Immigration

Tom Ascol’s post for today: Immigration fiasco is very good as it shows that the immigration issue is not as simple as “just give everyone amnesty” or “ship them all home.” As Chrsitians we are called to follow the laws of the land but we are also called to weigh those laws against the laws of God. So when the issue of immigration comes up it is not as easy to deal with when it becomes real as Tom shows.

My persoanl gut reaction is to do everything the leagal way but Tom’s examples are very good in that they show that not only do laws need to be enforced but those laws need to make sense and be sensible. We are a country of immigrants and that is a good thing since it brings the world to us. As Chrsitians we are called pilgrims or sojourners so in many ways we are in this world in a way the world does not like. Could we be seen as wrongly here by the world, it would seem so if one simply reads the paper.

At the heart of this matter is to always remember to what kingdom we owe first alligience, God’s Kingdom. We can be loyal to our country, as I am, but this loyalty must not obscure our loyalty to the cross. A good example was when I was at a “weekender” at Captial Hill Baptist and Mark Dever talked about how he took the American flag from the front of the church, and some ensuing issues that were raised by well meaning members. Not because he was un-patriotic but he saw it as possibly giving the impression that being a Christian equated to being an American. With his church being in D.C many people from other countries visit there and the last thing that needed to be done was muddy up the message of the Gospel with some form of percieved Patirotic Religion.

This all said I am still struggling over what should be done with immigrationa and how to deal with where we are right now. How does one deal with the issues Tom raises? Much more prayer needs to go into this than is often done. I for one need to do this and put my feelings on hold while I consult God and Scripture.