Love Your Neighbor--Immigrants Too?

Scripture commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves, but does this include immigrants? Does it include illegal or unauthorized immigrants? Immigration can be considered on many levels, but here we examine the idea of "Love your neighbor" on both a personal or individual level and a political or national level. Certainly, no matter how immigrants arrived, they are here and they are human beings who we are to love by building bridges of friendship and ministry in Christ. But on a political or national level, the idea of loving our neighbor does not preclude nationhood, borders, vetting, stewardship of a nation's culture, well-being, and citizenry. For more Christian commentary, check Dr. Rex M Rogers website at https://rexmrogers.com, or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more video. #Immigrants #Immigration #LoveYourNeighbor

Transcript

We’re commanded in Scripture to love our neighbor as ourselves, but does this include migrants, even illegal immigrants, too?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #167 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Immigration is a major, divisive, and urgent topic in the United States, especially relative to the 2024 presidential election.

“The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States grew to 11.0 million in 2022, according to Pew Research Center estimates,” about 3.3% of the total U.S. population. “Meanwhile, the lawful immigrant population grew steadily from 24.1 million in 2000 to 36.9 million in 2022,” about 14.3% of the nation’s population.

Whatever one’s political views about US immigration policy, there are about 11M unauthorized and about 37M lawful immigrants in the US.

We can think about immigrants on many levels, but we’ll focus upon two here:  personal or individual, and political or national.

First the personal.

In Scripture, Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:25-28), a pretty tall order. A lawyer, seeking clarity, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus responded with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. 

In this parable a man is accosted and beaten by robbers and left half-dead alongside the road. A priest passes by but does not help, then a Levite does the same. Finally, a Samaritan—someone whose ethnic identity is not well-regarded by Judeans—sees the beaten man and has compassion on him, taking steps to restore his health. Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The lawyer said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-37).

Love our neighbor does not mean we must agree and certainly not endorse wrong or evil belief or practices. It does not mean we do not evaluate or make judgements about good, bad, or ugly culture. It means we love the person. It includes compassion, honesty, impartiality, and justice in our relationships 

Jesus taught that we are to love those not like us, those who may not be able to love in return, those who are unlovely – in other words, other human beings.

How do we love our neighbors, immigrant, authorized or unauthorized?

Remember, they likely have experienced estrangement, anxiety, fear, lack of resources, feeling unwelcome. They may feel isolated and alone, sort of lonely in a crowd, because they are detached from family and familiar culture, including language, food, ways of life. 

Build bridges, try to build common ground, show the love of Christ, help with language barriers like understanding idioms, be a friend, evangelize indirectly.

Talk about life challenges and God but not forcing a decision. Ask if they know much about churches or Christianity. Talk about what Jesus or your faith means to you, how it affects your daily life. 

Now, is it possible to be “pro-immigrant” – not so much as a political position but as a Christian or spiritual one, and if so, what does this mean?

Sure, pro-immigrant just means pro-people from another country, just like our ancestors. Legal immigration brings the U.S. new talent, able-bodied workers, new ideas, enriches us. 

Realize that whatever the problems of our immigration policies, there are all kinds of immigrants. Some may indeed be criminal and dangerous, or political agitators, but many are just families who truly hunger for asylum, freedom, opportunity, and a better life – just like the 2.5M who came through Ellis Island in the 20th Century.

Now let’s consider the political. 

America has been described as “a nation of immigrants,” yet today immigration is a major tension point in American politics.

But think about this: illegal immigration and open borders are the problem, not so much the idea of being an immigrant as such.

The biblical doctrine, “Love your neighbor” has been co-opted by progressive ideologues in their effort to reduce conservative resistance to progressive views.

These often-anti-Christian advocates work to redefine religious words, then employ them for social justice purposes. This is now happening with “Love your neighbor,” wherein we’re told that one must maintain open borders for to do otherwise is to not love our neighbor. 

Among those working hardest to promote open borders are certain elites, meaning typically wealthy, progressive, transnational and political people who think of themselves as “world citizens” or “globalists.” Perhaps they are best-known in their association with the annual Davos, Switzerland confab, the World Economic Forum, wherein they pontificate on climate change, population control, world health, immigration, and technocratic global governance. 

Globalists or progressives frequently cite something called “multiculturalism,” a view that all cultures are morally relative and thus not subject to evaluation. They promote open borders and wink at cultural and religious differences, arguing no moral distinctions can be made. This morally relativistic multicultural philosophy is one of the roots of the problems in the non-assimilation, social fracturing, crime and unrest, and street demonstrations we are now witnessing throughout Europe.

Germany embraced this philosophy and is now learning the hard way: open border mass immigration promoted as a culturally neutral economic boon yields social and cultural chaos.

Now the same multicultural philosophy, wedded to the leftist progressive Democrat desire for political power is at work in the U.S. The last few years’ influx across the open southern border of unvetted, unauthorized, mostly male migrants is now producing predictable, similar social fragmentation, unrest, and dangerous circumstances in American cities. 

Meanwhile, many Christian leaders argue it would be wrong for the U.S. to consider closing borders or curtailing immigration because to do so is to not love our neighbors or not welcome strangers. 

But author Eric Metaxas said, “It’s disturbing that some Christians seem quite happy to twist the scripture that says we are to ‘care for the strangers and aliens among us’ into a carte blanche invitation to enact dramatically destructive immigration policies, as though painting a smiley face over the monstrous reality of encouraging vicious drug cartels and child-sex traffickers. It’s hard to overstate the blasphemy of using God’s Word in this way.”

Author Megan Basham observed, “Of course, believers are to preach Christ crucified to all, no matter how they arrived here. Of course, we should provide for those in real need, no matter how the needy came to cross our path. But ‘welcome the stranger’ was Christ’s command to his followers to personally emulate the Good Samaritan. To insist that it was meant to be used as a blanket immigration policy is spiritual manipulation that cheapens its meaning." 

“The United States should and always has welcomed ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ to share in the blessings God has bestowed on us. But if we incentivize illegal immigration by rewarding those who ignore our laws and fail to ensure that those to whom we grant citizenship understand and respect our founding ideals that made the nation great, the United States will soon look little different from the countries these immigrants are fleeing.”

So, on a personal, individual level, we must love our immigrant neighbors no matter how they got here. This means ignore politics and ideology, build bridges, pray for them, minister to them. 

On a political, national level, the U.S., to continue as we are now with open borders is to destroy America’s position as a beacon of hope to the world.

So, the U.S. must develop immigration policy that first, protects and preserves American ideals and identity, rule of law, and borders so that the nation may survive and meet the needs of its citizens, and second, the U.S. must develop immigration policy that provides a legal, orderly, just path for those who desire freedom and opportunity to become Americans.

Both these conditions empower us to love our neighbors.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2024   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://twitter.com/RexMRogers.