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| Love the Foreigner |
So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. Deut. 10:19 NLT
3,000,000 Syrian refugees. These are people who are broken. One of the eight
terrorists in Paris had a Syrian passport, which may or may not mean he came as
a refugee. This is a very small statistical percentage. Many people are
speaking about the threat that helping refugees poses. States in the USA
are declaring they will not permit them into their state. This will most likely
not make the USA any safer. I can't recall any of our many mass murder
attackers being a refugee; nor terrorist attacks in our country coming at the
hands of refugee.
If one refugee ever becomes entangled in some horrible crime in this country, it will still not implicate all refugees any more than a crazed gunman proves the need for gun control for all Americans, one rogue police officer casts guilt on all of our fine men and women in blue, or one criminal act by any individual causes me to judge a whole group of people. Corrupted individuals in this nation have consistently found their own means to perpetrate their evil deeds. Making a general decision to keep out all refugees will not protect America. Impure hearts will still find a way to commit injustice.
Our Actions Reveal Our Hearts
What
would setting up barriers accomplish? Keeping out refugees simply reveals a
fearful or calloused heart. This revelation matters because the conflict in
which we see ourselves is an ideological one, not a geographical nor
ethnic-based conflict. Fear plays into the hands of the terrorists. That
is precisely the emotion that they want to evoke. They want for us as a people
to surrender our lives to their wishes. The want us to submit to their
demands.
A calloused and hardened heart might be worse, though. Hard hearts are not natural. They are produced. A hardened heart moves from being a living thing to a calcified, impenetrable stone on account of hurt and lack of healing. Every person has had hurt. These hurts are real and can be debilitating for a time. Some of our hurts last a lifetime. I stand in the belief that hurt can be healed. Scars may remain, but hurt can become hope again.
We Are People of the Light
We are in
a crooked and twisted generation. Recent events in Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris
demonstrate this. So do the countless crimes we all see in our local news that
never make the national or international scene. But we are not a people of
fear. We are children of the light. We are called to bear the light even
in this crooked and twisted generation. Light expels the darkness, not
"darker" darkness. We don't bear light very well in hiding or
hunkered down behind walls. Perpetua & Felicita welcomed the animals along
with thousands of other early Christian martyrs. Countless believers throughout
2000 centuries stood for faith in the midst of very real and present danger,
not fear of mere potential threats, and in so doing gave their lives because
they counted the thing promised them more valuable that the things of this
world (Heb. 11:13).
Vigilant and Compassionate
I believe
that we can simultaneously be vigilant about security and compassionate for
those in grave need and imminent danger. We used to be a people that
operated as a beacon of light to those with no hope. Have we lost that edge?
Does fear control our hearts to such a degree that it calls the shots now? Not
in my heart. I intend to face the future with hope of a risen savior, with the
hope of my own eventual bodily resurrection, with resiliency and fervor that
befits the tremendous legacy of which I am a recipient, and with a heart full
of love for all mankind. This includes people very much unlike myself. Even
people that I don't think deserve it. After all, I was offered love and
forgiveness when I didn't deserve it (Rom. 5:8, 10).
When I stand before Jesus, I am convinced that he will be little concerned with how I felt comfortable or secure in this short life. Rather, I am convinced that He will inspect my holiness and how I lived out His commands to love the Father, love people (especially the widow, orphan, foreigner, and poor), tell the Story, and surrender to the Holy Spirit's purpose for my life.
