There are many issues which divide churches these days. It’s an election year, so there are more on the horizon. But some of those issues force me to examine my own willingness to live the grace of God and share Jesus as Savior and King. The debacle at the southern border is a prime example.
Every day people are coming into our country – from all over the world. There is a great migration happening, and that raises legitimate questions and fears. But there is a spiritual side to this crisis. Yes, it is a human tragedy. But is there is a role for the followers of Jesus? Here is an opportunity to be honest about our fears and confront any personal walls we have built to guarantee our comfort above all else.
I have to ask myself: what if God is behind this huge migration of people in the modern world? The shifts in population are greater now (sociologists say) than ever before. But what if God has a plan? What if the mission field is coming to us? Can we see beyond the headlines to discover the role of the church in our local context? Because if I am honest, we face redemption issues. God is opening doors for us to impact the whole world without leaving our home. We have the story of Jesus to share with those in desperate situations. We all create desperate situations in our lives. So what are we going to do? When the history of our era is written, will we be known as a church more interested in our personal comfort than in meeting the needs of those whom God has brought into our lives as neighbors?
If someone has broken the law, does that mean we have no obligation to follow God’s command to show hospitality to the stranger and alien? They have to be guilt-free to love them? If that were true, why be involved in prison ministry? We have to care because all have been made in the image of God.
So perhaps we need to set aside our political biases and look at the human struggle this new wave of immigrants faces. Could we love them into the Kingdom? Should we? Perhaps God is orchestrating this migration so that we might learn what it means to give a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus?
I have no answers. I just raise questions. We are a church of immigrants, by the way. We have stories to tell of God’s grace to us in a strange place. We start with prayer and seeking wisdom from God. What an opportunity is at our doorstop. We have the hope. The only hope.