Oct 23 • General discussion
Closet Land after speaking about "immigration"
I was in a full on pain episode and my wife was watching the news and needed to event frustration regarding what she was hearing. I KNEW that in my pain riddled state I could not clearly articulate my thoughts in a manner without getting into a back and forth clarification as to what did I mean. I did my best to participate, but not dig in. Why? Because my patterns, study, resources that I would recite, quote cannot be accepted on Ryan value (as accurate or verified and Bible time is required). Except, what one person wants in a 4 minute walk by encounter, to me is a several hour conversation. Homie don't want that (homie being others not me). Why am I not Homie? Below is why I am NOT Homie, as I'm willing to take the time to share (teach), but I don't have the time to learn it for someone else.
To my patriotic brothers and sisters in Christ:I’m grateful you love this nation. Let’s love it Christianly (biblically not based upon social, cultural nor community definition of Christian). God gives civil rulers to punish evil and praise good (Rom 13:3–4), and He commands one standard for native and sojourner (Num 15:15–16), with impartial justice (Deut 1:16–17).
Before we wave any banner, let’s test our hearts:
Source: What is MY Standard or will I consider “The Standard” Does my standard begin with God’s Word Says? Or will my words be fluid, subjective, conditional and have no consistent application across time, country, or culture and just alling with my tribe’s goal to win?
Scope: Am I asking (shouting, demanding, threatening, harming) to advance a government to do, what Christ gave the church and the home to do?
Symmetry: Would I accept these same rules, behavior, outcome, if the other side held power?
Sanction: Are the remedies I cheer truly just—or just useful?
Christ didn’t promise comfort; He promised cross-shaped faithfulness (1 Pet 4:12–16). Better to lose an election than lose integrity. One King, one standard; mercy for each.
Anchors to test ourselves. (Faith Nationalists? (Christian/Israeli/USGOVT)
Is our Faith First (Christ)
Is our nationality First [(Israel - God’s chosen)(USGovt-our identity)]
One standard for all: “One law for the native and for the sojourner.
Numbers 15:15-16
15 One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.
16 One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
Exodus 12:49
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Love the sojourner; do not oppress him.
Leviticus 19:33-34
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 10:18-19
18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23:9
9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- Impartial courts.
Deuteronomy 1:16-17
16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
Leviticus 19:15
15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
- Cities of refuge ≠ blanket sanctuary—they protected the unintentional manslayer until trial. (Please review: Num 35; Deut 19; Josh 20)
- Real harms require real remedies (Rom 13:3–4), and boundaries matter (Deut 19:14), while gleanings and hospitality remain commands. (Lev 19:9–10)
Romans 13:3-4
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Parable: The Gate, the Elders, and the Shelter Oaks
In the hill-town of Evergate, two things kept the peace: the Gate-Court and the Shelter Oaks.
At the Gate-Court, elders heard disputes each morning. There they weighed stones stamped Truth and Mercy on a single scale. If a neighbor’s door was forced or fields trampled, they named the harm, set restitution, and guarded the weak. No man’s face—local or foreign—tilted the beam.
Beyond the walls, along the King’s road, stood the Shelter Oaks—places marked by the King for travelers and the accidentally guilty to rest until their cases could be heard. Food from the gleaning rows fed them; stewards recorded names; instructions were plain: learn the town’s law, harm no neighbor, appear when called.
For a while, the order held.
Then the Word-Keeper in the square began selling labels faster than bread: invader, illegal, refugee, seeker. The Watch-Captain learned which horn-blasts filled the plaza—fear for one crowd, pity for another. And the Steward of the storehouse, praised for “compassion,” stopped bringing hard cases to the elders at all.
Soon the scale went quiet.
One night a widow’s door was broken. “This is no matter for court,” said the Steward. “Big problems demand flexible measures.” The widow wept with no remedy.
Next week a caravan camped under the Shelter Oaks—on the King’s land, harming no one. The Word-Keeper thundered, “Lawbreakers!” The Watch-Captain blew the fearful horn. A crowd rushed the Gate demanding punishment for people whose only offense was presence.
The old Recorder—last of the scribes who still carried the King’s charter—rose at dawn and rang the Gate-Court bell himself. Townsfolk gathered, angry and tired.
He set four marks upon the bench:
Source — What word rules here—the King’s or our slogans?Scope — Where does this rule apply—house, field, road, or refuge?Symmetry — Would you accept this measure if you were the stranger?Sanction — If there’s harm, what just remedy fits the harm?
He called the widow first. Her harm was named; restitution set; protection ordered. The crowd nodded—this is justice.
He called the caravan next. No injured neighbor. No theft. On the King’s land, under King-marked trees. The Recorder instructed them: register, learn the law, keep the peace, appear when called, glean only what is marked. The elders assigned sponsors from the town and put the Watch to guard against any predator—local or foreign—who would prey upon them.
At last he turned to the square and said, “Our fury found the nearest faces and forgot the nearest duties. We silenced the bell and made the horn our judge.”
From that day, the Gate-Court rang again. Harm was answered with remedy; presence without harm was guided, not crushed. The Word-Keeper sold fewer labels. The Watch-Captain learned a quieter note. And the people, when a fresh poster screamed a new emergency, paused to ask:
Whose word? Which place? Would I accept this measure reversed? What remedy fits the real harm?Some still chose the horn. But more chose the bell.
Reflection (for any “side”):
- Am I aiming anger at the nearest face—or at the officials neglecting their duty?
- Can I name the specific harm and remedy—or just a label?
- Would I accept this same rule if I were the newcomer with no power?
- Am I confusing refuge instructions with impunity, or real crime with mere presence?
- How can I practice “one standard for all; mercy for each” this week?
How about another Parable?
The Banner Hall and the Plumb Line
In the Meeting-House of Stonebrook, two things guided the builders: the Banners in the hall and the Plumb Line in the cabinet.
The banners felt noble— stitched with eagles and oaks, stars and mottos. On feast days they filled the room with pride. “They remind us where we’re from,” said the Steward.
But walls don’t stand by pride. So the old Mason kept a thin cord with a weight— the Plumb Line— to square each stone to something that never tilts.
In a season of loud rallies, the banners were brought near the pulpit. “They’ll steady the people,” the Steward smiled. And for a while, it seemed to work. The room was full; the songs were strong; the speeches were brave. Yet the walls began to drift— just a little—toward the banners.
A young apprentice asked, “Master, why are our corners crooked?”The Mason opened the cabinet and let the Plumb Line fall. “Because we measured by courage, not by truth. Banners are for procession. Plumb lines are for building.”
“What happens if rulers change?” the apprentice whispered.“If our measure is the banners,” said the Mason, “we will bless whatever colors hang above us. If our measure is the King’s Word, the walls will stand when banners fade.”
That week the people returned the banners to the hall—honored, but not enthroned. The Plumb Line stayed by the pulpit. And Stonebrook learned to ask of every stirring speech: Would this be righteous if the colors were reversed? The walls held.
Pastoral corner (This is to help those who are moving in a direction of self study or an accountability group)
Preach the plumb line. Teach the whole counsel—Rom 13 & Acts 5:29; Mic 6:8; Matt 28:18–20—so saints can suffer well without sacralizing any party.
Keep symbols in their place. If flags are present, explain their limited role. The church is an embassy of a higher Kingdom; the Table and the Word stay central.
Shepherd conscience, not campaigns. Equip members to apply one standard for all, with equal discipline when “our side” errs.
Courage without conflation. You can retain a tax status and still preach repentance to rulers. If faithfulness costs donors, count it joy (Heb 10:34).
Name categories clearly. Church (make disciples), state (punish evil/praise good), household (mercy, work, formation). Don’t outsource the Great Commission to the government—either left or right.
Self-audit (for all of us)
- What fruit does this message grow in me—love/joy/peace, or fear/anger/superiority?
- Would I cheer this policy if the other party held power?
- Am I asking Caesar to do what Christ gave to the church or family?
- Where have I been silent about injustice when it benefits “my team”?
- What cross-shaped obedience might cost me, and am I willing?
Scripture anchors: Num 15:15–16; Deut 1:16–17; Lev 19:15,33–34; Mic 6:8; Rom 13:1–7; Acts 5:29; 1 Pet 4:12–16; Phil 2.
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Closet Land after speaking about "immigration"
