The Bible and governments

In light of Mr. Trump’s nascent presidency and the discussions it has unleashed about immigrants, I have sought to know what the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob requires of human governments.

The most complete example of God’s ideal for human governments is found, of course, in His instructions to the young nation of Israel.

Arguably, God created Israel for two reasons: so that the Israelites may worship him (he said to the Pharaoh: “Let my people go so that they may go and worship me”) and make Him known to all other nations.

Following the exodus, God gave, among others, three key orders to Jewish leaders: obey and worship Yahweh alone; do justice, and show generosity to the poor (and by extension, the vulnerable or powerless) and treat the foreigners among you very well. These commandments are repeated again and again.

God seems to apply those rules even to pagan nations.

For example, Ezekiel 16 explains why Sodom was destroyed: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned: they did not help the poor and needy ... Therefore I did away with them." v. 49-50. Ouch.

But most modern day governments are not theocracies. They do not exist to worship God and to make Him known. So what does God require of them?

Arguably not very much.

Romans 13 says a governmental leader  “is God's servant for your good ... 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.”

A government, therefore, exists to punish those who would do harm, presumably to fellow human beings. And it is free to use force to achieve that objective. So I don't believe the New Testament requires human governments to be merciful. 

And the American government is just that: a human, secular institution, like those of Uganda, or Australia, or China.

There is of course a second question: what kind of governmental leaders should Christians support?  This is where the dissonance happens. One may well have expected Christians to choose leaders who demonstrate Christ-like characteristics, including a near obsession with loving the poor and powerless. Mr. Trump does little of that. Very, very little.

Most American Christians know that they, as individuals, must love their neighbor as themselves, and pay particular attention to vulnerable populations. I imagine many supporters of Mr. Trump try to do that. 

It is, however, undeniable that those supporters have absolved the President of any duty to live by that law. They seem to say, in essence: "President Trump, you can hate--or sound like it. You just do the protecting and leave the loving to us."