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Immigration Reform and the Christian

The half brother of Christ, James, in his discourse concerning saving faith being demonstrated by daily practice notes in the 27th verse of the first chapter while writing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (NIV).

The scriptures lay out a twofold requirement of the professing Christian. True and acceptable religion is both the practice of one’s salvation and to keep from becoming stained by the ways of this world. Both are equally important. The true convert of Christ both displays his saving faith by lovingly caring for those in need while not allowing his exposure to this world to taint him so that he falls short of God’s moral standard.

The OT gives us an example of a genuine incarnation of the James passage. Job, in defense of himself lays out for the reader the qualities that made his suffering situation seem like an absurdity. And in his defense, he lays out some points that inadvertently speak to the issue of illegal immigration and shed light on principles for the Christian to undertake toward those who are undocumented residents of the United States.

Listed in the midst of the many virtues that Job displayed we see in chapter 29 that Job was a merciful man. However, in his mercy he did not ignore justice and righteousness. In fact, verse 11 explains that he cloaked himself from head to toe with these traits. Righteousness was the garment close to his heart. Justice is described as his outer coat that all could see and as his turban that mediated his thinking. Though he was a man of justice, compassion surfaced in the midst of justice and righteousness. In fact, justice with righteousness impose a buoyancy to mercy that forces compassion, pity and love to rise up when it may otherwise remain submerged in the depths of our hearts.

Verses 12-13 & 15-16 show us the depth of Job’s compassionate heart in five ways. First, note that Job rescued those who could not help themselves because of poverty (v. 12). Second, he assisted those who needed aid because they had no father (v. 12). A father is to be a provider, one who gives guidance – a counselor. A family without a father stands to suffer much. Third, in his compassionate faith this patriarch provided for the widow who had no provider (v. 13) so that even from the deathbed, Job was welcomed because he gave aid to the widow. As required in our James text, Job exemplified compassion and mercy in taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves. True saving faith is marked by love to others & holiness to God, both of which Job demonstrated. It is worthy of notice that our holiness is pinpointed to a singular devotion – God himself. On the other hand, our love is broadly focused on any who stand in need. The expectancy of love is clear. The text goes on to further outline this man’s compassion. Fourth, he enabled those who were weak (v. 15) by being eyes for the blind feet for the lame. Fifth, Job was an advocate of the one who had no friend (v. 16) and even took up the case for the stranger that no one else knew or would defend. It should be stressed here that Job’s mercy was more than a response to God’s common grace among men. Rather, it was the direct result of his faith in, and thus his fear of, the Almighty God. Chapter 31:23 states, “For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things” (NIV) such as ignoring those in need.

I believe that the implications of the scriptures upon the Christian’s reasoning over the 10 million undocumented residents in our nation are obvious yet difficult to harmonize. We have a continuous flow of strangers without an advocate crossing into the USA. There are poor individuals and families in need of rescue entering our American borders daily. Yet they have broken the law of the land and are thus dubbed illegal aliens.

I don’t believe it correct to casually apply here the OT principles given to Israel concerning aiding the aliens in their time of need. Though there is obviously a necessity to correlate those laws with our present Christian thinking, these texts are not referring to those who were among the chosen people illegally. Rather, they were among the people of God as foreigners who were fully adoptive of the requirements invested in God’s OT elect nation. They were not a subculture or a population free to live out there old lives within new borders. Like Ruth the Moabite widow, they were responsible to obey God’s laws and requirements while not being given full privileges. In a land where a child was stoned to death for disrespect of his parents, I am certain illegal residency was not tolerated. Various verses in the OT show that the concept of borders is God ordained and that God requires that borders be respected (Num. 34:1-12). Likewise, God instructs his people to distinguish between foreigners who threaten the land and culture and those foreigners who show no threat to the nation (Deut. 2:1-9; Obadiah).

Nonetheless, mercy couched in justice and righteousness must be afforded to those undocumented workers now residing in the USA. I believe both polarized sides of the argument desire justice. Both sides cry "Let justice be meted out!" If the Christian assumes a social perspective, justice means mercifully taking care of the illegal alien. If the Christian assumes a forensic perspective, justice means deportation &/or incarceration, no citizenship, no free education, and no free medical services.

Again the scriptures are clear. Both justice and righteousness must be elevated, as must mercy and compassion. The Christian must develop a principle by which mercy & compassion is extended to these impoverished foreigners (that's why they risked all to come here) and still uphold and respect the law of the land. We cannot ignore social justice but neither can we ignore forensic justice. A people who disregard the law of the land (forensic justice) will soon find themselves in anarchy. By the same token, a people who disregard social justice will soon find themselves merciless. Christ said, “Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.” With an eye on what God approves and another eye on what God disapproves we must meld the two principles into a biblical unity. For both anarchy and mercilessness are abominations to God. Both sides can quote Deut. 27:19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" (NIV). To the socially conscious, the verse is plain. However, justice is a double-edged sword. Justice for the one who has broken the law stems beyond social implications and would require penalty instead.

What some may accuse of being a compromise, I insist is the unity of principles outlined in the scriptures. Compromise on moral issues is an absolute failure and I would not suggest it. What I believe we have in our present day, politics set aside, is an opportunity to biblically love those who are in need while not being soiled by the ways of the world. Thus we must not advocate illegal actions but be merciful to those who are in need. The Christian must rescue the perishing but not ignore the law of the land. Job (in v. 17) was devoted to justice. He broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victim from the wicked's teeth because the wicked are a devouring merciless brood and ready to take advantage of the weaker they see as prey. The God honoring church will stand on the side of justice… the justice incorporated in the law of the land but with a conscience mobilized by principle & mercy. The godly man is a voice for the voiceless. It would be to the nation’s great detriment to impose a penalty on those of faith who assist the illegal alien. Equally, it would be to the nation’s long-term detriment to philosophically reason that the laws of the land have no bearing on the issue. This sort of reasoning will thrust the nation deeper into post-modern relativism. And it will be of a more heinous sort, for this relativism will have originated in the house of God.

The church planting pundits are correct in that these masses of people provide opportunity within the States to evangelize the lost and expand the kingdom of God. My hope is that we will continue to have such foresight. Personally, I am encouraged to read the statistics of the numbers of undocumented residents who pay their taxes and contribute to the nation from which they profit. However, I am disconcerted by the masses who ignore the government, our flag, our laws and threaten a revolution of sorts which will retake a land they claim was once theirs. This is the same argument the Palestinians have terrorized Israel with for so many decades. As a first generation South American immigrant myself, I find it difficult to embrace blatant disrespect and violation of our nation’s laws. As a comparatively recent naturalized citizen I am taken back by the willingness of so many to approve of the open borders and so quickly offer amnesty. I realize that politically and logistically amnesty will have to be offered to the vast majority of undocumented residents. However, the disregard for the law of the land and disregard for the reasons these laws were imposed is striking. Present politics has offered what appears to be only one possible solution in the Temporary/Guest/Resident Work Programs proposal. However, it seems to be equally nightmarish to employ. Yet, like Job, my opinions need to be relegated to the crevices of my actions and I must have mercy on the poor while upholding the just laws of the land. I swore that I would just four years ago.

“Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?”
Job 30:25 (NIV)

Pastor Paulo Freire
Hope Evangelical Free Church 6/19/06