Articles

Article 5 of 7 | Welcoming the Stranger, Upholding the Law

by Dr Timothy Mann

I want to address something directly that often gets lost in the compassion conversation. If a government has a God-given responsibility to care for its people, that responsibility has to include protecting them from harm. That’s not a political talking point. It’s a biblical mandate, and we need to understand it as such.

Security and compassion are not in opposition. Let me show you why.

The Government Was Designed to Bear the Sword

Romans 13:4 describes the governing authority as ‘God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.’ The government’s role isn’t just administrative. It’s protective. It carries real authority to defend the innocent against those who would harm them.

This has direct implications for immigration. A government that would knowingly allow individuals who intend harm to enter its borders is failing at the most basic level of its God-given assignment. It’s not showing compassion; it’s showing negligence. The victims of that negligence are real people, often the most vulnerable members of society.

Psalm 82:3–4 commands rulers to ‘defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked.’ The obligation of the governing authority isn’t just to avoid evil, it’s to actively resist it for the sake of those who cannot protect themselves.

The Watchman Had a Job to Do

Ezekiel 33 gives us one of the most vivid images in Scripture of the responsibility to warn and protect. God appointed watchmen over Israel, people whose job was to stand at the wall, watch the horizon, and sound the alarm if danger was coming. If the watchman saw the threat and stayed silent, he bore guilt for the blood of those who suffered.

Think about that in terms of national security. The government functions as a watchman. Vetting those who seek to enter, identifying genuine threats, refusing entry to those who would harm citizens, this isn’t paranoia. It’s the watchman doing his job. Failing to do that job is not kindness. It’s a dereliction of duty with real and painful consequences.

Vetting Is Not Hostility

Here’s where the conversation often goes sideways. Calling for careful vetting of people entering the country gets labeled as xenophobia, racism, or hostility toward foreigners. But that label doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

In the Old Testament, Israel welcomed foreigners who respected its laws and its community. Exodus 12:49 reflects a single law applying to both the native and the sojourner. There was a genuine welcome, but it wasn’t unconditional or indiscriminate. People with hostile intent toward Israel were not simply waved through the gates. That wasn’t cruelty. That was wisdom and stewardship.

Calling for effective, thorough vetting of those entering a country — whatever one’s views on the specific mechanisms — reflects the same kind of biblical reasoning. It reflects a government taking its responsibility to the people already in its care seriously.

Christians can fully support comprehensive vetting processes and still treat every individual they encounter with the dignity that image-bearers deserve. Security doesn’t equal suspicion of everyone. It means a government doing its homework before opening the door.

Reflection & Application

Does viewing national security as a biblical mandate change how you think about the immigration debate? 

Many of us have been trained to view any security-focused argument as inherently suspect. But Scripture asks something harder of us, to hold both the dignity of the newcomer and the safety of the community in equal view. 

Pray this week for wisdom for governing authorities, that they would take both responsibilities seriously. 

Pray for those who enter seeking genuine refuge, that they would find both safety and, ultimately, the gospel.