Reason #1: Because immigrants matter to God.
Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
– Proverbs 31:8-9
"We are called by God to aid the vulnerable. Therefore, we must see the alien and the stranger as individuals made in the image of God, the object of Christ’s love, and as people of intrinsic worth who are in need of our affirmation and support." - A Resolution of the General Conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America, adopted in 1996.
Christians should care about the immigrant community in our own backyard, because God cares about them. Jesus commands his followers to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind”; and “to love your neighbor as yourself.” God has placed us, as his ambassadors, in this particular community and he asks us to share his love with that community, regardless of race, background, legal status, or country of origin. Immigrants should matter to us as Christians because Immigrants matter to God.
Personally, in the past, I was indifferent to the plight of the immigrant in my city. I felt that if they got themselves into this mess, then they should get themselves out. I still believe that everyone is responsible for the choices they make, but I have grown to understand that because people and their situations matter to God, their situation should matter to me. I should be willing to lend a hand where a hand is needed.
As our government is deliberating over a new immigration bill at this very moment, I believe that we as Christians, who are also citizens of this country, should make it our loving act of hospitality do what we can to welcome immigrants. This could be done through advocacy: writing a letter or making a phone call to our representatives voicing our support of changes to the immigration system. It could be pointing the immigrants we know toward those who can help them comply with the complex and confusing law. Or, it could be as simple as listening to their story and sharing the love and forgiveness of Christ in a non-condemning way.
As followers of Jesus, we should be the most compassionate, forgiving, and accepting people because we are the recipients of the compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance of Jesus Christ.
