Wake Up, Look Up

[Music]

hello everyone thanks for listening to

wake up lookup a podcast where we

connect events happening in real time to

the Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zach

wrock and in today's episode we're

asking the question can the gospel

handle complexity I'm asking this

because of a conversation that's

happening in American politics right now

I I just want to use the political issue

as a launching off point for talking

about how we might think about politics

from a gospel perspective the the

political issue is what's called

Birthright citizenship I read about it

this week in the Washington Post it's

something the Trump Administration is

seeking to reverse Birthright

citizenship is just the idea that if

you're born in the United States you are

automatically a citizen now for most

people uh their parents are from in the

United States they were born in the

United States because that's where their

family lives of course it follows they

would be citizens where this becomes

complicated though is there actually

families who will come into the country

illegally in the hopes of having their

child in the United States because their

child then would be a US citizen it's a

way of kind of getting around

immigration law or at least it can be if

you see it cynically it is a right

though that is enshrined in the US

Constitution the 14th Amendment declares

if you're born in the United States you

are a citizen but the Trump

Administration is arguing that should

change that it is creating an

immigration loophole and actually

incentivizing people to illegally enter

the country uh they want to move from

Birthright citizenship to citizenship

established on blood in other words that

you have to have you have to come from

parents who are themselves Americans now

countries all over the world are divided

on this and the uh South America North

America the Caribbean those kinds of

countries uh Birthright citizenship is

law it's the way things are done it's a

tradition stemming from colonialism

where if you were uh your family had

come over as part of the European

migration and you were born in a country

you were a citizen of that country

however in Europe that this is switching

European countries concerned about the

same immigration loopholes are moving to

citizenship by Blood they're saying it

doesn't matter if you're born in the

country you need to be born to parents

who are themselves citizens it's a hotly

debated thing because on the one side

you have kind of the Law and Order crowd

saying what's the point of having

immigration laws if people can just work

around them on the other side you have

the the people concerned about the more

Humanity aspect of this and going wait a

minute we're denying babies an actual

right that they should have based on the

decisions that their parents have made

and and this is one of those issues

where certainly we can bring the gospel

to Bear but you're going to have trouble

finding a verse in the New Testament

that says Thou shalt or Thou shalt not

practice Birthright citizenship I think

we all feel pretty confident about

speaking into politics when the Bible is

absolutely clear uh something like

abortion where the Bible makes clear

that's murder is easier than something

like Birthright citizenship where we

have to kind of walk a line or a tension

but that's kind of the point of this

episode we should walk that tension

Christians shouldn't be afraid of

complexity the gospel isn't afraid of

complexity because the Bible affirms

both of these things on the one hand the

Bible affirms the idea that the

government is God's ordained Authority

it in Romans 13 we're told it Bears the

sword God has given it the government

passes laws it enforces its borders its

boundaries it defines what it looks like

to be a citizen of that country when

countries make laws regarding

immigration they're doing what God has

ordained them to do they're doing the

work of the government and certainly

governments have to think about how to

protect their current citizens how to

how to create healthy environments for

their citizens in which they can

flourish on the other hand the Bible

does have a lot to say about loving your

neighbor and about seeing all people as

our neighbors and refusing those those

who would dehumanize someone based on

where they're from or socioeconomic

status so how did Christians move

forward saying the Bible does give the

government Authority but it does not

allow me to demonize my neighbor well we

move forward by holding those in each

hand we we move forward by showing we

can walk and chew gum at the same time

Christians should be reconcilers in

these kinds of debates where we're

affirming Law and Order but refusing to

to dehumanize and demonize people from

other countries or people who are

seeking what we all enjoy which is the

American dream and the hope of of living

in this prosperous country Christians

have to be able to handle nuance and the

whole point of this episode is not

really about telling you how to view

Birthright citizenship it's to reject

those who are so quick to run to one

corner or the other this is a complex

issue and one of the ways we can respect

the law and love our neighbors is to be

okay with that reject those who offer

overly simplistic Solutions reject those

who appeal to the baser parts of who we

are and say there must be a path forward

for us that is both respecting the

government's Authority and loving our

neighbor because after all God would

never ask us to do two things that

conflict so there must be a path forward

let's keep looking till we find it this

is is not a tension to solve it's a

tension to manage and that is how we can

be the salt of the earth the light of

the world the city on a hill hey thanks

so much for watching this episode of

wake up lookup while you're here take a

minute to like And subscribe really

helps us get the word out don't hesitate

to leave a review wherever you might

find this podcast on an audio level and

help spread the word hey while you're

here check out all the other content we

have at Christ Community Chapel on

YouTube some of those videos are popping

up on the screen now click on one