The Church and Immigration
Is this a simple two-sided issue?
I came across this article this morning with the headline Massachusetts church puts up Nativity scene with “ICE was here” sign over empty manger.
I’m not going to dive into my thoughts on this ridiculous politicization of the incarnation of Christ (I think Not the Bee does that well enough), but I do want to comment on the immigration issue today. It seems like every couple of days there is another headline about something immigration related. As a pastor, I can tell you, the church is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Read what I’m about to write as I write it; don’t read your own opinions into it or make it more than what it says.
People who immigrate to the US illegally have broken the law. Per Merriam-Webster, they are criminals by definition. The government has an biblical obligation to punish wrongdoing (see Romans 13). Whether the Trump administration is doing it well can be debated, but that they should be solving the immigration crisis that was blown wide open by the last administration should not be a debate.
But let’s look to the church. What does the Bible say?
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34).
“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9).
“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever” (Jeremiah 7:5-7).
These are just three examples of what the Bible commands regarding foreigners. There are plenty of others. These passages have a clear message: treat the immigrant well. They’re image bearers of God just like everyone else. These verses do not say that the church should oppose ICE. These verses do not say that the church should hide those who are illegal from law enforcement. These verses do not say that the church should lobby against immigration law.
Satan is crafty. Issues like immigration are not black and white. He makes the church think they are simple two sided issues where you can be either right or wrong. How we treat the immigrant is a completely different issue than what the legal enforcement of immigration law ought to be. The church is told to love the foreigner. The government is told to punish evil. The church is supposed to be subject to the government (unless it is trying to force the church to disobey God). It’s complex when these issues are at the forefront.
Can the church love the illegal immigrant while acknowledging that what that person is doing is illegal and is subject to punishment? Yes. I heard from a pastor friend a story of how an illegal immigrant started coming to his church and was soon a disciple of Jesus. The Holy Spirit convicted him, and he voluntarily returned to his country and started the process of coming here legally. If I remember the story right, he lives in America as a citizen today.
I think that sums up where I think the church ought to be on many issues today - love people while calling sin sin. That church’s desire was to see a lost man come to God. They also were not willing to call his sin righteous or justified. They didn’t hide him from law enforcement. But they didn’t throw him out because of his legal status. Jesus matters more.
Treat the immigrant well, as the Bible commands. Also, subject yourself to the laws and leaders that the Bible says God has put in authority over us. People, laws, politics, and philosophy are different things. We can have a loving predisposition towards a person while holding what some might call an opposing philosophical view that puts us on the other side of the political aisle.
Don’t equate faith and politics. Not everything is black and white. Start seeing reality in color.