Cedars, April 2018

April 2018 3 How can the church respond to the refugee crisis? Dr. Glenn Duerr Assoc. Prof. of International Studies The first point is that the refugee crisis is highly complex comprising primarily of people fleeing from war, violence, and persecution. Most refugees are fleeing wars in the Middle East, South Asia, and Central Africa. Alongside the refugee crisis is an upsurge of economic migrants fleeing stifling poverty, especially from parts of Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The church can respond to the needs of the refugee population in numerous ways. Where people have legally been accepted as refugees, economic migrants, or asylum seekers, the church can primarily act by caring for the needs of people, specifically the widows and orphans (James 1:27), and by helping to accommodate the sojourners in the land (Deuteronomy 10:19). This may involve physically meeting the needs of people from food to clothing to shelter, or it could mean helping them find jobs or to learn the predominant language of the country. It also means that members of the church should be involved in learning about public policy options, and lobbying governments to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) in opposition to intractable conflicts. This may involve raising awareness of wars and their resultant refugee crisis, contacting elected officials, or voting for candidates with specific plans on how to help restore peace in different parts of the world.  Just Sayin’ ... Alex Hentschel Loving the Sojourner I am going to be up front with you: this column is not funny, because its contents are deeply, heartbreakingly serious. This column has an agenda. I have an agenda. (Hey, at least I wasn’t deceptive about it, right?) That agenda is to convince you that the cultural tone is wrong on one major point: the treatment of refu- gees and immigrants. Some well-meaning Christians have been led astray by the pol- itics of fear. In fact, the rise of anti-immi- grant and anti-refugee policy is damaging to our Christian witness and our ability to serve and reach the nations. Okay. I’ve said a lot of things that might havemade you inhale sharply and raise your eyebrows. Before we begin, I’d encourage you to wipe any and all political and cultural biases from your mind. Become a tabula rasa. Let your opinion on this subject be informed on one thing: the word of God. Sola Scriptura. We’re going to search its pages and see what it tells us about the treatment of your neighbor and the sojourner in your land. The Great Commission tells us to reach the nations, but God is also at work bringing the nations to us (Acts 17:24-17). Since we are called to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), it follows that we should reach out to those around us, in gospel love. We are to honor and protect the defenseless as Proverbs 31:8- 9 says: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; de- fend the rights of the poor and needy.” See also Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” We are called to love to sojourner: “Love the sojourner, there- fore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19; Exodus 23:9; Lev. 19:33-34). We are called to love our neighbors: “For the entire law is ful- filled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as your- self.” (Galatians 5:14), and “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). We are called to hospitality: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to an- gels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2.) In Romans 12:13, right af- ter we are commanded to live as living sacrifices, Paul instructs us to “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” TheWord of God seems very clear on the way we are supposed to treat foreigners, sojourners, and those unlike us. However, the church frequently fails to reach out to those in its own community who need it so desperately, preferring instead our comfort, our own needs, and what is familiar to us. Some of us support policies which keep people in need from reaching refuge or a safe harbor. Others prioritize our own nation — or kingdom — over our true kingdom, which has no border. Shouldn’t our heavenly citizenship matter far more than our allegiance to any earthly kingdom? Our reasoning for the policies that people make and support against the immigrant and the sojourner can be summed up in one word: Fear. In an age of terrorism, some support reactionary bans out of fear of that which is different from us. However, Jesus does not call us to safe Christianity. We can- not judge an entire people group based on the actions of one, and we cannot reject people in need because we are afraid. In fact, no person accepted to the United States as a refugee has been im- plicated in a fatal terrorist attack since the Refugee Act of 1980. If a terrorist were to enter the United States, it is unlikely they would choose the refugee path — as you will see later in this issue, the process is highly vetted, with multiple levels of clearance, and painstakingly long. Even if there was a real threat to refugee resettlement, Jesus calls us to love our enemies — to love those who hate us in Mat- thew 5:43-48: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neigh- bor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. [...] And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Jesus tells us that fear has no place for the Christian in 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.” Our heart for this Cedars issue is that you get a better under- standing of the refugee crisis. I have a personal heart for this — I was blessed to go to Clarkston, Georgia, to serve and learn about refugees over spring break, which you’ll learn about later in this issue. I hope your heart is broken over the stories you read here. I hope that you feel a call to serve those around you — as nearby as Dayton. The refugee crisis is one of the worst humanitarian disasters that the current world is facing. Who is going to resolve it, if not the church — if not God’s people, a people of no earthly nation (Galatians 3:28, Philippians 3:20), a people called to imitate the reckless, self-sacrificial love of our Savior (John 13:34)? Just sayin’. P hoto MISO World Fair View a few highlights of the World Fair, which celebrated the many different cultures and nationalities found across the globe. Websclusives @ ReadCedars.com