https://reformedpolitics.substack.com/p/a-christian-case-for-borders
Apparently PCA pastor David Hall was so moved by Speaker Mike Johnson's apologia for border defense that he chose to re-post it on his website.
As I have repeatedly stated, I expect the various Babylons of the world to defend their interests and their borders. That's not the issue. For me, the problem is the attempts to paint this in terms of Christianity - and offering an apologia for what is basically nationalism and the ethical inversion and violence it engenders.
Johnson paints the opposition as supporting a 'radical open borders' agenda. Well, that's nonsense and he knows it. He has a long established record of deceitful speech and so we're not looking for honesty when it comes to Mike Johnson. We already know what he is but as he continues to deceive many (including himself), we should at least weigh what is being said.
Leviticus has no bearing on this question. The Hebrew nation and later Israel are not analogous to the United States. Anyone who attempts to make this kind of mutatis mutandis argument needs to return and learn the ABC's of exegesis and hermeneutics.
Johnson appeals (without Scriptural warrant) to the various spheres of authority and while the Dominionist sect will make efforts to attach specifically Christian ethical imperatives to the state when it supports their agenda - they will quickly divorce these same commands and restrict them to the individual sphere when it suits them. It's arbitrary as is the larger framework of their arguments. It also assumes (wrongly) that the state or some nebulous generic concept of the 'family' is one of these spheres. This only has meaning in the context of the covenant and as such the Christian marriage and family rests on an entirely different basis than society at large. The state is never included. Read 1 Corinthians 5 and note Paul's posture toward those who are 'outside' - and he asks, what have I to do with them? His (as well as Christ's) posture toward the world is at odds with the basic assumptions Johnson makes.
Romans 13 and 1 Timothy 2 are not directed at the state - Johnson errs in this and this example demonstrates the folly of his entire line of reasoning. These epistles are directed to the Church to inform the Church about the world and how 'we' (the Church) are to view the state. They are not mandates to the state which is never (anywhere in the New Testament) equated with the covenant community. Johnson like all Evangelicals is confused on this point, playing fast and loose with status and definitions in an ad hoc fashion.
He also clearly displays the ethical schizophrenia that results from such exegetical dissonance. He says individuals are to turn the other cheek (something he does not support as he is (along with his sect) an advocate of gun culture) but then insists the state cannot do the same without violating its mandate. He's right on that point and thus it follows, Christians should not seek to work for the state as in doing so they must necessarily set aside their Christian ethical obligations. This is further supplemented by many additional passages in the New Testament that deal with questions of the lawsuit and how to respond to persecution and injustice. Johnson condemns himself as Monday thru Saturday (as it were) he lives by the ethics of Babylon and then on Sunday pretends to be a Christian.
Yes, the state is called the minister or servant of God in Romans 13 - just as Assyria and Babylon were in the Old Testament. There is no suggestion of covenanted status. In fact (as I have long argued) the previous section of the passage (in Romans 12) sets up and contrasts Christian ethical conduct with that of the state. The artificial chapter division breaks the argument and allow the kind of spurious exegesis seen here.
Johnson's subsequent appeals using the paraphrase known as The Living Bible and the other examples have no bearing as his argument has already collapsed.
Turning to borders and globalism, the breakdown in national frontiers is primarily the result of capitalism - and this is one of the great ironies when people like Johnson (who like all Evangelicals wrongly believes the utilitarian ethics of the economist Adam Smith are Biblical) criticize globalism. They fail to grasp the way Capitalism works and develops - and how markets in the relentless and ruthless pursuit of profit seek ever greater means of efficiency and savings. As such, they pursue cheap resources and labour and this leads them beyond national borders - even while they require the nation state in order to enforce legislation, regulate finance, and (if necessary) unleash its military in order to defend their interests. Monopolies become strategic and once globalised the success or failure of such corporations become geo-strategic. Johnson knows all this of course (at least I would hope so) but he's counting on the ignorance of his audience. A veritable serpent, he's made a career out of such calculations. Why else would he quote a patent charlatan such as Franklin Graham?
These arguments for the validity of nations are bogus. They exist according to Providence and yet for Christians such polities and allegiances are meaningless as we are citizens of Zion, the heavenly Kingdom. Our loyalties are to our brethren and so in addition to Johnson being a heretic we can also label him a cosmic traitor to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ as he puts his allegiance to the American Empire above the Kingdom-ethical imperatives of Scripture. He supports the America state killing the weak in other lands - as well as the weak trying to escape the havoc wrought by the Empire as it destroys markets, topples governments, manipulates business, steals resources, employs paramilitary proxies, collaborates with drug cartels and the like. For Johnson, the nation of America is an idol and he demonstrates a great zeal in twisting Scripture to provide a theological fig-leaf for his Christ-rejecting fealty to the American Baal.
To compare Nehemiah's wall-building around Jerusalem (the then Holy City) to Trump's electrified barbed wire is sacrilege and demonstrates the paucity of this man's understanding of redemptive-history. It's pretty astonishing, really. You would think his pastor would intervene and insist he return to Sunday School before speaking out again in such a fashion.
But we see the same with his appeal to the Great Commission as a defense of nations (and thus by implication nationalism). The point Christ makes is to make disciples of the nations - in other words they leave behind their nations and become Christians. At that point, we become pilgrims and strangers within the lands that we happen to live in. Obviously Johnson doesn't understand this very basic concept - but we shouldn't be surprised given his testimony.
As far as his condemnation of Biden's directives and the supposed plight at the American border - what has that to do with Christians? It's only because of confused and deceived teachers like Johnson and the heretical and largely apostate body of pastors (like David Hall) that support him, that the Church is distracted by this. It doesn't matter to us apart from helping the weak that come into our path. We don't need to be on the border making trouble but nor do we cheer the thuggery of ICE.
Let Babylon fight its wars but the Church needs to clean house and men like Johnson need to be exposed and called to repentance. These are wolves in the midst of the flock, adherents of other religions such as Christo-Americanism, a syncretist heresy. As such, the Kingdom is confused with the American kingdom and the identities are confused. It's quite literally satanic and by estimation Johnson (given his political prominence) is one of the most influential and thus destructive and evil forces at work within the American Church today.
I won't take the time to pick apart Johnson's statements regarding immigration, American politics, and the like. Again, he's a proven liar and so there's no reason to take anything he says seriously. There are plenty of others who have taken the time to address such statements - his GOP and Trumpite talking points and contrived narratives. I consider it largely a waste of time to address his great swelling words of vanity, and his Balaam-like declarations. Would that a donkey would speak to Johnson and teach him some sense, but instead he has turned from the holy commandment and like a pig, has immersed himself in the muddy mire. Trump is an evil man, but his power rests on the collusion of Mike Johnson, the 'Christian' hero of the hour. God help him, for he has played a major role in enabling Trump and has helped to sow the seeds of confusion that have led to so many Christians believing the fascistic policies of this government to be expressions of Christian ethics and the application of Biblical thinking. The testimony of the Church has been largely destroyed thanks to men like Johnson - he is by no means alone.
Biden, Pelosi, and Obama are godless wretches, apostates at best and yet no serious Christians were ever taken in by their arguments or agendas. They're no threat, but Johnson with his vain and enticing words - oh yes, he has deceived many, millions in fact. He is the far greater threat to the American Church. The fact that he's been allowed to continue and that so many Church leaders are encouraged by him and support him, leads me to conclude that his presence and prominence are simply a sign of judgment. Reading this filth that he considers to be a defense of his deeds and a justification for his disobedience to Christ is just further evidence of how far gone and handed over both he and his comrades are.
Johnson closes with an appeal to Evangelical mythology regarding the American Founding. Evangelicals have concocted a Judeo-Christian construct (which does not exist) and read it into the Founding, despite the fact that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution say nothing about Christianity and much to the contrary. Again, the United States was the first explicitly non-Christian nation to emerge in the Western heritage since the days of Constantine and Charlemagne. Of course the traditional sacral regimes that emerged with Constantine and Theodosius were not Christian in Biblical terms - the concept (indeed the gospel) was re-defined in order to make it viable. The irony here is the United States broke with this centuries-long tradition and took up arms in the name of Enlightenment Liberalism and concepts such as individual rights and the social contract - authority not by the grace of God, but by the will of the people. The advocates of Christendom recognized it as something akin to the rise of Antichrist and despite the revisionist history by the Right, the French Revolution was close cousin - at least initially. It of course went off the rails, turned against itself, and resulted in first Terror and then Bonapartism. But the basic, core concepts and impetus behind the first stages was more or less the same. Washington certainly thought so as his friendship with Lafayette and his proud and prominent display of the key to the Bastille at Mt. Vernon testifies.
America is not the most benevolent nation. This is myth and propaganda - the delusions of idolaters that have been handed over and in their blindness cannot see that the United States is more akin to Rome if not Assyria. It bombs and kills on an almost daily basis. It is the great thief, the great lie. It's people are fat, distracted, and decadent but their wealth is built on the exploitation of others. Sure, there are nations that have higher body counts, but that doesn't mean the US isn't dripping in blood. It is nation of the rich for the rich - something antithetical to the ethos of New Testament Christianity, something the Mammonist Johnson is unfamiliar with and actually quite hostile to. Johnson is among those that Paul references as deceived and being deceived and thus while he sits in high office in the Empire and atop its pile of skulls, he speaks of serving selflessly and defending the defenseless. And he stands condemned as he seeks to justify his evil by appealing to Scripture.
We can also speak of Johnson as something of a double-traitor. For my part, I only care about the Kingdom of Heaven, but for actual American citizen-patriots there is additional cause for umbrage. Johnson has betrayed the Separation of Powers doctrine and has capitulated at every point to the Executive, allowing Trump to rule as an authoritarian who tramples the law on a daily basis and is never held to account. Johnson neither represents the interests of American law or even the interests of the nation or people. Instead he represent an oligarchy that inhabits the corridors of power in Washington and on Wall Street. And it is because he represents this group (and out of a fascist-like obeisance to Trump) that he has played a critical role in covering up the crimes of Epstein and Trump's connections to him. Further, he has given cover to the violent Gestapo-like tactics of ICE, as well as their establishment of concentration camps which dot the landscape. In addition to covering for Trump's rapacious testimony of lies, adultery, rape, and murder, Johnson also supports his war policies - the genocide in Gaza, the murderous sanctions regimes imposed by the American Empire on its enemies, the boat murders along with the Venezuela raid and kidnapping - events which have resulted in hundreds of deaths. Johnson also supports Trump's sabre rattling with regard to Iran as well as the threats he makes toward both Canada and Greenland. He will certainly be reckoned one of the worst Speakers in American history.
And where some might ask is my gentleness and meekness in dealing with such as Mike Johnson? Were I to stand before him and have a chance to interact with him and were he genuinely seeking clarification and wisdom - I would certainly deal with him as such. But instead we find a man that (as a professed Christian) has sought the pinnacles of power and ties his bloody deeds and policies in with this fact. As such, we need not mince words - the apostles don't. We need to warn both Johnson and the multitudes he deceives. There are some professing Christians we wonder about and yet hope for the best. There are others that leave us in little doubt as to their status and the counterfeit nature of their profession. Again, it is only because of the state of the Church that evil men such as Mike Johnson are allowed to persist in their sin and the rejection of Scriptural norms and ethics. At the end of the day it is these Church leaders that will bear the greater degree of culpability.
Johnson wants to guard the borders of his nation and wants Christians to do the same. He's right, the Church does need to guard its borders and as such Johnson and those like him should be excluded. They are infiltrators that have through deceit entered into the confines of the Holy Nation. Would that the leadership would recognize this, bind them, and cast them out into the outer darkness where they belong.