Reason #2: Integrity

Why should we as Christians be concerned with the immigration debate and be supportive of proper change in the immigration system?
Reason #2: Integrity - Our nation is sending a mixed message.

All nations and kingdoms reserve the right to determine who and how an individual can come across their borders. It is a responsibility and necessity of the government of that nation to protect the people of that nation, and protecting the borders has always been fundamental. In ancient days, some cities would build enormous walls and station guards at iron gates to allow the citizens free passage and to keep out undesirables. Other cities would not have walls, and had a more 'open border' policy. There are pros and cons to each scenario. One is exclusive while the other is inclusive.

In my understanding, the reputation of the United States, as a nation, has always been welcoming and inclusive; promoting 'Freedom and Justice for all'. I always considered our nation to have fairly 'open borders', a relatively simple process of joining our ranks - pretty much, just show up. Right? Well, not necessarily anymore. In the past, this may have been true... but that was long ago. In theory we remain open-armed; yet, as one starts to study and learn the immigration laws and policies of our nation, one quickly realizes that, in practice, we are exclusive.

"How can you say that when we have representatives from every nation on the earth living within our borders?" And isn't Emma Lazarus' poem, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." engraved on our Statue of Liberty. Yes, this is true.  But, we no longer have an "Ellis Island" approach to immigration, where anyone and everyone (poor, tired, and huddled) can simply arrive on a boat and pass through the border. Now there are long lines - people waiting years and decades - to process into the US... but those people are the fortunate ones who have family members on the 'inside' and who pass admissibility criterion. Unless you have a relation to someone in the US or you have an incredible skill or lots of money, you have an extremely low probability of ever being able to immigrate into our country. 

In reality, we have very little room for the poor and huddled masses. Although I am grateful that our nation welcomes the highest number of refugees of any other nation in the world, I personally think we could do better.  As a matter of integrity, our reality should reflect our reputation.

Reason #1

Why should Christians be concerned with the immigration debate?
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.

Last supper

I was going to begin writing a series of posts regarding why we need Comprehensive Immigration Reform, but being as it is the beginning of the Resurrection weekend, and because this fits in with what I will say in the future, I thought I would jot down a few thoughts that God has impressed upon me today and get to the other topic later on. At the end of the gospels, we see Jesus eating his last supper with his disciples. During this supper, he institutes the bread and wine. A perfect picture foretelling his own sacrifice on behalf of all unworthy sinners. His death was the ultimate act of selflessness... dying on behalf of someone else. Some of us would possibly die for the sake of a close family member, or a spouse, but how many of us would die for our enemies? And just before Jesus breaks the bread and pours out the wine, he demonstrates another very tangible way of being selfless... of being a servant - by washing the disciples feet. Jesus did for others what they should have been doing for him. Two pictures of humility, service, love, and grace. And yet, I often skim right over these two pictures and end up right where the disciples were a few minutes later - thinking and arguing about "who would be the greatest". They totally missed the point, and I often miss the point too. In fact, often my heart is so deceitful, I can serve someone and, upon reflection, find that my motive was to make me "the greatest"... just like the disciples were arguing about. Jesus didn't concern himself with being the greatest. He simply knew that he was the Son of the Greatest in the Kingdom, and that was enough. That should be enough for me. Then Jesus says, "A new command I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." What does this love look like? Just like Jesus' love - a love so great, that he died for his enemies. A love so great that he suffered in the place of those who rejected (and continue to reject) him. A love so great that he served the very ones that he created to serve himself. When I think about this - I have to admit that I have so far to go. My love is childish, selfish, and pitiful. This world is dying to experience a love like this, and they are looking for it in all the wrong places. Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are MY disciples, IF you have love for one another." The only way that the world is going to see Jesus, is if we demonstrate his love... by dying for our enemies, by suffering for those who rejected us, and by serving the ones who should be serving us.

Flee To God

What is the Christian response??  I read a doomsday article the other day, written by a Christian.  The longer I read, the more my heart raced, and the more I became fearful. In the end of reading the article, I began to panic and think, “I need to take care of myself and my family. I need to move out of the city and into the country. I need to purchase tons of guns and ammunition. I need to buy gold and silver. I need to be self-sustaining. I, I, I.”  After awhile, I settled down and pondered the Scriptures.  This is what struck me:  first of all, I should not live in fear, and I should not make decisions out of fear - that is not a Christian's response.  Secondly, aside from the fear, there was really nothing sinful with those thoughts… they were wise/prepratory thoughts.  But I would argue that this train of thought originates in this worldly kingdom and not of the Kingdom of God.  These thoughts, taken to the extreme, take God and his great commission out of the picture. God did not say, “If you have a prospering economy, freedom of speech, and the right to bear arms, then go and make disciples of all nations.” No, he says, “Go (in whatever context you find yourself in – freedom, communism, socialism, dictatorship, Muslim, prison) and make disciples of all nations.” For me, as I read the Bible, God always sends his people to where the lost people are in order to see a harvest. God never tells us as Christians to flee, hide, or disassociate from the masses. In fact, his own incarnation is an example of what we as true Christians are to do: we are to boldly go where the lost are, we are to dwell among them, and we are to demonstrate through words and actions what is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Another example is Jeremiah; he was sent by the Lord to Jerusalem… a city which was about to go into siege, battle, famine, and complete economic and physical destruction.. talk about doomsday.  I am sure wisdom would have told him to flee.  But as he obeys God, the Lord says to him, “Behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” Wow, what words of commission; powerful words, empowering words, bold words, specific words just for him! And yet… isn’t this what the Lord Jesus said to us before he ascended into heaven? After he has told his disciples just what kind of world he was sending them into and that people would hate, mock, reject, and kill them for his sake, he says to them, “Go…” Go into the unsafe contexts, go to where the people are; go to the sinners, the lost, the forgotten, the marginalized, the victimized, and the victimizers, go to where your enemies are, go to where the poverty is, go where there is trouble, go to the sick, the diseased, the dying, go to the sinners and drunkards, go to the refugees, the orphans, the hungry. “Go and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” As citizens of his Kingdom, God has placed a call upon all of us in all times… and it should compel us to do the opposite of what the world would do… to go to and dwell in the city, to immerse into the culture, to cultivate the tough issues; to be all things to all people so as to win some. We are as medics; we are to boldly run into danger to care for those that need salvation while at the same time everyone else is fleeing the battle.  If we flee and protect ourselves, then what chance do the lost have? We are to give and receive nothing in return. We are to love when hated. We are to bless when cursed.
The kingdoms of this world are founded on security, physical prosperity, and pleasure, and the wisdom of this world is based on fear of the future. Jesus’ Kingdom is founded on the intangibles of trust, love, mercy, and joy, and its wisdom is based on hope in a secure future.  Joy is far different from pleasure. Love and mercy are not prosperity. And trust is not our insurance-based security. Let us flee to God! He is our King, our Savior, our Provider, our Protector, our Ruler, our Healer, and our Confidence! And in fleeing to him, we may find ourselves in the most hostile environment on the planet.