Saturday, November 24, 2018

A Christian Response to Immigrant Groups

How should we as Christians living in the United States view immigration?

In what way should we differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants?

Are some immigrant groups acceptable and some not?

 On the question of how many immigrants should be allowed into the United States, it's difficult to establish a clear Biblical answer. Many of the faithful were refugees at some point in their lives -Moses, Ruth, Naomi, King David, and even our Lord Jesus himself. What if immigration policies had prevented them from fleeing persecution and famine? Yet there's not a clear distinction of how many refugees a country is obliged to receive. The question of number is ultimately a political one.

But how refugees are treated, when they do come, is a different matter. The Bible is very clear on that issue.

 Matthew 25:35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.'

What about illegal immigrants? Should the government overlook that? Clearly not.

Romans 13:1-2 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

 Yet the individual Christian is not given any justification to treat an illegal alien differently than any other person. If we are to love even our enemies, that clearly applies to an illegal alien. What should a Christian response look like to the refugee seeking asylum, to the immigrant whether legal or not? To the Muslim?

Every immigrant family should be met at the airport or at the border by a Church family. They should be welcomed and have a place to stay. There should be food for them to eat. They should have help finding a job and putting their children in school. If you want them to become a part of the community, to assimilate, then show them how.

We had a Muslim couple in Tyre, Lebanon who moved to Pennsylvania. A Church there met them and cared for them. The next Sunday morning they were posting pictures of their children in Sunday School. When I visited a few years ago, the husband introduced me to the leader of their home Bible study. This is how we ought to be engaging every immigrant family.

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