“As followers of Christ, it is our moral responsibility to urge you to support and protect the International Affairs Budget.”

So says a letter sent this week by 100 Christian leaders to the House and Senate leadership concerning President Trump’s budget plan to reduce spending on international relief funding.

The letter is signed by a number of people I respect and some of whom I know personally. It is well intended and born out of compassion for those in great need. It is also, arguably, theologically shallow and reveals the danger of Christians speaking out dogmatically concerning things for which they lack scriptural warrant.

Misreading Scripture

They introduce their argument by asserting that “Matthew 25 tells us when we serve the least of these, we are serving the Lord.” This is troubling for two reasons.

Serving those in need a biblical teaching. But such service cannot be rendered by the unbelieving state — only by faithful followers of Jesus.

First, government is not the church. Serving those in need in Jesus’ Name is a biblical teaching, to be sure. However, such service cannot be rendered by the unbelieving state but only by faithful followers of Jesus. The federal government has no theological obligation or constitutional duty to provide foreign aid. More on this later.

As an aside, it is ironic that some of the severest critics of Christians who engage in political action want the government to implement what they believe are biblical commands. They warn against Christians who oppose same-sex marriage or no-fault divorce laws, calling them legalists or fundamentalists or whatever else, yet insist the secular state should be an arm of the church’s compassion. 

Second, the text of Matthew 25, considered closely, is not a blanket command by Jesus to help all those in need. Rather it is a commentary on those who would be rewarded for helping “the least of these, My brothers.” The Lord was talking about His people who would be persecuted and made destitute for Him and His honoring those who aided them in their distress. As Kevin DeYoung writes:

Matthew 25 equates caring for Jesus’s spiritual family with caring for Jesus. The passage does not offer the generic message: “care for the poor and you’re caring for me.” This doesn’t mean God is indifferent to the concerns of the poor or that we should be either. It simply means that “the least of these” is not a blanket statement about physical deprivation.

State Foreign Aid — A Good Idea, Not a Biblical Imperative

The letter concludes with stirring words: “As followers of Christ, it is our moral responsibility to urge you to support and protect the International Affairs Budget, and avoid disproportionate cuts to these vital programs that ensure that our country continues to be the ‘shining city upon a hill’.”

This is quite a claim: Christ imposes a moral responsibility on these men and women to urge continued federal funding for federal programs that give food aid to other nations. Does that responsibility rest only with the 100 signatories, or does it extend to others? Have those declining to sign the letter shirked a divinely given mandate?

Foreign aid can be a great way of gaining friends for America in the developing world. How? As Heather Schommer of Oxfam International writes:

With less than one percent of the (federal) budget, US foreign assistance is helping to ensure girls are able to go to school, families have access to quality medical care, small businesses have what they need to get started and scale up, and millions who rely on agriculture are able to produce enough crops to nutritiously feed and support their families.

These are good and noble things in themselves and foster affection for our country among people who otherwise might more resent than appreciate us.

American foreign relations are not based on charity, but security and vital interests.

Yet American foreign relations are not based on charity. Instead they are, or should be, based on our country’s security and vital interests. This is consistent not only with biblical teaching about the role of the state in defending against wrongdoing (Romans 13:1-7) but also with the Declaration’s assertion that government’s job is to protect the God-given rights of our country’s citizens.

So, while I agree with those who assert that helping those in need is in our nation’s interests, finding any biblical imperative that such help must be provided by a wealthy nation to a poor one or that the words of Jesus given to His disciples should become a cornerstone of a secular state’s diplomacy has, for me, been an unsuccessful effort. Show it to me, and I’ll change my view.

Putting Words in Jesus’ Mouth

There is also the matter of the Christian prophetic voice. Many of the signatories of the letter are deeply involved in providing food and related assistance in some of the world’s neediest areas, and are essential to the distribution of federal food aid in nations around the world. They are expert in their knowledge, insight, and experience. 

However, when they claim to speak in the Name of Jesus concerning things about which faithful Christians can have honest disagreement, they dilute the prophetic voice God has given His church to speak to a fallen world.

These Christian leaders’ compassion is good. But their judgment about the intersection of politics and theology is troubling.

It is clear from Scripture that unborn life begins at conception and that God is its Author. As such, it is the duty of Christians to defend the unborn and help guide their mothers away from the seductive lie of abortion.

It is not clear from Scripture that followers of Jesus should demand from the non-Christian state gifts of food to the impoverished around the world. Should those followers provide that aid? Yes! Not to do so would be callous and cruel. But a nation-state? As a moral imperative? I’m not so sure.

The men and women who signed the letter to Speaker Ryan, Mitch McConnell and their colleagues are imbued with admirable compassion and do wonderful work for some of the most hurting people in the world. My wife and I supported children through World Vision and Food for the Hungry for decades. 

But their judgment about the intersection of politics and theology is troubling. It should serve as a caution for those well-intended people who are too quick to speak in the Name of Christ about things on which His Word is silent.