Immigration is a contentious issue. Read what one politician said in a public speech. “Once you have given citizenship… I mean, do you think there will be any space for you, like there is now? Don’t you realize they’ll take over everything?”
What American said that? None, it was actually a Roman. “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The year was 122 or 121 B.C. The highest elected official of the people, the tribune, was a man named Gaius Gracchus. He was a reformer, today we might say “progressive,” and proposed granting citizenship to the people of Italy. Citizenship then wasn’t universal. Only people in the city of Rome had it. Outside the city, there were many Italians who fought for Rome, supported it economically, but couldn’t vote. Gaius’ citizenship reform was opposed by wealthy, privileged aristocrats. “Don’t you realize they’ll take over everything” typified their opposition. Their highest representative, the consul, a man named Lucius Opimius, gathered a mob. Since Rome had no police force as we do today, the mob was able to go on a spree of violence and kill Gaius Gracchus. There are similarities and dissimilarities between the debates then and our debates today, but one cautionary word is in order. Thirty years after Gracchus was assassinated, civil war broke out. And 77 years after the assassination, Julius Caesar was declared dictator. The Roman Republic was over.
One purpose of committed Christian living in society is “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2). “I’m but a stranger here, heaven is my home” is popular but doesn’t mean Christians have no public responsibilities. Yes, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior” (Philippians 3:20), but while we’re waiting, we love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16).
Opimius celebrated killing Gracchus by restoring the temple of the goddess Concord. Someone took a chisel and carved this quip: “An act of senseless discord produces a Temple of Concord.” Citizens of heaven have a lasting peace to offer our country. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). (Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, 237, 233).
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