I fondly recall a mission leader in our organization who liked to refer to people as “glory-bearers.” It was his way of expressing the foundational truth of Genesis 1:27: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” This “imago Dei” and implied dignity applies to all human beings. For we are all image/glory-bearers of God. Everyone without exception, either in fact, or in potential. This is a basic human identity.
Of course, this image is marred and tarnished due to the fall, which means the original design of being God’s co-regents on the earth is badly damaged, at least for the time being. Therefore, when it comes to the issue of immigration, it is understandable that many people respond with fear and resistance to outsiders and foreigners. Unfortunately, this xenophobic impulse seems universal and equally distributed among all people and cultures throughout human history.
However, if we truly believe in this fundamental imago Dei theological truth, we must wrestle with the wide-ranging implications for how we view and treat others. This is especially true in the current political and cultural climate of demonizing people who enter our country illegally.
Illegal migration is a genuine concern for anyone with proper respect for the laws of the land and legitimate civil authority. Even Jesus told his people to pay their tax to the tyrant Caesar. On the other hand, the imago Dei must inform the thoughts and tone of the Christian’s voice and participation in today’s immigration debate. As an image-bearer of God, every migrant, including those who are “illegal,” remains worthy of dignity and honor.
I offer a few thoughts that I hope will reframe our perceptions of immigrants who enter this country illegally and who are undocumented. The first and most obvious implication is that the divine image-bearing immigrant is loved by God and, in turn, must be loved by us. Jesus sums it up nicely with the so-called “golden rule.” “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 7:12). The Christian has a responsibility to love to love others, including the foreigner.
Second, it is worth remembering that not all laws are just. Consider our own history and laws that were overturned because they were clearly racist and completely contrary to the “self-evident truth that all men are created equal.” In fact, this week marks the 100th anniversary of the highly ethnicity-based exclusionary Immigration Act of 1924, “a historical benchmark, reflecting age-old tensions between civic inclusion and racial exclusivity in American life,”. It was not until 1965 that quotas based on ethnicity were replaced. Our immigration system is broken and in dire need of repair. Many who enter our country illegally do so out of desperation, not because they are wanton criminals. The majority are fleeing war zones, drug cartels, crushing poverty, and exploitation. Imagine you are in a burning building. You escape to the nearest safe place, regardless of whether you are welcome.
Thirdly, there is a fairness argument. Is it fair for some immigrants to “jump the line” in front of those who are trying to enter legally and do things by the book? No, it is not fair, at least on the surface. However, we are talking about a broken, unfair, and unjust system that no longer serves the interests of the United States or those who want to enter legally. The legal pathway for the average immigrant leads into a complex and daunting bureaucracy that can take years to navigate and cost thousands of dollars.
But what did Jesus do? Jesus knew the Jewish Law but he still healed on the Sabbath. The disciples labored on the Sabbath by picking grain because they were hungry. When challenged by the religious leaders he pointed to a higher divine law that demonstrates compassion in the face of human needs.
Jesus also acknowledged the civil law. He instructed his followers to give Caesar what is Caesar’s. But more than merely respecting the Roman law of the land, he encouraged his people to see beyond the civil law and to embrace the law of love. In “The Church and Immigration: A Theological Vision for the People of God”, the authors observe rightly that Jesus did not mind breaking humanly constructed borders and laws when they prevented the poor and the marginalized from living with dignity due to them by virtue of bearing the image of God.
Desmond Tutu once wrote about the imago Dei, that it, “imbues each one of us with profound dignity and worth. As a result, to treat persons as if they were less than this, to oppress them, to trample their dignity underfoot, is not just evil as it surely must be….It is positively blasphemous, for it is tantamount to spitting in the face of God”.
I conclude by returning to the Holy Scriptures. If these things are true implications based on the truth and reality of the imago Dei for all humans, then what about the Christian attitude towards other Christians who are immigrants? Much of the New Testament is a divine directive to “love one another” as brothers and sisters in Christ. The fact is, most Hispanic immigrants are spiritual family members in desperate need. In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes eleven chapters of theology to teach who God is and who we are in Christ due to God’s mercy and grace. In chapter 12, he begins to list the implications and byproducts of this amazing truth about our renewed and redeemed selves. Here is only one powerful snippet. “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13).
What remains is not whether we should do something but what we will do and how. How will we use our collective, sanctified imagination and the force of the church to advocate for reforming our broken immigration system? In the meantime, how will we creatively unleash this same force as a fount of sharing blessings and hospitality with the people of God with whom we will spend eternity?