ICE in Church (What in the World Wednesday)
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled that a coalition of Christian and Jewish organizations could proceed with a lawsuit that challenges a policy change that would allow for greater ICE enforcement at places of worship. You can read the article here: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/bid-to-block-ice-arrests-at-churches-revived-by-appeals-court?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Rather than taking sides, let’s take a step back and see how Scripture would inform our thinking on the issues of immigration and enforcement in places of worship.
The church should reflect God’s heart for the foreigner (Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 22:37-40, Matthew 25:31-46).
Compassion is not an option for the church. We are to feed, clothe, and love people regardless of immigration status. We are called to minister, not to investigate. When it comes to the government, a person may be legal or illegal, documented or undocumented, but when it comes to the gospel everyone carries the neighbor card.
I love my church in this regard in that we have helped a lot of “neighbors” over the years by supplying food, beds, rides, funds, a place to recover and a place to worship.
Government has a God-given responsibility to make laws and protect its citizens (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-20).
Compassion does not enable disorder. A nation that has no border is no nation. Open borders endanger everyone; immigrant and citizen alike.
When a nation does not secure its border, the conflict comes to my door, your door, and the church door. This lawsuit is not the problem. It’s a symptom of the problem. Because these issues have not been resolved in the hallways of Congress and enforced at the border, they are now issues we are dealing with in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and churches.
If we don’t want ICE in our service, then we need to enable ICE to secure the border and give people a clear, affordable, and reasonable pathway to citizenship.
The church should be a refuge from the world, but not a shelter from the law. I’m not trying to paint the plaintiffs in the case with a wide brush, but some of the accounts that I have read of confrontations between ICE and congregations come from places where churches seem to be more motivated by political activism than gospel outreach. And some of the churches that are being “cased” as the sources describe seem to be trying to prove a point rather than provide a place of worship. Worship does not displace decency, order, lawfulness, and accountability.
There is a place where the people of God are warranted to obey God rather than man. But I haven’t heard of ICE shutting down any services because someone is preaching the gospel.
My wife and I (and others in our church) have helped to pay legal fees, written letters, and have been willing to be character witnesses in court proceedings to help people navigate the system. We do not help people dodge the law.
The problem with our nation is apparent. First, citizenship has become a business, not a privilege. People who want to contribute to the country have a hard time becoming citizens because the laws are arbitrary and the pathways are filled with attorneys looking for payment.
Second, neither political party has fixed the problem despite ample opportunity. They’ve had 30+ years to do it, yet both Republicans and Democrats see immigrants as political pawns instead of people. They point the finger at the other party for the sake of being elected but once they sit in office they seem to go deaf, blind, and mute to the issues facing immigrants who want a better life. Instead of emotionally pitting people against one another for the sake of winning elections, why don’t elected officials do something for the good of “We the people?”
Those who live in America, citizen or not, should seek the welfare of the nation (Jeremiah 29:4-7)
Everyone loves to quote Jeremiah 29:11 as their life verse on senior night. I always chuckle when I hear it because very few people who quote it have checked the context.
The context isn’t that God has a prosperous amazing plan for your life. The context is God telling His people, Israel, (and I paraphrase) you rebelled so you’ve been hauled off into exile. Get used to it because you’re going to be in Babylon for a while.
Jeremiah 29:11 means that God has not forgotten His promises and the nation will one day return. But for now, park it and learn to like it!
But before Jeremiah 29:11 comes Jeremiah 29:5, which tells the exiles build a house, plant a garden, make a life, contribute and “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
That’s wise!
Somewhere along the way our immigration policy moved away from inviting the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to be free to come to America for a better life. Instead we enable them to be their country in our country.
It’s not working. If you live here – citizen or not – contribute. We can appreciate culture, but if people come here because it is a better opportunity then why don’t we continue together to make this nation an even better country?
Immigration is a gospel opportunity (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Acts 17:26-27)
I end with a story.
A man came to me several years ago because his immigration status was in danger of being revoked. He was one traffic stop from being deported, losing his family, and his business. He had built a life here and contributed to our community. But he had made some mistakes before redemption that cost him a chance at citizenship.
I love this man. I didn’t like what he was saying. I did not want to lose him as a friend, a brother, or as a member of our church. I was willing to do whatever it took to find mercy in the eyes of the judge and keep my friend here.
But he told me his story about how Jesus has changed his life and how he had grown in discipleship during his time in our church. And with tears in his eyes, he said, “If I get deported, I will just take that as God wanting me to preach the gospel there instead of here.”
His confidence was not in an immigration ruling. It was in the sovereignty of God and the mission of Jesus Christ. He understood clearly that he was called to be a witness wherever he lived.
God is sovereign over the nations. We can’t get so distracted by politics that we forget the gospel opportunity of immigration.
Our church has a campus in a forgotten pocket of our community that I call “a mission trip without an airplane.” The nations are there – and so are we.
For some reason we have come to a place of political polarity where we think one thing comes at the exclusion of another.
I can have compassion and not be careless with the law.
I care about my country and also see our immigration issues as a Great Commission opportunity – a mission trip in my backyard.
I can love my neighbor and respect the responsibility of those tasked with enforcing our laws.
I don’t want people afraid to come to church, nor do I want my church to become a place where people come to evade the law.
I don’t want people to be afraid to come to our country and I don’t want those who live here to live in fear.
I want the church to be faithful to the mission of spreading the gospel.
I want the state to be faithful to the mission of making and enforcing just laws that protect people.
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