- I believe in secure borders and that every nation has the right and responsibility to secure its own borders. I have traveled all over the world and if I don’t have the proper passport/visa, then I fully expect to be detained and jailed if I am trying to enter a country illegally. I am not debating that.
- The current immigration situation and political debate is important, but it is not the main thing right now when it comes to these children. Why have they come? What is President Obama’s responsibility? What happens if they stay? All of these questions are secondary. In some of my training on development work, I have learned that you have to differentiate between disaster response and development work. Disaster response is what you do when the hurricane or earthquake has hit. You help everyone you can and provide aid, food, shelter, and comfort. You don’t ask questions. You just help. Development work is what you do when there is an ongoing problem. You look for long-term solutions and you are careful not to create dependency. There is a completely different metric at work. The situation with the children at the border is “disaster” not “development.” The long term immigration problem is “development.” So, different problems lead to different solutions.
- We have to differentiate between the political debate in Washington over immigration and the actual children in need right now. News erupted today in Alabama that immigrant children were headed to Maxwell AFB in my city of Montgomery. The report proved to be premature, but response from many in Alabama was that we do not want them here. Our own Congresswoman Martha Roby released a statement saying that the children were not wanted under any circumstances at Maxwell. The question that I have for Congresswoman Roby is, “does caring for children in need temporarily pose a national security threat to America? Does it make our nation weaker or stronger?” She is representing the view of many of her constituents in Alabama who have made their voice heard today saying, “Send the children away! They are not our problem!”
- I am not suggesting that the children should stay in America or that they should never be sent home. Rep. Roby says that we should “send them home with care.” What does that mean? If Lackland AFB in Texas, where many of the children are, is overwhelmed (as are other facilities), then is it not caring for the children to put them in good environments for a time until we can figure out what to do with them? I do not think that they should just be unleashed upon America with no families or support structure, but should they not be compassionately cared for now, until we can find permanent solutions?
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
The least of these are at our borders and Jesus says to us that what we do for them is what we do for Him. American Evangelicals have had a difficult year or two where the country has declared to us that we are not wanted and our religion is irrelevant. What if Jesus is giving us a chance to show that worshiping Christ changes us and causes us to not just think about our own “way of life,” but to also look after the interests of others? What if we are being given a chance to do “for one of the least of these” to demonstrate our love for Christ in a tangible way? Will we recognize the day of our visitation?
What if we are in an Isaiah 1:16-17 moment where God says to the people:
Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.17Learn to do right; seek justice.Defend the oppressed.Take up the cause of the fatherless;plead the case of the widow.
6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
What would Jesus say about our attitude toward children in need? That is what matters.
There is a common term in the field of emergency medicine: “violence of action.” It’s not as harmful or uncaring as it may sound at first. It simply means that you do whatever is necessary, as uncomfortable as it may immediately seem, to address the most urgent issue at hand. If for example a man’s leg has been amputated, you don’t start by shoving antibiotics down his throat and assuring him that, with rehabilitation, he will come to cope with the loss of his limb. No! You start by putting a tourniquet on the limb to stop the bleeding so… Read more »
Q. How can churches best ‘minister’ to illegal immigrants at the border? A. (1) We can work with authorities to rescue children from horrific sex trafficking situations. (2) We can work to get the border shored up and get the word out that anyone who crosses our border illegally will be immediately deported, ensuring that many who would come here will not take the risk. (3) We can feed them and give them a glass of water. (4) We can help to address any medical, emotional, and spiritual needs they may have. (5) We can share the gospel of grace,… Read more »
Repsonding to your post here William. 1) We can’t enforce our own laws, how are we to deal with the sex trafficking industry that has it’s roots in the nations where these children are coming from? 2) Agree we should do this, don’t think it happens. Politics prevail 3) They are not going anywhere, so how does this meet the long term needs they will have? 4) Again, these will be long term situations 5) Absolutely, the greatest mission field in our nation now resides at our southern border. While they are here, I believe long term, will we make… Read more »
William, you 8 steps are fine and are a good response. Why do you think that these are things that anyone here would be against? If we engage in this way, then we will be helping and supporting these children, which is all that I am calling for. But, since we have no power to return the children home or not, then if they are selected to stay here for a while, I think that we should minister in that context too and not turn our back on them – which is not something that you are saying. Thank you… Read more »
Alan, I wrote a similar blog the other day. Agree 100% we must secure the border. I also agree we must separate ourselves as the church in looking at this, in the spirit of Matthew 25 as you cited, rather than dealing with it through the eyes of a nation. I look across our land and see tens of millions of people who profess Christ giving billions upon billions of dollars in His name. I then look at the multitudes of cathedrals we worship in with millions budgeted for sound systems and other things that are to enhance “our” experience.… Read more »
If the powers that be would allow the US citizens to take the children into their homes, the 53 thousand children would be swallowed up in a matter of a few months. There are US citizens who would give anything for a child to raise. There is only a crisis in a couple of places, and that’s where the children are congregated.
We as a nation can spend trillions on an unfunded war, and can we not take care of 53,000 children. Shucks, I would love to have one or two children myself.
Taking these children into our homes would only send the message that it is beneficial for them to make this incredibly dangerous trip. It would result in more children dying or being taken up into sex trafficking. We must send them back. Period.
Anything less would be inhumane.
William, you really believe we’re going to stop 3rd world countries from sending us their children when we can’t even secure our own borders? They are coming, and will continue to come. The question is what do we do with those here, now. You really believe we’ll be deporting 60k children? 90k come September by all estimates. Yes, secure the border, that’s what stops this. But what do with these here, now. They are not adults, they are not slaves, and where they come from is no place for a child
I have already stated what to do with those here now. I gave 8 things we can do with them. And yes, we can secure our border. We just choose not to. I would fully disagree with you about them not being slaves. They most certainly are. Many of the children are sex slaves. Our law-enforcement agencies have been dealing with an increase of sex traffickers from Mexico and Central America here in Texas for months now. Those that are not sex slaves are virtually cheap-labor slaves in many of our Southern states. Southern Democrat and establishment Republican ranchers and… Read more »
William, I’m not saying we couldn’t secure our border. I’m saying we won’t. The Hispanic voting block is to large and influential. We’re going to continue to pass the buck. As for them being sex slaves. Where do you think this is happening? Where they are coming from. So we return them to that? To the drug cartels that are doing this? Where the murder rate is 20 times what it is here. As an American, I agree, secure the border at all costs, not that I believe that happens. So we are left with the question. They are here,… Read more »
So, we are to aid and abed lawlessness? I don’t think so. That is not the role of the church in society, even if the governing authorities are themselves lawless.
William, I agree with Jeff here,… the US Leadership will not enforce the law at the border, and seem to be willing to allow folks to enter at will. Some get caught, others don’t, and the President is clearly not in favor of stopping the illegals at the border.
So, it does appear to be an opportunity for the church,..to minister, and help with food, etc. Certainly the church should follow the law, but wow, what an opportunity to share the good news of Christ.
Who are more vulnerable to sex-trafficking: children at home under the care of their parents, or children on an international trek to a foreign land without the protective umbrella of their parents? The situation that allowed for the brothels that are daily cropping up in Texas is the increase of illegal migration of unaccompanied minors.
Chris,
I’ve stated as much. We should give them a cup of water and the gospel. The gospel that we preach, though, should be one of both faith AND repentance. How would you guys propose we deal with illegal immigrants who are unrepentant of their illegal migration who simultaneously desire to be baptized into the body of Christ?
William,…I see your point. We may not have a problem once the President assigns them as refugees. But, for now, sharing the gospel, food, water, and speak to them about the law is a good thing. It is unfortunate that we as citizens have to put up with an inept President and the cost of the whatever he decides we should pay. Very sad scenario indeed.
William,
With passion I disagree.
Jess, agree completely. A unified church saying we’ll take them. I see no way the government says no. And if they by chance did, we still did the right thing
I have yet to hear or see anyone suggest they do not want to deal with these children. When states and counties refuse to take them, neither is that saying it either. It is unfair and wrongheaded to assume the worst of states and counties who refuse to take these children on. The unexpected strain on the budgets of these areas is just unrreasonable. What must be also acknowledged is that while the maintream media is reporting this invasion as being mostly children, that is false reporting. The largest part of these people are in fact adults. What must also… Read more »
Mark, that is the contrast in views. You are looking at it as what will the government do. I am looking at it as to what the church should do. Honestly, do you truly have confidence the government is going to handle this situation? Our government has refused to secure the borders which led to this. They do, they tick off a large, influential block of voters. Politics has crippled the government. What of the church?
Jeff,
I have listed 8 steps. I would argue they are the biblical response the church should have. How would you respond to those 8 steps?
The government has already so badly bungled this that they have by passed the church. At this point unless the feds step back a bit and make room for the church to come and and help it is virtually impossible to do that. There is a political agenda at play here and the church would interfere with that.
True, Mark. When U.S. congressmen are turned away from holding facilities, why do we think we would be able to gain any easier access? I hadn’t thought of that.
William, because we have God, if we stand together. It won’t be the SBC, the AOG, the PCA, the UMC or any other denomination that addresses this. It will have to be all who claim Jesus as Savior and Lord. This is exactly why I believe this is a test for the “American” church
And I agree with than Mark, so it will take a unified church, standing together to force the governments hand. Even if we fail, we have done the right thing
The church is not going to force the governments hand. Like he did with the ranchers Obama will send military force after anyone who opposes him.
What we also need to consider is that this invasion is a result of the drug cartels in Mexico who are making huge bucks off of this. There are a number of Sheriffs in our country with a price on their head by the Mexican Drug Cartels because of their stand on this issue.
This whole thing is so complicated it just is not as simple as the church coming together.
Mark, couldn’t disagree more. A denomination, no. His church? If the gates of hell won’t prevail against it, neither will our government
Mark
You raise a very valid point. It is not a simplistic issue with a simplistic answer.
As far as a united church front, that argument starts with “if”. If the churches unite, that is a big “if”. When has this ever occurred. We lost abortion, we lost the gay issue, Why would we unite for this?
D.L., I agree, it’s a huge if. But isn’t it about time? Isn’t it time for His body to work as one? We’ve lost the cultural wars precisely for this reason. Is their any who would argue that this would be God’s desire? One body as He describes us. Hey, I know I’m a dreamer, but I also know “with God all things are possible.” We are sadly a people of little faith in too many areas, looking to the government to solve problems instead of God and each other. Their is a solution, we just have to humble ourselves… Read more »
Jeff
I certainly do not disagree. And yes, it is about time.