Tuesday, May 02, 2006
The 'Undocumented' Church
Today I heard a self-proclaimed "pastor" call into a talk-radio station to defend the rights of illegal immigrants. Did he cite the Mosaic Law's command to care for the "alien and stranger in your midst"? Nope. Did he observe Paul's instructions to practice hospitality (a word in Greek which can be literally translated "love of foreigners")? Not a chance. Did he observe Jesus' command to welcome strangers as though they were Him? Hardly. Instead, the caller based his argument on the fact that (1) illegal immigrants are poor, (2) Jesus likes poor people and wants us to like poor people too and (3) the command to like poor people transcends all human laws--immigration laws notwithstanding. (Before being verbally eviscerated by the talk-show host, the hapless preacher even suggested that Jesus was an illegal alien because He went to Egypt to escape Herod.) If only it were so simple, as Hispanic church leader Sammy Rodriguez observes in his column in the May/June issue of Ministry Today. While biblical writers such as Paul defend the state's right to wield the sword and execute justice, prophets such as Malachi rail against systemic injustice that takes advantage of the poor and defenseless. The 21st-century church is faced with the reality of millions of fathers and mothers willing to take great risks--and even break laws--for the chance to provide for their families. As Rodriguez points out, a good number of these are otherwise law-abiding evangelical Christians. The church's challenge? Taking a stand for law and order (Rom. 13:4) and simultaneously welcoming the stranger and alien in our midst (Deut. 24:17).
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To see America polarized again is shameful and despicable. We assumed the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's did away with the major impetus of racial polarization. This immigration debate is about seperating Americans. I agree with Sam Rodriguez that the church needs to be the bridge of reconciliation not the catalyst of segregation. Why hasn't the National Association of Evangelicals come out in favor of a comprehensive solution and why have the other leading Evangelical voices stood silently by? Once again, the church needs to intervene and speak up for a fair and biblical solution otherwise not only will America be divided but so will the American Church.
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