children.  Reading through scripture it is clear that God sees children as a blessing.

To top things off Jesus when asked by His disciples "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus tells them to become like children and continues:

Matthew 18:5-6(NIV) 

And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 

The Lord loves children and expects his people to do them good and not harm.

The Lord Calls Out Corrupt Governments

The text cited by Attorney General Sessions reads:

Romans 13:1–7

 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 

And this is a good and perfect word.  We, as God's people, should respect, obey and honor those who have been put into authority.

However, Sessions' using interpretation of Romans 13 one might come to the conclusion that the government is somehow above God.  The government is put in place by God.  So therefore everything the government does must be ordained by God.

This is simply not in congruence with the rest of scripture and appears to be used to try and shutdown christian critics of this policy.  

From Moses demanding that Pharaoh let his people go, to Elijah and all the other prophets who rebuked the kings of Israel and Judah our job is clear.  When a government's laws come into conflict with God's laws it is our duty to question and call out that government.