How Should Christians Respond to Immigration?

Direct Answer

Christians respond to immigration first by discipling the church to love God and neighbor without partition, and only secondarily by speaking prophetically — not advisorily — to governing authorities about the limits of their provisional jurisdiction.

Discussion

Immigration in the United States involves a complex array of factors. As Lifeway's recent report on immigration makes clear, the issue is further complicated for evangelicals because immigration is not simply about national security and prosperity, or about basic human rights. It is a matter of religious conviction. That conviction involves a distinction between Church and state. It requires the Church to acknowledge the state's legitimate role while pointing beyond it to a way of life only made possible in Christ. This fundamental distinction should prompt evangelicals to ask at least two questions. First, how might the Bible inform the Church's response to immigration? Second, how might the Bible and the Church inform, encourage, and critique those serving in the United States government?

Regarding the first question, the Bible is quite clear. As Jesus notes, we are to love God with all we are and have and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt 22:36–40). When God tells Israel to love their Israelite and sojourning neighbors as themselves (Lev 19:18, 33), the command is in the context of a call to imitate God's holiness (19:1). It is rooted in the simple assertion "I am the Lord" (19:4, 9, 12, 14, 18, 34). Israel is not to care for the vulnerable as a task on a checklist. Instead, Israel (and by extension the Church) is to become a people who cares for those who cannot care for themselves because God is a God who cares for those who cannot care for themselves. Caring for the poor and vulnerable is a mark of those loyal to God (Isa 1:17; Jam 1:27). If the Church wants to respond well to immigrants entering the United States, we must first cultivate a deep allegiance to God — an allegiance that pushes out all other allegiances.

Regarding the second question, the Church must offer an alternative to the state. As I argue in Serpents and Doves, the Church "must be an alternative political community that showcases the possibilities made available to those who proclaim, 'Jesus is Lord.'" In building up the body of Christ through the making of disciples, we remind the state that its authority and capacity are limited. We need to continually remind our governing authorities that they sit under God's authority (whether they recognize it or not). It has become fashionable to urge governing authorities to adhere to biblical principles abstracted from their theological context. While there is nothing wrong with human rights, Christians need to be advocating for Christ. Our role with the government cannot be advisory. It must be prophetic in the sense that we speak theologically to our governing authorities. The governing authorities need to recognize that their work with regard to immigration is not trivial, but provisional.

Key Takeaways: Christian Response to Immigration

• Core Concept — Two Questions, Two Audiences — The Bible shapes the Church's response to immigrants directly; it shapes the state's response only by reminding it of its limits.
• Core Concept — Prophetic, Not Advisory — Christians do not provide the state with selectively biblical policy frameworks; they remind it of the Triune God under whose authority it operates.
• Scripture / Scholars — Matthew 22:36–40; Leviticus 19:1, 18, 33–34; Isaiah 1:17; James 1:27; Lifeway 2024 Evangelical Views on Immigration Report; Serpents and Doves.
• The "So What" — The first and best thing the Church can do for immigrants is not lobbying — it is becoming a community whose discipleship overflows into self-sacrificial neighbor-love that no policy can mandate.