Love The Immigrant As Yourself
Written by Beau Hoffman
We in the U.S. have talked about one method of improving immigration reform is to impose steep penalties against businesses which hire illegal immigrants.
My question is, if a Christian owns a business in the U.S., should he or she be willing to directly violate that law? The scriptures are pretty clear that “treating foreigners as if they are one of us” is very important.
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. (Leviticus 19:9-10)
He [God] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)
Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)
There are plenty more. And it’s not just Old Testament law which we can attempt say is no longer important to us. Jesus constantly told parables highlighting the import of caring for the foreigners. In fact, the entire law and prophets (as the second most important command) is summed up as this:
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)
Neighbor is synonymous with foreigner. We often say, “Jesus spoke to individuals, not nations.” And while I agree, most conservative evangelicals hide behind that saying to justify their less-than-loving attitude toward immigrants. Are we not as Christians called to treat foreigners as if they are native born? So if a law prevents or penalizes us for hiring illegal immigrants, should U.S. Christian business owners be willing to voluntarily violate that law and suffer any penalty the government may impose because the kingdom to which they are a citizen—the kingdom of heaven, demands a different courses of conduct?
We in the U.S. have talked about one method of improving immigration reform is to impose steep penalties against businesses which hire illegal immigrants.
My question is, if a Christian owns a business in the U.S., should he or she be willing to directly violate that law? The scriptures are pretty clear that “treating foreigners as if they are one of us” is very important.
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. (Leviticus 19:9-10)
He [God] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19)
Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)
There are plenty more. And it’s not just Old Testament law which we can attempt say is no longer important to us. Jesus constantly told parables highlighting the import of caring for the foreigners. In fact, the entire law and prophets (as the second most important command) is summed up as this:
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)
Neighbor is synonymous with foreigner. We often say, “Jesus spoke to individuals, not nations.” And while I agree, most conservative evangelicals hide behind that saying to justify their less-than-loving attitude toward immigrants. Are we not as Christians called to treat foreigners as if they are native born? So if a law prevents or penalizes us for hiring illegal immigrants, should U.S. Christian business owners be willing to voluntarily violate that law and suffer any penalty the government may impose because the kingdom to which they are a citizen—the kingdom of heaven, demands a different courses of conduct?
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