Misplaced Compassion, or Wells Without Water?

The feature of Christianity that is supposedly most attractive to people is the unfettered compassion that followers of Jesus are reputed to exhibit. For the person who claims to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, however, an important question that frequently rises is the question of God’s will for his or her life.

For some the search after knowledge of that will takes arcane twists and turns, almost on the level of fortune-telling or divination. It is not unusual to hear of people opening a Bible and attempting to do whatever first comes to sight, or the “Gideon thing”, i.e., “putting out a fleece” (without doing a thorough reading which would show that Gideon pleaded with God not to be angry with him for doing so).

Just a bit more research would reveal that God’s will for His people is really no great mystery. In Hebrews we read that it was His will that we be sanctified through the offering of Christ, in Romans we read that His will is that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds in order to serve others (a living sacrifice!), and in First Thessalonians we read that it is His will that we be sanctified, maintaining proper living in the face of temptation. Peter even goes so far as to say that His will might call for our suffering as a result of sanctified living.

Unfettered compassion has the appearance of performance of the will of God, even in the need to defy authority to carry it out. Many of the “peace movement” groups actively protest or violate Governmental restrictions on their desires to offer such compassion, citing Peter’s response to the Sanhedrin that “We ought to obey God rather than men.” It is always dangerous to quote Scripture out of context.

The following clips were carried on Friday March 6, 2015 by a number of news organizations and were eventually picked up by Fox News and other major conservative outlets:

“Max Villatoro, 41, was arrested by immigration officials when he left his house for work Tuesday after more than 16 years of legal complications and two denied appeals to stop his removal from the country, culminating in his now imminent deportation. But Villatoro's wife, Gloria Villatoro, 33, and others in the Iowa City community say the man has turned his life around since his initial charge in 1998, and they're fighting to keep him here.

Max Villatoro is a pastor at First Mennonite Church who has lived in Iowa since he left his northern Honduran town in 1995 and arrived in the U.S. without legal permission. Deportation would separate him from his wife, a native of Mexico who was brought here when she was 8, and his four children, ages 7 through 15 and all U.S. citizens.

In 1998, Villatoro was convicted of drunken driving. And in 1999, he pleaded guilty to record tampering for purchasing a Social Security number that he used to obtain a driver's license. His plea resulted in an order of supervision for the duration of a 180-day suspended jail term, but the convictions stayed with him until his recent arrest.

Gloria Villatoro said her husband's past doesn't reflect who he is. And Margaret Richer-Smith, a fellow pastor at the Iowa City church, described him as a 'person of great integrity and wisdom.'”

The story was even carried in the Daily Kos, and without doubt it will end up as one of those viral emails that circulates the Web forever. Before getting into too much of a lather over the story, however, it might be good to examine not only this family’s particular situation, but also the general conduct of what is popularly seen as evangelical Christianity. Let’s dissect the story as it appears in the news, and then look for the implications as regard’s the will of God. The facts:

- Max Villatoro is a Honduran citizen who has lived in the United States illegally for 20 years
- he has been convicted of identity theft, having used someone else’s Social security number
- since his conviction in 1999, he has apparently continued to work and perhaps drive, without legal documentation
- also since his conviction in 1999, he has married a foreign national and fathered 4 children (birthright citizens)
- he now professes to be a Christian pastor with the responsibility to teach others Godly behavior
- he is described by his co-pastor as “a person of great integrity and wisdom”

Assuming all of the above is true, I feel quite queasy. The same Peter who stated that “We ought to obey God rather than men” also stated “Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well. For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”

If all of the Villatoro story is true as reported, we have a person who has openly defied authority. Reading carefully we can wonder at the pain suffered by some unfortunate citizen who was left with the complications from Villatoro’s use of his stolen Social Security ID, as well as being curious about whether the pregnancy of his teenage wife was an attempt to produce an “anchor baby”. He not only calls himself a follower of Jesus but is being held up as a good example of such. We also appear to have a great cloud of people with an opinion that his behavior is acceptable. There is something absurd going on here.

The March 25, 2015 edition of Mennonite World Review carried the news that Villatoro had indeed been deported to Honduras on March 20. The article contains this statement,

“‘This is utterly unfathomable,’ wrote executive conference minister David Boshart of Mennonite Church USA’s Central Plains Mennonite Conference in a statement the same day.”

Unfathomable? Jesus taught that “. . .whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” If we are to understand that His will is inseparable from His character, we see a God who is not only merciful, but also scrupulously just. As Lord Jonathan Sachs has observed, it is not logically possible to have mercy unless first there is justice. While Sachs does not follow through with the resultant, that it was the Father’s justice that required our punishment for sin, and His acceptance of the sacrifice of His Son that made mercy for us possible, he has nailed the problem squarely. God is holy and just. He has established principalities and powers as an exercise of His will in order to maintain justice among men. For that reason Peter urges obedience to those authorities except where it contradicts the command of God.

There is no command from God to violate laws which we disagree with simply because they cause us discomfort.

What, then, should take priority? Our desire to feel like we are heroic martyrs of mercy, or our desire to uphold the justice of God, Who says, “You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.” and “You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”? Should we be partial toward the foreign law-breaker, allowing things that we would not tolerate in a fellow citizen or even a foreigner who was respectful of our laws? How does that uphold God’s justice, and if it does not, how can it be said that encouraging a person to continue in sin (for “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft”) is a mercy?

Christianity that “does its own thing” is not following the teaching of Jesus. To the contrary, the Church in America is missing out on one of the greatest evangelistic opportunities that has appeared since the Great Awakening. There are hordes of people who have entered this country illegally who are prime candidates for the Gospel. The Gospel, however, (as presented by Jesus Himself) begins with “Repent!” —- which requires the illumination of sin and the turning away from such.

Unfortunately, Americhristianity sees success in spiritual things the same way it sees success in business — the bigger the better; quantity trumps quality. Americhristianity fears to label specific behaviors as sin, lest some potential convert be offended. We, however, need not fear to preach that sin in every form, including breaking the law, (yes, you speeders and stop sign runners, that includes you) needs to be repented from. Then, when the Spirit of God converts those whom He draws and convicts, they become the seed of renewed missionary activity.

If that leads the illegal immigrant back to the place from which he came, perhaps it is the hand of God which drew him here in the first place, fleeing the corruption due to sin in his own land, for the purpose of returning him to be a blessing in the midst of a crooked and corrupt land. To be sure, such a theme will be unpopular, because it flies in the face of “cheap grace” and pop gospel. Nevertheless, it is the way the Church has grown through the centuries. America may be ripe for judgment, but even in her last days the true followers of Jesus in this land can carry out the will of their Father.

So Peter states, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”