Baptists learn the biblical stories of the good Samaritan and “love your neighbor as yourself” early in life. These stories serve as directives for those striving to live a Christian life. But should these same biblical principles be applied to immigration reform in the United States? Two well-known Baptist ethicists say yes.
“We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, (and) illegal immigrants are our neighbors,” said David Gushee, University Fellow and Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University, a Baptist university in Jackson, Tenn.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said that along with the Matthew 22:39 “love your neighbor” mandate, we are also “to do unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matt. 7:12).”
“We … have a divine mandate to act redemptively and compassionately toward those who are in need,” he said.
As the U.S. Congress deals with the comprehensive immigration reform legislation currently in the U.S. Senate (S.1348), Christians across the nation need to be promoting the biblical principles that should be included, Gushee said. “We need to see this as an opportunity to think Christianally rather than defensively or even nationally.”
But even while finding a loving way to deal with the immigration crisis in the United States, Americans must also be concerned about security and legal issues.
“As citizens of the United States, we have an obligation to support the government and the government’s laws for conscience’s sake (Rom. 13:7),” Land said.
“We also have a right to expect the government to fulfill its divinely ordained mandate to punish those who break the laws and reward those who do not (Rom. 13:1–7).
“We have responsibilities in two realms: as citizens of the nation and as citizens of the heavenly Kingdom (Phil. 3:20, Titus 2:14, 1 Pet. 2:9),” he said.
“While we care deeply about our national self-interest, it is not the only thing we care about,” Gushee said. That’s one reason why the church should speak “to the (government) trying, as far as possible, to promote Christian principles in policies and laws.”
As Christians, specifically Gentile Christians, “we were strangers … and God welcomed us and included us in the family,” he said, noting Ephesians 2:19.
“We should remember that when thinking about ‘those aliens that don’t belong here.’ We were those strangers and aliens who did not belong in the covenant family.”
As one works to welcome strangers, he or she is demonstrating another biblical principle — hospitality, Gushee added, pointing to Matthew 25:35, which says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Land said, “Christians have a divine mandate to care for those in need and to give a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name (Matt. 10:42). The story of the good Samaritan also [demonstrates] our spiritual obligation to reach out to those in need of assistance (Luke 10:30–37).”
Another biblical principle revolves around the family itself, Gushee said. “Christians need to care about families,” he said. “Any legislation or enforcement action that tears up family, particularly the nuclear family, really must be rejected.”
The Bible also says that “we are to advance justice,” Gushee added.
Jeremiah 22:3 addresses the “resident alien.” The Bible “exhorts God’s people to do no wrong to them and do no violence to them,” he said. “This is important.”
Both Gushee and Land encourage Americans to read and understand the legislation and to get involved.
Gushee supports the current legislation. He pointed out that the bill does have “a toughness about it” with border security, guest worker regulations and other limitations.
Land said the legislation “is a quantum leap forward over last year’s legislation, but it has not gone far enough to garner the support of larger numbers of evangelicals.”
Noting the legislation comes closer to matching the concern expressed by the 2006 resolution passed by Southern Baptist Convention messengers at the Greensboro, N.C., annual meeting, Land said, “It is a major step in the right direction.”
“We felt the legislation last year was an assignment for us to try to move it in the direction of our resolution,” he said. “We have been partially successful.”
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