When Talking about "Illegals" do we care about the bible?
Several in the Blog-world are writing some crazy stuff about "illegal aliens" specifically "Mathaetaes" on a blog " http://woodchipsandmusings.blogspot.com/ " and at http://woodchipsandmusings2.blogspot.com / - this is a response I posted to them - but wanted to put it here for others to ponder...
What concerns me with your position on "illegals" is that while you claim to be a believer in Scripture and the Lord (and I am not doubting you are) - your statements fail to take into account the wealth of scripture that speaks directly to this issue -
consider the following sample of biblical mandates from Leviticus 19(NIV) -
9 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.
33 " 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
I'm sure you could try to skirt these verses by saying they do not apply - since they entered the country illegally , but - Is a scriptural command to believers ever contingent on other persons past behavior?
Also, consider 1 Tim. 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
So which is more Godly; to break a man made law to keep a divine imperative - (to provide for your family) - or to obey a man made law of a country and NOT be able to provide for your family as God has ordained?
A large number of undocumented immigrants are your brothers and sisters in Christ, and far fewer are the ruthless criminals you characterize -
What concerns me with your position on "illegals" is that while you claim to be a believer in Scripture and the Lord (and I am not doubting you are) - your statements fail to take into account the wealth of scripture that speaks directly to this issue -
consider the following sample of biblical mandates from Leviticus 19(NIV) -
9 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.
33 " 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
I'm sure you could try to skirt these verses by saying they do not apply - since they entered the country illegally , but - Is a scriptural command to believers ever contingent on other persons past behavior?
Also, consider 1 Tim. 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
So which is more Godly; to break a man made law to keep a divine imperative - (to provide for your family) - or to obey a man made law of a country and NOT be able to provide for your family as God has ordained?
A large number of undocumented immigrants are your brothers and sisters in Christ, and far fewer are the ruthless criminals you characterize -
posted by Marque Jensen @ 10:51 PM
3 Comments:
At 10:01 PM,
pbrstrtgang said…
You know, I am reading those Leviticus verses and something disturbs me. If anyone were to argue that they do not apply to us, what are they saying? They are saying that they want to take all that they can, and that they are allowed to take all that they can, that there is no Biblical reason to leave anything for anyone. Or, verse 33, mistreating - what interest does anyone have in arguing that this verse does not apply? They want to mis-treat aliens? Or they just don't want to treat them as native born?
Some may say that it is convenient to pick and choose which rules you want to obey. A response to this is that it is also convenient to pick and choose which you DO NOT have to obey.
At 11:14 AM,
Philip Hodges said…
I think that while your use of scripture would certainly support the church being the body of Christ and lending a helping hand to those that are poor and needy it would not support the illegal
aspect. Consider Romans 13:1ff written by paul,
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment,1 and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13:2 So the person who resists such authority2 resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation, 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer. 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities3 but also because of your conscience.4 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities5 are God’s servants devoted to governing.6 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
the random numbers are the net bible references, I feal like this is so self explanatory I don't need to unpack it. I work with illegal aliens, I love them as brothers, I know that they are wrong. I have a good friend who attends my church who is illegal. He is currently going about the process to become legal. You may not like this, but we are called to be obedient to the government. Does this mean we have to start turning in our neighbors if they are illegal? Please. James 1:26-27
1:26 If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
We still have a responsibility and if our government ever started to kill immigrants or others then it would be our responisbility to help those who are being persecuted.
I hope you post more . . . this is an interesting debate.
At 3:53 PM,
Marque Jensen said…
PH -
thanks for the post - I know the tension you talk about - as I have said, I know we can not have “immigration without limitations” - but I feel the church has to focus on those among us - like you, I have many dear friends who are caught in this issue - working and living here and helping family members survive in Mexico or other areas
- it is interesting some are so opposed to any form of "amnesty" (even if you have to "buy it" and go through a process) – but yet they freely accept God's grace.... that "forgets" our iniquities...
I'll be doing some more posts later - Welcome!
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