You may think I write too much about (im)migration. Fair enough – my wife agrees with you. And I admit there are other important topics to write about in the context of our mission work. However, if you remove migration from the conversation about the mission of God, you remove the divine means by which God has sovereignly determined to distribute some very good news to all people everywhere. For now, I only want to point out that migration from one country to another is part of the fabric of the biblical narrative from beginning to end. Not only Abraham from Ur to Canaan, Jacob to Egypt, and Moses out of Egypt, but the entire New Testament is propelled by God’s people on the move because of the Good News. At times, it was involuntary, like when the early church was persecuted and scattered (Acts 8:1). Other times, God’s people intentionally take the gospel to faraway lands, like with Paul and his small mission teams traveling all over Asia Minor and Europe.
What is often overlooked is that God embedded missional migration into the DNA of creation. For example, in the beginning, God blessed what he had created and commanded humans to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 1:28)! In other words, as part of His creation mandate, God has given a divine call to migration, to fill the earth and declare His glory to the nations. Daniel Montanez refers to the Creation Mandate as “the theological engine that drives the mission of God’s people throughout the [Biblical] canon…”. An overly American-centric view of missions may miss the fact that the Creation Mandate and the Great Commission are universal in scope. The call is to all believers and churches everywhere at all times. It makes sense, then, that the Church in Africa, Asia, and Latin America would view an increasingly secular United States as a mission field. This is one of the reasons we see a growing number of immigrant churches. They are obeying the divine mandate and the Great Commission. Montanez elaborates on the vehicle metaphor by noting that, while God’s mission is driven by this theological “engine”, it requires a vehicle. He goes on to explain that “The vehicle God ordains to accomplish the missional purpose of the church is given in the divine call to migration.” 1
In today’s complex and often dangerous world, national border security is important, and sovereign nations have a duty to their citizens to control borders. My point has always been that controlled, sensible, humane immigration policies are a net good for our country. From a Biblical perspective, it is an opportunity to cooperate with God in reaching the nations in our communities and to do so in collaboration with fellow believers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The prophet Isaiah rebuked ancient Israel for thinking they were faithful with their fasting and prayers while ignoring their command to be a light to the Gentiles. Likewise, there were supposed to be providing food for the hungry, shelter for the poor wanderer, and clothing the naked (Isa 58:7). Only time will tell how God is using this present immigration phenomenon to fulfill his plans and purposes. But regardless of where we stand on the issue of immigration, I offer a couple of alternative ways of viewing the current immigration crisis.
First is the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, even when they are foreigners and regardless of how they got here. This is the core principle through which we must filter our attitudes and actions towards immigrants. We can advocate for secure borders and still care for the foreigner seeking safety, work, and shelter. The second perspective is the Gamaliel principle. In Acts 5:38, Gamaliel, a respected Jewish leader, advised the Sanhedrin to leave Jesus’ disciples alone. If their mission was of human origin, it would fail; but if it was from God, opposing them would mean fighting against God Himself (Acts 5:38). At this present time, it is at least conceivable that God is intentionally using immigration to bless this country and revitalize the American church. The late pastor, Timothy Keller, said, “Immigrant churches might be holding the key to the future in America.”2
Jenny Yang offered another powerful reminder of the opportunity facing the North American church today: “The choice that the church faces in its response to immigrants will determine its future. The church can respond in fear and view the change as a threat, or recognize the missional and transformational opportunity presented by diaspora peoples.”3
Despite the loud and influential voices to the contrary, I remain hopeful in the Lord, and confident that the church will embrace the immigrant as a God-ordained blessing and, in turn, extend that blessing back to them.
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1 Montanez, Daniel, The Church and Migration: A Theological Vision for the People of God. (Cleveland, TN. Latinos Press, 2022) 39.
2 Pastor Steve Bang Lee quotes Timothy Keller in a blog dated 9/6/22, “What the American Church Can Learn from the Immigrant Church”
3 Yang, Jenny Hwang, “Immigrants in the USA: A Missional Opportunity,” in Global Diasporas and Mission. ed. Chandler H. Im and Amos Yong, Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series (Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 2014), 157