A Shot Across the Bow
In a recent article, an Iowa news site reported on the work done by Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI). The organization, along with member Lutheran churches, has programs that range from supporting people with disabilities, foster care, adoptive care, mental health. In addition, LSI has a resettlement program, welcoming hundreds of refugees.
On February 1, Elon Musk, the director of the newly-created DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), shared a post that claimed that LSI and Lutheran churches were engaging in “money-laundering operations,” and pledged to stop the “illegal payments.” Given the Trump Administration’s crackdown on immigrants, there is little doubt that the resettlement program is one of the targets of the investigation.
In previous posts, we examined the necessity of the church speaking with a prophetic voice into the culture, welcoming the stranger, and loving the vulnerable. In this post, we examine one of the potential consequences of the church doing this.
For a long time, the church in America has enjoyed a somewhat special and protected status—being exempt from paying taxes and having freedom to meet and evangelize, to name a few. What we have forgotten is that we have those rights because the U.S. Constitution says we do. The United States is one of the few countries in the history of the world that has granted such broad freedom. At the same time, the American culture of independence and individualism is inherently counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That statement may very well be shocking to someone who has tended to equate Americanism with Christianity, democracy with the Kingdom of God. But, they are not the same, and in fact are opposites of each other. How can this be true? Just look at a few examples of American thought and culture and compare them to Scripture:
Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps
If it is to be, it is up to me
Look out for #1
Stand on your own two feet
I am the captain of my soul
Every man is the architect of his own fortune
If you want something done well, then do it
yourself
As we can see in these sayings, Americans pride themselves on their own strength, ingenuity, and know-how. Not only that, but the American culture idolizes self. We are taught that we must first love ourselves before we can love others. We are to look out for number one (me), and then perhaps consider the other people around us.
Scripture, however, says, “My help comes from the Lord” (Ps. 121:2). This American ideal is one of self-sufficiency, which is the sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. And Paul tells us to “in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).
Now, you may ask, what does all this have to do with a Christian organization being investigated for supposed money-laundering? Everything. It’s no accident, I believe, that one of the main areas LSI works in is refugee resettlement. The current administration has taken an extremely hard line when it comes to anything regarding immigration. And since churches are working with immigrants (documented or not), they are now becoming targets of not just the administration, but the world.
The world system has its own agenda, and it is often disguised in good-sounding terms, like law and order, equality, etc. Yet, the Bible speaks of justice and equity. Justice is different from law, and equity, while it encompasses equality, goes beyond it. So often churches are left alone as long as they don’t directly challenge the worldly agenda. When they do, this is an example of what can and will happen. Jesus, as well as the other New Testament writers promised that believers would suffer persecution for the sake of the gospel. This, I believe, is a warning shot across the bow that the church needs to pay attention to.
The world would have us back away from the vulnerable, but we as the church must run toward the problems, not away from them.
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