Think About Immigration Missiologically!

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Illegal immigration may be the greatest blessing, missiologically, that the American church has ever experienced.

A little time on the road in the US has given me a little snapshot of conservative talk radio--pretty much a bunch of vitriol and negativity, mixed with fear, gloom, and railing against (God-appointed) leaders, all of which apparently sells.  Some of them employ just enough reasonable and entertaining rhetoric that I am often tempted to endure the tripe to enjoy the truths I agree with. The political preachers on the radio and TV are highly talented--if they had been Gospel preachers, they might have become modern-day Spurgeons. 

But they are not preaching the Gospel; they do not claim to be.

However, a little time in some churches has given me the impression that some Christians are allowing their feelings and positions on a variety of significant national issues to be forged by conservative TV and radio personalities, rather than the Scriptures.

For example, illegal immigration.

The only sermon I've heard on this, and quite a good one, can be found here (more preachers should tackle hot-button political issues from the pulpit, in a non-political manner, not using their pulpit as a parrot of talk-radio, but as a way to proclaim what the Scriptures actually say--with exegesis rather than eisegesis--and I'll bet messages like these won't be very popular).

Immigrants are first and foremost people, not statistics, just like the unborn that we claim to care about so much. And immigrants are often broken people, leaving hopeless situations under oppresive governments, living here with the heartache of separation from family.  Every dad worth his salt in their situation would do whatever he could to feed his children or his aging parents. They should obey American laws, but even if they have not, we should be concerned for their souls and compassionate toward their situations.

When people are feeling most broken, humbled and hopeless, they tend to respond more readily to the Gospel's message of healing, forgiveness and hope. I was recently in a northeastern city where the locals are perceived to be stuffy and icy towards the Gospel.  Outside my hotel was a soccer field.  A swarm of immigrants were playing pick-up.  They welcomed me with warmth and smiles, let me in to their group, shared their water, and welcomed Jesus-talk.  What a window of opportunity immigration can be if we but choose to be as spiritually sensitive as we are politically perturbed! Not that non-immigrants don't need the Gospel, but God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.  I want to be a part of that process.

Furthermore, Christians are trying to get into "restricted access nations," expending unbelievable creative energies to gain access.  We have to invest enormous human and financial resources to set up businesses and act covertly, tip-toeing around in our evangelism so we won't be kicked out of the country (or killed).  Are we wasting the greatest missions opportunity in the American church's history by not swarming the immigrants with the love of the Gospel--especially those from restricted access countries?  Some split their time between here and their home countries!  We can witness here within our borders without tiptoeing at all. The mission field has come to a 7-11 near you! If we are supposed to "eat or drink ... for the glory of God," why not dine missiologically and choose the ethnic restaurant down the street instead of our favorite Darden subsidiary?

What would we say if a lost person visited your church and no one enquired about his soul ... if no one was friendly? We would say--we ought to say--"shame on us."

What would we say if a lost person from an UNREACHED people group came to this country, intersected with several Christians, but never heard the Gospel before being sent home?

This is happening every day.  And instead of seeing this issue as an opportunity to reach lost people, we are forming and fueling strong negative feelings against immigrants by spending more time listening to unregenerate radio personalities than meeting actual people from all over the world, praying for them, and telling them about Jesus.

Shame on us.