Immigration Legislation #5: The Tone of the Immigration Conversation and the Person of God
Aug 19, 2010 by M. Daniel Carroll R. | 1 Comments
This blog has been silent for a couple of months. I have been out of the country (Guatemala) and doing some other travel to speak on immigration. It is now time to get back to the discussion here in this blog!
Over the last few months one of the most disconcerting things that I have encountered in the media and in some conversations is the surprisingly negative tone of some of those who are speaking up against immigrants. Some of these people, sadly, claim to be Christians. Things are framed around the notions of the supposed dangerous threat of an invasion of “illegal aliens,” who are bringing drugs, violence, and all sorts of destructive cultural values and habits!
In one of our last blogs we mentioned that in the Old Testament Law there are two motivations that are given so that the people of God treat the sojourner with mercy and generosity. We dealt with the first of the two: the importance of historical memory. We must never forget our immigrant past with all its hardships (social, economic, political, and linguistic). Once people forget those experiences, they will have little sympathy for the newcomers in their midst.
The second and most important motivation for treating the sojourner well is grounded in the person of God. The key passage is Deuteronomy 10:12-21. I have included it below in its entirety. What becomes readily apparent is that God says that in the past he had loved his people in concrete ways in choosing them and bringing them to a new life. Therefore, they are not to have a hard heart or be stubborn (v. 16) – which is exactly what we are seeing! Many have forgotten God’s good gifts, those things that should stimulate us to treat others differently.
God says that his love is not limited to his people. He also embraces the sojourner and also demonstrates this love in concrete fashion, by providing food and clothing (v. 18). Therefore, his people are to love them, and obviously that should be done in tangible ways as well (v. 19). God has provided the example to his people: you have been loved, now go love the sojourner! This command is followed by commands to fear God and to worship him. How important to connect the treatment of the foreigner with the love, fear, and worship of God! If we did that, how different would the conversation be!
Deuteronomy 10:12-21
Deut. 10:12 So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deut. 10:13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being.
Deut. 10:14 Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the LORD your God, the earth with all that is in it,
Deut. 10:15 yet the LORD set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today.
Deut. 10:16 Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.
Deut. 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe,
Deut. 10:18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.
Deut. 10:19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deut. 10:20 You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear.
Deut. 10:21 He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.
Deut. 10:22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.
Comments
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Steve Knudtsen Sep 11, 2010 8:57am
Dr. Caroll, I attended your lecture at Wheaton Sept. 9 and found it stimulating. Being one of the older members of the audience I found myself an 'immigrant of sorts' within the group. May I offer a couple of comments to this discussion of what a Christian does with an illegal immigrant population in his midst.
1. Like the fellow from Africa who spoke so humbly and eloquently, my wife stood in the lines, worked through all the paperwork, paid the fees and sought the legal approval to become a citizen. I didn't sense you really answered the African brother's question from a biblical perspective - as to the justice and fairness of those who do stand in line for years, patiently doing what is required by law - trusting God to work on their behalf in comparison to those who bribe, sneak and lie to gain entry. What are they teaching and modeling in doing these things. Yes, they are desperate but then so are another 3 billion people. What do we tell them? Does the verse "the poor you will always have with you" fit into this context?
3. My wife and I have served for 25 yrs. in SE Asia ministering to rural poor. We are not aloof to the deep needs. There are probably at least 1 million undocumented Filipinos in the US who came on visas and just didn't go back. There are pastors and other Christians among them. I struggle to see how this can be justified.
3. As I thought through your examples from Scripture the story of Abraham seemed the only one that directly related to the plight of the emigrant Latinos. It seemed a stretch to consider someone like Joseph as comparable to a person who had sneaked into a country to take advantage of its liberty, economy and stability. Wasn't Joseph legally acquired by Potiphar? How does this help us understand the morality of illegal immigration and what a Christian should do?
4. I believe the answer to this dilemma lies in the US Government admitting that they have not enforced the law (and I think it is not an unjust one) that people must be screened and registered before becoming residents of this country. I think they should allow those who have been here for, perhaps, more than two years to register and become citizens with an apology for a) not enforcing the law and 2) making the immigrants live like criminals always looking over their shoulder. I do believe you made a valid point that our economy has attracted them here - we have desired them but not been willing to acknowledge them as hard working valuable laborers. But something needs to be put in place that will say - from now on we really do have a limit on folks we can allow in. Other countries have quotas that they are obeying and we will not favor those from Latin America just because of geography. You could say - technically - the world is our neighbor. We can't help everyone - can we? When I had people coming to my door in the Philippines I couldn't help everyone - I agonized over it but it was not physically possible. Does this make sense?
5. Finally, I appreciate your passion for the downtrodden. I think it makes you a bit less objective than you might want to be as one who normally wrestles with texts for complete accuracy and contextual applicability. But then there won't be movement on this issue unless there is a champion and that you are.
Blessings, Steve Knudtsen
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