God & borders

What does God think about borders?

We live in a world of time and space. So, issues of citizenship and national borders matter tremendously.

For millennia, people the world over have defined themselves in geo-political terms. People root for their country's team in international sports competitions. They favor their nation and its interests over the fortunes and casualties of other nations. As we've seen, particularly in America and Europe, people are passionate about immigration, particularly when immigrants break laws to enter countries. 

Discussions about immigration, not to mention the arguments that ensue, are wrenching. They are  philosophical—rights and responsibilities vs. opportunities and privileges. They're also material—standards of living, jobs, wages, health care, taxes, education and infrastructure. And they're personal—me and mine vs. you and yours.

Unlikely source of criticism

Immigration is such a volatile subject it has created a singular situation in the annals of recent church history. The Southern Baptist Convention has received strong, strident rebukes—from the right. 

At its recent annual meeting, the SBC passed a resolution that called for the government "to implement, with the borders secured, a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country." Supporters called it a “realistic and biblical approach to immigration.” But detractors labeled it "Southern Baptist amnesty."

Does God care about nationality?

National interests seem important in a world of countries and borders. They provide a sense of security for citizens of developed nations, such as the United States, whose standard of living far exceeds most other inhabitants of their shared planet.

But it's hard to imagine that God, who created every person in God's own image, cares all that much about borders and national citizenship. We live in a world where the place of birth means Person A enjoys the benefits of a nurturing home, education, good job, excellent medicine and daily security, while Person B grows up orphaned, illiterate, underemployed, ill and at risk to physical attack. It's hard to square the life, message and ministry of Jesus with Person A's rationalization that he somehow deserves all those blessings and Person B does not—simply because of the location of their birth.

Evangelical Christians, including Baptists, profess we believe all people are made in God's image, and we want all of them to know Jesus and go to heaven when they die. But we don't seem troubled by the suffering of people who simply had the misfortune to be born in the wrong country. Oh, we contribute from our excess to world hunger offerings, but we do precious little to change the systems that ensure their poverty and ignorance and ill health—their hell on earth.

Lord Knows, I've disagreed with much of what the Southern Baptist Convention has done the past 30 years. But they're on the right track with this resolution on immigration. All Christians need to stop looking at the world through the lens of nationality and see all the world through the eyes of God.