In an interview on January 30th, 2025, Vice President JD Vance said, "[A]s an American leader, but also just as an American citizen, your compassion belongs first to your fellow citizens. It doesn’t mean you hate people from outside of your own borders. [...] But there’s this old-school [concept] — and I think a very Christian concept, by the way — that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world."
In short, Vance is wrong. However, for a more in-depth argument with scriptural references, read on.
I'm not always a fan of Catholic pronouncements, but Pope Francis was absolutely correct when he responded, "Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups."
Christ always comes first before any other consideration. We are to love Christ more than even our own family. His words supersede everything else.
He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for God’s Kingdom’s sake, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the world to come, eternal life.”—Luke 18:29-30 (WEB)
That said, don't ignore Paul's advice to Timothy:
But if anyone doesn’t provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.—1 Timothy 5:8 (WEB)
So it is fair to say we have an obligation to our family, but beyond that, where is the duty to neighbors in relation to anyone else? I ask in the context of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, as did the Pope in the link referenced above.
But he [a certain lawyer], desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37 (WEB)
His kingdom, and by extension ours as His followers, is not of this world. Government borders are meaningless to the Church. Our neighbor is not defined by culture or nationality. Our love and compassion are not subject to political considerations.
As a final scriptural refutation, I offer one last passage about the Kingdom of Heaven as described by Christ.
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’—Matthew 25:31-45 (WEB)
Vance is wrong to suggest a dissipating commandment to love based on geography. He also exhibited this un-Christian attitude in the Signal leak when his only stated concern about bombing Yemeni civilians was whether it was necessary now, as opposed to challenging it being necessary ever.
Remember, a man cannot serve two masters. This is the difference between striving to be a disciple of Christ, and being a Christian Nationalist. One is of Christ, the other a counterfeit. We know a tree by its fruit, and the State invariably leads to the opposite.
In closing, I would like to share the 1983 Petra song Not Of This World by Bob Hartman from the album of the same name.
