Matt Walsh: “Any country that can’t function without American aid has no right to exist”
Two well-known Christian/Conservative commentators (Tucker Carlson and Matt Walsh) sat across from each other in a public conversation. Their voices carry weight. Their ideas ripple through churches, podcasts, dinner tables, and social media.
They were talking about responsibility.
Specifically, a man’s duty to those around him.
One of them declared it without hesitation:
A man is responsible for his wife, his children, his community, and his nation. That is the circle. That is where his obligation begins and ends.
He insisted that it is unnatural to care for strangers. Unwise to give to nations that cannot care for themselves. If a country cannot feed its people, maybe it should not exist in the first place.
That idea was offered as wisdom. As clarity in a confusing world.
The other man attempted to push back. He reminded him of what the Bible says about love. Not just love for neighbors in close proximity, but love for humanity. The poor. The refugee. The outsider.
That pushback was dismissed. Labeled as naive. Maybe even dangerous.
And just like that, a conversation between two believers turned into something deeper. It became a mirror reflecting a troubling shift happening across parts of the modern church.
This is no longer just a political conversation. It is not simply a philosophical debate about aid or borders or economics.
It is a conversation about the heart of the gospel.
A Shrinking Definition of Responsibility
The world has always tried to define worthiness by proximity.
We love those who are close.
We help those who can return the favor.
We protect what is ours.
This mindset makes sense.
It is efficient.
It feels safe.
It justifies retreat.
But this is not the way of Jesus.
Jesus did not shrink the circle. He expanded it.
He did not say, “Protect your own.”
He said, “Love your neighbor.”
And then He defined neighbor in a way that made the religious leaders of His time uncomfortable.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the neighbor was not the one from your town, your tribe, or your belief system.
The neighbor was the outsider. The unexpected helper. The one considered unworthy by cultural standards.
Jesus told that story on purpose.
When the Gospel Becomes Convenient
The gospel, at its core, is inconvenient.
It disrupts. It confronts.
It asks more from us than we are naturally willing to give.
When the gospel becomes a tool to affirm our comfort and protect our preferences, it ceases to be the gospel.
It becomes ideology.
It becomes nationalism with a spiritual veneer.
It becomes a reflection of us, not of Christ.
Many believers now use faith to justify withdrawal. They shield their compassion under the banner of stewardship.
They defend self-protection in the language of wisdom.
But Jesus never called His followers to play it safe.
He called them to lose their lives.
To give everything.
To serve those who cannot return the favor.
The gospel is not about maintaining boundaries.
It is about breaking them.
Christ at the Center, Not Self
There is only one center to the Christian life, and it is not you.
It is not your family.
It is not your country.
It is not your opinion.
It is Christ.
When He is placed at the center, everything shifts.
Resources are no longer just for those inside the circle.
Time is no longer just for those who can repay it.
Love is no longer filtered through fear.
Instead, life becomes a response to the generosity of God.
We love because He first loved us.
We give because He gave first.
We serve because He knelt down and washed feet.
When Christ is not at the center, self fills the space.
And self always builds walls.
A Kingdom That Knows No Borders
The Church is not a national project.
It is not the religious branch of any political movement.
It is not a tool to protect comfort or tradition.
The Church is a global body.
It spans across borders, languages, ethnicities, and economic lines.
It is rooted in Christ, not in country.
It is fueled by love, not by fear.
When one part of the body suffers, the rest of the body responds.
Paul reminded the early church of this again and again.
He called for aid to churches they had never met.
He asked believers to give sacrificially for people they would never see.
Not because it made sense from a local perspective.
But because it made sense from a kingdom perspective.
The Radical Nature of Love
The gospel teaches love that does not ask for identification first.
It is love without return on investment.
Love without borders.
This kind of love is not natural.
It cannot be manufactured by political will or cultural alignment.
It is divine.
It is costly.
It is holy.
And it is the kind of love Jesus modeled on the cross.
He loved those who rejected Him.
He forgave those who harmed Him.
He reached for those who were not part of the “in group.”
This is what it means to follow Him.
Anything less is not discipleship.
It is convenience.
When Christianity Becomes Self-Preservation
Many modern Christians are living in retreat.
Not from sin. Not from idols.
But from people.
People who are different.
People who are suffering.
People who live beyond our familiar reach.
The justification often sounds like this:
“We have to take care of our own first.”
“We can’t help everyone.”
“God helps those who help themselves.”
That last one is not even in the Bible.
This mindset may sound wise.
But wisdom without compassion is not the wisdom of Christ.
The Christian faith was never designed to be safe.
It was designed to be sacrificial.
A Call to Recenter
So where do we go from here?
We start by recentering.
Not around ideology.
Not around national pride.
Not around personal comfort.
We center our lives on Christ.
Not just in our songs or on Sundays, but in our priorities.
In our wallets.
In our decisions.
In our compassion.
We open our eyes to the full reach of the gospel.
It is not narrow.
It is not local-only.
It is not exclusive to those who share our background.
It is global.
It is generous.
It is grace.
Let the Circle Grow
Faith should not shrink your compassion.
It should stretch it.
If your version of Christianity encourages you to care less about others, you may not be following Christ.
You may be following culture dressed up in religious language.
The gospel begins in your heart, but it never ends there.
It flows outward.
To your family.
To your neighborhood.
To your city.
And yes, to nations far beyond your border.
The early church knew this.
Missionaries knew this.
Jesus knew this.
He did not die for a zip code.
He died for the world.
Final Thoughts
It is not wrong to love your country.
It is not wrong to care for your family first.
But when love stops there, it is no longer gospel love.
It is tribalism.
Jesus invites us into something bigger.
More demanding.
More beautiful.
The world will not know us by the lines we draw.
It will know us by the love we give.
So give it freely.
Give it widely.
Give it in a way that only makes sense if Christ really is at the center.
Let your faith grow bigger than your fears.
Let your circle grow.
Let the gospel flow.
