Families, Immigration, and the Kingdom of God

We’ve all been moved by the zero tolerance policy toward immigration, which has resulted in a recent dramatic rise in children being detained separately from their parents. The issues surrounding immigration are complex, but the basic humanitarian need for children to be with parents who love them is not.

On top of this, our political rhetoric has become increasingly polarized in recent years. Battle lines are drawn on every issue to the point where Christians often find themselves pressured to align with political ideology over kingdom principles.

In the case of immigration, the Bible is both clear and consistent in insisting that we treat all foreigners in our midst the same as native born, and with the same love. Our inclination may be to safeguard our security, our jobs, our resources, or our way of life. But the Bible pushes us to share, to trust, to welcome, and to love.

This is reiterated numerous times throughout the Bible, but I’ll share just two powerful examples that capture the essence of God’s desire.

From the Old Testament, “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

And from the New Testament, “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me'” (Matthew 25:44-45).

In this case, it’s not a liberal or conservative issue; it’s a faith issue.

Blessings,
Pastor Paul Cook