Christianity is a Politic

Recently a reporter stopped Mike Johnson the speaker of the US House of Congress and asked Johnson how he would would respond in scripture to Pope Leo’s citing Matthew 25:35 in critique of Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda (“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”)^[1]

Perhaps not a little bit surprising, Johnson gave a brief on the spot response to the unnamed reporters question with a little sermonizing of his own C-SPAN footage.

"Immigration," said Johnson, is "welcome, we are to welcome the sojourner, and love the neighbour as ourselves…But assimilation is expected. We do not have the right to change its laws or its society. (immigrants) are expected to assimilate…Romans 12 admonition is to individuals…not civil authorities. In Romans 13 Civil authorities are given the authority to maintain order…They are God’s agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrong doer…it is a calling to maintain order."

Without going into an exegesis of Romans 13, this is a rich explanation given the US governments blanket pardoning of “Jan 6” rioters, the recent justification of killing US citizens as domestic terrorists, the push to indict critics of the President and the attempt to court-marshal a retired general who publicly reminded soldiers that they should not obey illegal orders and the list can go on. Maintaining order in the mind of Johnson is clearly selective.

However, my interest in this blog is not so much with the state of politics in the US rather it is with his commentary on Romans 13.

First it is helpful to remind ourselves that the historic dividing of the Bible into chapters and verses is helpful in organizing biblical material and competing in Bible Sword drills. But they were a late addition that started in the Middle Ages and finished during the Reformation. And unfortunately, the divisions are not always helpful. For example, consider all the attention Romans 1:24-32 receives while habitually the “therefore” which begins chapter 2 is often ignored. “Therefore, you have not excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others…you condemn yourself.”

In a similar vein Romans 13 cannot be read without starting in Romans 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice…be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

“What should guide our conduct love be genuine, have what is evil hold fast to what is good, love one another with mutual affection, outdo one another in showing honor…contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers…if your enemies are hungry feed them, if they are thirsty, give.” Suggesting as Johnson does that these verses only apply to the individual and does not include civic government (which only comprises individuals) is an egregious hermeneutic.

With the context of Romans 12, chapter 13 begins by reminding its readers in no uncertain terms that all authority comes from God including all civil authorities. What then does the authority of God command, see Romans 12.

Did Paul who was living under the tyrannical authority of Imperial Rome think that when the civil authority disobeys God’s order (see Romans 12) we should blindly submit total allegiance to civil authority.^[2] Absolutely not. Paul himself will eventually die at the hands of the imperial authority, and it wasn’t because he said yes to everything the governing authorities demanded. He did not violently resist the civil authorities but living for Christ put him in direct conflict with the state. If we live, writes Paul, “we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord (Romans 14:7). And unfortunately such a view is a threat especially to imperial powers. In its context Romans 13:1-7 undermines totalitarianism, it does not reinforce it. It does suggest that we should not be naïve about the power of the state, but the only thing we owe one another is the power of love. All authority is rooted in the God of Jesus Christ.

As a Canadian, I have been criticized in some of my posts for not looking closer at home in Canada. While Canada is not without its faults, we are not an imperial power, and none of our political leaders are boasting they have “divine authority,” or are morally without fault. And no Canadian citizens that I am aware of are venerating our political leaders as chosen by God, it is more likely the contrary.

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^[1]APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION DILEXI TE OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV TO ALL CHRISTIANS ON LOVE FOR THE POOR (October 4, 2025) The following is a snippet from the larger exhortation which is worth reading. “ Pope Francis has recalled that the Church’s mission to migrants and refugees is even broader, insisting that “our response to the challenges posed by contemporary migration can be summed up in four verbs: welcome, protect, promote and integrate. (italics mine) Yet these verbs do not apply only to migrants and refugees. They describe the Church’s mission to all those living in the existential peripheries, who need to be welcomed, protected, promoted and integrated.” [65] He also said: “Every human being is a child of God! He or she bears the image of Christ! We ourselves need to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and refugees do not only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved. They are an occasion that Providence gives us to help build a more just society, a more perfect democracy, a more united country, a more fraternal world and a more open and evangelical Christian community.” [66] The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges. She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures of closeness and welcome. And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”

^[2] In Trump’s inaugural address at the occasion of his first presidency he declared, “At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.”  In fact, such a notion is in direct conflict with Christian baptism.