Those of us who live in the United States are blessed exceptionally in terms of material goods and services. For this we are thankful. Those in many other countries are in poverty and suffer greatly at the hands of terrorists. Human suffering saddens all of us, whether this suffering be spiritual or physical. Christians want to help those in need, and we do.
There has been much controversy in recent days concerning bans on travel, and legislation that may limit entry to the United States from other countries. The Christian naturally asks, “Given Christ’s commands to express charitable love to those in need, must I oppose government restrictions on those entering the United States?”
The answer is “No,” for two reasons:
First, Christ’s commands about helping the poor (e.g., Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Timothy 5:1-16; James 2:14-16) are directed to individuals and congregations, and not to governments. God does not charge the government with doing charitable deeds such as feeding the poor or receiving refugees. So, a Christian is not bound to oppose legislation that restricts such charitable work on the part of the government.
Second, Romans 13:1-7 teaches that God charges government with the task of protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. Since God does not specify the strategic operations by which government protects the innocent, Christian brethren may lovingly differ in their judgment about which means would be best, i.e., about which legislation is most effective at protecting the innocent. Christian brethren are free to support or oppose a particular legislation, depending on the spiritual dictates of their biblically informed consciences. Here is the relevant text from the apostle Paul on this matter:
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 (Romans 13:1-7, emp. added).