I've seen the
pictures on Facebook of masses of huddled tents of those trying to
get out of wherever they are. I've read a few snippets of some of
their stories. I'm pretty sure that what we have here is not a
“refugee crisis.”
What we have are
people. People who kiss their spouse in the morning, tickle their
kids, and work hard (or long to work hard) to provide for those in
their care. People who want to live safely, and not worry about being
shot for placing their faith in the wrong god or practicing their
faith in the wrong way. What we have are people, like us.
God didn't create
an “us” and a “them.” God created human beings who all bear
his image equally. Even when he had chosen one particular people to
whom he revealed himself, he told them over and over again to show
kindness to the foreigner (Exod 20:10; 22:21; 23:9; Lev 19:10, 33-34;
23:22; Deut 10:18-19; 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:11-13). Quite
arguably, he even says not to send refugees back to the place which
they have fled. Deuteronomy 23:15-16 says, “You shall not give up
to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He
shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall
choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not
wrong him.” This takes it a step further. All foreigners were to be
treated well, but a slave seeking refuge was practically granted
automatic citizenship. While most of those trying to flee Syria are
not slaves as such, what sort of freedom could they possibly expect
under the rule of the Islamic State? The principle remains the same.
Just as revealing is God's statement that even “our land” is not
“our land,” because as far as he is concerned we are all
foreigners living on *his* land (Lev 25:23).
This argument,
thus far, has been made simply from the Old Testament. How much more
ought we, as Christians, fellow-heirs with Jesus of an eternal
kingdom, to care about people whom God has made? Many of these people
are in fact our brothers and sisters in Christ, escaping terrible
persecution and possibly death because they cannot betray their Lord,
and we have a special responsibility to them. But they are all our
brothers and sisters in Adam, and we have a responsibility to them
all (Gal 6:10).
I almost never
read social justice. I often find that the love of the issue with
which the writers are concerned overwhelms their theology. If this
has happened to me, please tell me. I do not want my passion for an
issue to be greater than my passion for my Lord and the careful
teaching of his word. I have never written social justice before,
because I believe that the primary task of those who would teach
God's people is to teach his word. I believe that a right teaching of
God's word will lead people into right action.
But it seems to me
like not only am I not seeing right action, but I am seeing and
hearing some bad theology. I see people asking “why are we worried
about them when there are needy people here?” or saying “we don't
want to let people in who will drain the system.” Let's look at
those: first, there will always be needy people everywhere. We live
in a broken world that cannot be fixed by human systems. Has God
given you a heart for the needy people around you? Wonderful! But
don't let that detract from the message of those who have been given
a heart for the needy who are far off. Also, the needy people here
have access to the social catch nets provided by our governments. The
people who are far off have nothing, to a degree that most of us have
never experienced and cannot understand. Secondly, yes, helping
others will be a burden on the system, at least in the short term.
Yet I expect that many of these people have skills that are
desperately needed in the West. Almost all of them are probably
industrious and hard-working. There are few people who truly want to
be leeches. Further, do we do things only because they are good for
the balance sheet? Is there no place for doing good to others simply
because they are in need? What kind of statement is that from people
who follow the God who sacrificed himself for the sake of wicked
rebels?
Finally, it may be
that your government seems disinterested in the plight of those who
are trying to escape their suffering. As Christians, we are called to
abide by the law in all but the most extreme situations. Do not look
to violate the law in your desire to help others. Our government has
the right to make whatever decision they deem best about this
situation, however moronic or ungodly that decision may be. But as
Christians, do not allow your government's moronic decisions or
rhetoric about some “refugee crisis” to let you off the hook of
the real issue. We are to care for other human beings, creations of
God whom he loves and calls us to love, and a class of people – the
needy – that he has always sought to protect.
