Albert Einstein was well known for his use of the gedankenexperiment, an imaginative exploration of a scenario beyond his direct experience — a scientific game of “what if.” What if I could ride along on a beam of light? was a childhood question that never left him and that prompted an adult gedankenexperiment that led finally to his development of the general theory of relativity.

I have been grappling with a spiritual gedankenexperiment of my own for the past few days. What if I were the rector of an ACNA parish in Minneapolis, a parish that included law enforcement agents and immigrants, Republicans and Democrats, and a host of people struggling to be faithful to Jesus in the midst of a tense, difficult, and deadly situation? What pastoral counsel would I give them?

This is strictly hypothetical, a true gedankenexperiment. First, I doubt that such a parish exists. I do not know that the spirit of Antioch is alive and well in American churches: Jew and gentile, slave and free, rich and poor all made one by Jesus and feasting at the same Table. It seems to me that we are more nearly like the churches in Galatia or in Corinth. Second, I am not a rector, and I cannot imagine the stress of that calling. Third, I do not live in Minneapolis, so I have no primary source material with which to frame my answers, only the secondary and highly biased reports of media, political pundits, and the various administration spokespeople at both the city, state, and national levels. All these difficulties notwithstanding, what might I say to the parish?

It would be important to avoid my own biases by grounding my counsel firmly in Scripture and the Tradition. I might start here:

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed (Rom 13:1-7, ESV throughout).

God is not the author of chaos, but of order; thus anarchy — the open disobedience to, defiance of, and interference with the exercise of just law — is simply not an option for Christians. If an officer — or an ICE agent — is properly executing a legal mandate, no Christian citizen should interfere with that officer or hamper him/her in the exercise of his/her duty.

But, I would lay alongside that text another one from St. Paul.

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him (Eph 6:1-9).

Though this is couched in terms of fathers/children and masters/bondservants (slaves), the greater dynamic at play is authority/power and subservience/weakness. Those, like children or bondservants, who are under the care and authority of others — parents and masters — should honor those in authority. But — and this is essential — the responsibilities are not unidirectional. The ones in authority must exercise Godly discipline, must not provoke those under them to anger, must act in accordance with the will of God, and must not threaten. So, Christian officers of the law, while exercising valid enforcement measures, must do so in a Godly manner, without provocation, without threatening. In modern parlance, an officer must attempt to de-escalate tense situations and resort to force only as an unavoidable last resort and to the least effective extent.

I would add to these texts the image of a righteous king from the Psalms.

1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!

2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!

3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!

4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!

12 For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.

13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.

14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight (Ps 72:1-4, 12-14).

Every Christian politician at every level is accountable to this: justice and mercy and deliverance for the poor, the weak, the needy. I might also add this Psalm, though I could as easily appeal to the Torah (see Deut 10:17-19, for example).

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,

6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;

7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;

8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin (Ps 146:5-9).

God watches over the sojourners and expects those who govern in his name to do the same. Vying for political advantage at the expense of the governed is “the way of the wicked” which the Lord will bring to ruin.

Above all — and to all my parishioners — I would point to the words of Jesus.

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk 12:28-31).

Every Christian, regardless of civic role or social conviction, is accountable to God for love of neighbor. And, please, no quibbling over who is your neighbor. Jesus disallowed that question. The immigrant — with our without papers — the citizen, the protestor, the law enforcement officer, the politician, the pundit — yes, all neighbors. What is the standard of love? Let’s start here, again with Jesus: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 7:12).

Perhaps I would add one more text, if there were anyone left in the pews to hear it. It is long, but must be read in full.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt 25:31-46).

Reading this, some of the Christians in my hypothetical parish might be compelled to work behind the scenes to provide assistance to those immigrants who are, for example, afraid to leave their houses to go work or to school or to the grocery store. This seems fully in keeping with the Gospel: aid to the least of the brothers of Christ — to Christ himself in their person — while still honoring the rightful execution of justice by the authorities. More directly, it seems consonant with the Gospel for a Christian to feed and clothe and visit an immigrant, legal or illegal, and to stand aside when a law enforcement agent executes a legal arrest warrant. It is also consonant with the Gospel — mandatory, in fact — for the agent to treat the immigrant with the love he himself would desire.

This is the way of the cross: hard, costly. Some concerned citizens with strong social convictions might have to change their public behavior with respect to law enforcement officials, might have to stand down and stop the harassment of those officials who are performing their sworn duty in accordance with law and with love. Some officers and agents might have to stand down from harsh enforcement tactics that provoke anger and present threats, that fail to treat the other as they wish to be treated. Some politicians might have to turn toward the way of righteousness and justice and mercy, and repent of currying the favor of their bases and of stoking division instead of promoting healing. Some media personalities and pundits might have to recommit to truth, or at least to truth-seeking, and forsware the cheap, quick, “gotcha” soundbites. This is the way of the cross: hard, costly.

In this gedankenexperiment, this is what I might say to my hypothetical parish. It is good that I am not a rector.