Articles - Redeemer City Church
Redeemer City Church is a gospel-centered, mission-driven, culturally-engaging church planted in the heart of Knoxville for the joy of Knoxville.
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828 Tulip Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37918
Articles - Redeemer City Church
Immigration, Government Authority, Citizenship, and Christian Submission
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Headlines heat up fast when immigration and policing collide, but clarity is possible without losing compassion. We take a grounded look at borders, law enforcement, and Christian submission, showing how Scripture frames authority, accountability, and civic duty in a way that resists both apathy and outrage. Instead of trading hot takes, we map a path that values order, protects the vulnerable, and insists on justice through evidence, witnesses, and due process.
Framing The Debate
SPEAKER_00Immigration, law enforcement, citizenship, and Christian submission. Did I get your attention? Let's talk about it.
Biblical Lens For Government
SPEAKER_00Emotions are high, but here are biblical truths as well as general wisdom we all should agree on, though it may be difficult to. Immigration laws are right. It's what often distinguishes a safe country from an unsafe country. A government should have borders for the protection of its citizens. Citizens should expect their government to enforce those laws. In our country, those are the laws and the executive focus our citizens voted for, and they should do so by force if necessary.
Law Enforcement And Public Response
SPEAKER_00See Romans 13. To that end, citizens should not impede law enforcement. The typical posture Christians are to take in regard to their relationship with their government is submission to its God-given authority, even if there is significant disagreement. This posture gives witness to Christ and entrusts God to repay should the government engage in evil actions. See 1 Peter 2, 13 through 17, and Romans 12, 18 through 21. Unfortunately, immigration enforcement officers may not always act lawfully, and unlawful actions should be justly tried. Lawless anarchy, like the destruction of buildings, the illogical
Cameras, Context, And Restraint
SPEAKER_00generalization of all law enforcement officials, that's ungodly and it's an ungodly response. Witnesses and trial is a biblical expectation. Citizens with cameras who are not obstructing law enforcement and law enforcement body cameras are a good thing. However, they don't always capture context and angles matter, so be careful joining the mob should something bad happen. Citizens should not expect law enforcement to follow a code of conduct that is not a code of conduct. If not a law, law enforcement should be able to hide their faces should they deem it necessary for personal safety. Yeah, you heard that correctly. If the mob has become so outlandish because of the potentially poor actions of one service member that they're biting off an officer's finger, stealing weapons from their car, following them to their jobs, sniping them from rooftops, following them home, and threatening their wife and kids, then maybe wearing a face mask should be the code of conduct. Again, citizens should not impede law
Justice By Law Not Riots
SPEAKER_00enforcement. And in the case an officer breaks the law they've sworn to uphold, recording and reporting is proper measure, not rioting. Officers appearing to act unjustly should be tried by an unbiased jury of citizens according to laws those citizens had voted for.
Civic Duty And Prayer
SPEAKER_00In all these things, citizens can and should exercise their right to vote to help determine future leaders and laws. Christians are called to prayistic widows for the leaders we like in the early Jerusalem churches that we may lead a peaceful to quiet
Deacons And Church Unity
SPEAKER_00life. The apostles encouraged the church to deputize seven men of good reputation. So Christians, full of the spirit and of wisdom. Submit. The church was to pick a few spiritual members who would lead in making sure the physical, organizational needs of the body were met for the sake of maintaining the unity of the church in order to help those called to lead the church in the word and prayer continue without inhibition. And the Lord bless their wisdom. For the church unified, and the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Service Over Spotlight
SPEAKER_00So while every believer should serve or deacon one another in their local church for the building up of the church, Ephesians 4 12, there is a specific diaconal office designed to serve the physical and tangible needs of the church for the unity of the body. This leadership office does not lead the congregation by preaching, leading the gathering of the saints, making directional decisions, or vision casting, but rather it leads by serving the tangible needs of its members.
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