The World that is Coming to Us: A Christian Response

by Lance Finley, CGGC Executive Director

What comes to mind when you hear the word “immigration”? Images of Ellis Island? Gangs of intruders at the border? Foreign born individuals taking their oath to become citizens of the United States? Whatever image comes to mind probably helps shape your feelings and thoughts about the issue of immigration. How do you respond to the calls to “build a wall” at the U.S. border? How should our government handle the crisis at the border? Should there be mass deportations or should amnesty be granted to those who live here without documentation? Does immigration strengthen or weaken our country? There are few issues that are as contentious as the matter of immigration in the United States.

According to Pew Research (based off the U.S. census data), there were nearly 46 million foreign born individuals living in the United States as of 2017. Most of these immigrants were residing in the U.S. by legal means: 77% or 35.2 million were either naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents or lawful temporary residents. Typically, the greater concern and debate focuses upon the 10.5 million people living in the U.S. without legal authorization or documentation.

Over one million immigrants enter the United States each year. According to Pew Research, in 2018 the leading countries of origin were as follows: China (149,000), India (129,000), Mexico (120,000) and the Philippines (46,000). The foreign-born population of the U.S. is projected to reach 78 million by the year 2065. This much is clear, the U.S. will continue to be a multicultural and multiethnic melting pot because the world is coming to us.

While there is much drama, vitriol and political heat around the issue of immigration, particularly the issue of undocumented individuals in our country, the greater question remains for those of us who follow Jesus: what is a Christian response to the issue of immigration in the United States? There are countless opinions and approaches and a host of ideologies and philosophies behind each of them, but those shouldn’t be our foundation as followers of Jesus.

What Does the Bible Say about Immigration?

The Bible does have some light to shed on the question of how we’re to treat immigrants. The story of Israel begins with Abram’s call to immigrate from his homeland in Genesis 12:1: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’” Abram was called to leave his home country in search of the promise to be made into a great nation. Later in the story of Israel, we find Joseph leaving his home, not by choice, but as one sold into slavery. Sadly, many immigrants can relate to Joseph’s experience of involuntary migration as the horror of human trafficking still plagues our world today.

Experience with immigration continues in the book of Exodus as Moses leads the people of Israel out of the country of Egypt as refugees in search of “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:8). Once again, today there are many refugees who leave places to escape persecution and other dire circumstances with an estimate of 65 million displaced people in the world, half of whom are children under the age of 18.

The immigration narrative continues in the story of God through the life of Ruth. She was from the land of Moab and married a foreigner in her homeland. When her husband died, she followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, to the foreign land of Judah. Similarly, today there are many who choose to migrate to foreign lands for the sake of family.

It’s not just an Old Testament phenomenon! We watch God utilize immigration in the New Testament as well to accomplish His purposes and will. Most notably, Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus are directed by God to seek refuge in Egypt due to Herod’s plans to kill Jesus (Matthew 2:13-15). As the early Church was expanding in Jerusalem, persecution would cause the believers to leave their homes (Acts 8) and the Lord used this scattering to spread the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus. We see similar movements in our time and even across some of our own CGGC mission fields.

More directly, Scripture is incredibly clear about the Lord’s heart for foreigners, strangers or those who might be considered different from us. God’s Word gives clear guidance about

our posture when it comes to interacting with immigrants! In Leviticus 19:33-34, we find the following instruction: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” The people of Israel had been mistreated as foreigners in Egypt. They knew all too well the pain of abuse, neglect, and oppression and they were to treat others differently than they had been treated. God also loves the foreigner. Deuteronomy 10:17-19 makes this very clear: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

It’s a theme you’ll find throughout the Bible: God cares for the foreigner and wants his people to treat foreigners with kindness and compassion. Deuteronomy 24:17-22 makes this clear once again.

“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”

According to Scripture, what is our posture to be towards those who were not born in the U.S.? Treat them like they were born here. Don’t mistreat them or take advantage of them or act unfairly towards them. Love them and be generous to them. Is this your natural posture towards foreign-born persons? This is what the Lord expects from us.

Every foreign-born person living in the United States, whether here by legal means or not, is a person who is made in the image of God. Our heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on their heads and loves them and calls us to love them as well. While this doesn’t resolve every issue with immigration law, illegal immigration or concerns about national security, it does lay a strong foundation for our posture as Jesus followers and gives a strong place to start: love, compassion and genuine concern.

Make the Effort to Get Educated

I remember vividly the experience of sitting in a Sunday school class while visiting a CGGC congregation several years ago and listening to the discussion that concluded with “these foreigners are just coming here to steal our jobs.” I’ve been in other settings where comments were made such as, “I’m fine with having immigrants come into our country as long as they come here legally like mine did.” Do you know what it took for your family of origin to immigrate to the U.S.? For some of us who have long histories in the U.S., it’s not a fair comparison. If your family of origin came here in the early years of our country, particularly before the early 1800s, there wasn’t much in the way of immigration law. Your family just came here without a lot of red tape or legal concerns. That is vastly different from the situation today. Today’s immigration policies were largely shaped by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations of the 1960s (with some revisions over the years) and are vastly different from the eras when many of our families chose to come to the U.S.

Do you know what the pathways are to legal immigration in the U.S.? Do you know what it takes for someone to enter our country legally and seek a path to citizenship? Do you know why so many persons are here illegally or what prevents them from seeking legal residency?

I would venture to say that many of us just don’t know what we don’t know. In preparing for this article, I took some time to become more educated on many of the key issues or problems when it comes to immigration in the U.S. I discovered that I have a lot to learn. The issues are complex and good answers and solutions aren’t easily identified. We are fortunate to live in a time where we have access to good resources that can help educate and inform us in helpful ways as we seek to approach this issue with love, compassion and genuine concern.

I’d direct you to two resources to get started. The first is the book, Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate by Matthew Sorens and Jenny Hwang. This book is a great starting place for those wanting to better understand the immigration debate from a Christian point of view. The second is the website https://evangelicalimmigrationtable. com. The Evangelical Immigration Table exists to encourage distinctly biblical thinking about issues of immigration, providing discipleship resources focused on immigration from a biblical and missional perspective as well as advocating for public policies consistent with biblical values. You will find a wealth of resources to help you.

What’s Going on in Your Own Backyard

There’s a lot of energy poured into the debate on what should or should not be happening on our southern border. While it’s an important issue, I’m not always certain that it’s the best focus of our energies. I think a better focus might be to look a little closer to home and ask, “What’s going on in my own backyard?”

Who are the immigrants who are near to me right now and how am I acting with love, compassion and genuine concern toward them? In most of our communities and the areas in which we live, we have the opportunity to live, work, and play with folks who weren’t born in the U.S. Who speaks Spanish, Burmese, Hindi, or Arabic in your community? Do you know their names? Have you introduced yourself? Have you demonstrated kindness or hospitality? Do you know what some of their needs or struggles might be as new residents of our society? Are you willing to take the time to find out, learn, and act to respond to what you discover?

Could your congregation share your facilities with an immigrant congregation? Is there a need for English classes for speakers of other languages in your area and is anyone helping to meet that need? The world is coming to us and will continue to come to us. How are we recognizing these opportunities to love our new neighbors and live as ambassadors of the kingdom of God? I’m reminded of Pastor Fred Adams who faithfully served the Fallbrook Church of God located in Fallbrook, CA. He pastored Fallbrook throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s and into the 90s. As pastor Adams noted the changing community with the influx of Latino immigrants, he didn’t ignore their presence, but rather embraced them. Over the years he worked to raise up Latino leaders and eventually turned over the leadership of the congregation to Pastor Tomas Rodas. Today, the Fallbrook Church of God is a thriving Latino congregation thanks to Pastor Fred Adams and his foresight to see the opportunity for ministry in his own backyard.

You may not be able to resolve the crisis at the border or propose a fair and just way to address the various concerns surrounding immigration today. You may not be able provide a just and equitable way to address how to handle the millions of folks who are here without proper documentation. Most of us feel helpless to address such enormous issues, but we have opportunities to become better informed about these important issues and put our faith into action by welcoming the stranger among us with love, compassion and genuine care.