Tag Archives: immigrants

Clarifying some statements on immigrants

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OK, so last week’s post about hurting people drew a lot of attention. It was primarily directed to my home church and has led to some very healthy discussion within that church. Our leadership has stepped up in amazing ways.

But I also know that what I’ve written has created some misconceptions, and I take responsibility for that. Let me try and address some things:

  • The vast majority of the church members that attend our bilingual service at the University church in Abilene are in the United States legally.
  • The hurt felt within the Hispanic community extends far beyond the subset that doesn’t have proper immigration status. Much goes to the climate around what’s going on; see my post about the border wall to get a feel for that.
  • In a comment, I stated that illegal immigration is not a crime. I should have said that being here without proper status is not a crime. The act of crossing the border illegally is a misdemeanor, which is considered a crime. A large percentage of those who are here illegally entered on a legal basis. During the campaign for the G.O.P. nomination, Marco Rubio put the figure at 40%; surprisingly, there are no good numbers available to confirm or contradict that. Rubio’s guess seems to reflect a good approximation.
  • I have never suggested to a Christian that they enter the U.S. illegally. I personally don’t know any Christians that have done so. I do know many who became Christians after entering the country.
  • About two-thirds of those who reside in the U.S. illegally have been here for more than 10 years. (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/03/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/) Most Christians that I’ve known who are here illegally are not border hoppers; they fall into this category of people who have come to establish a new life.
  • Someone having broken the law does not preclude our extending compassion toward them. I wrote this in a comment on Facebook the other day: “If someone who is texting hits someone and kills them, can I not feel compassion for them even if they are suffering for their own mistake? What if they drive drunk and kill themselves; should I not feel for their families even though the loss was based on a broken law?”

I’ve written lots about the justice and injustice of our current immigration system. There’s nothing black and white about this situation; anyone who tries to reduce this issue to a phrase or two is on the wrong path.

But one thing is black and white: we are called to show compassion to our brothers and sisters who are hurting. A lot of people quoted Romans 13 to me; few quoted Matthew 25. The first one is about them; the second about us. It’s always easier to point out what they’ve done wrong.

The church needs to be around foreigners

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The church needs to be around foreigners, lest we forget what it’s like.

The church needs to remember what it’s like to be far from home, lest we begin to feel at home.

The church needs to witness what it’s like to leave the place of one’s birth behind, lest we forget that our homeland lies ahead of us, not behind.

The church needs to see the struggle of being different, lest we forget how different we are called to be.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:11–12)
“Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:19–20)
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:14–16)
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13–16)

The church needs to be around foreigners, lest we forget what it’s like.

A Theology of Foreignness

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1930_Jewish_immigrants_to_PalestineI’m working on a summary of the biblical teachings on “foreignness.” Here are some initial thoughts. I’d really like your feedback:

The theme of aliens and strangers courses throughout the biblical narrative. Many of God’s people lived as aliens. Some emigrated to other countries for economic reasons (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob); some were taken forcibly (Joseph, Daniel, Ezekiel, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah); some moved from a desire to form part of God’s people (Rahab, Ruth); others went seeking refuge from violence (Moses, David, Jesus’ family). The willingness to live as an alien is a praiseworthy trait in the Bible (Hebrews 11:13–16). In fact, all Christians are called to live in such a manner (1 Peter 2:11).

In the same way, the Bible praises those who welcome strangers. To this day, nomadic cultures value highly the norm of hospitality, the receiving of guests. People like Abraham, Rahab, Boaz (edited 9:47 a.m.) and Abigail show the value God places on treating strangers well. The Law forbids the mistreatment of aliens (Exodus 22:21; 23:9) and actually demands that God’s people love aliens (Leviticus 25:23; Deuteronomy 10:19). The alien was to be cared for and provided for (Deuteronomy14:29; 16:11, 14; 26:11).

Jesus mentioned the treatment of aliens as one of the points of judgment applied to the “sheep and the goats” (Matthew 25:35, 43). The concept of “hospitality” in the New Testament is related to the receiving of strangers, both linguistically (xenodocheo, philoxenia) and by example (Hebrews 13:2).