It's Not Really a Refugee Crisis

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.