25 Reasons Why Christians Should Welcome (Not Ban) Immigrants & Refugees

1. God cares for all people, not just those inside a particular national border.
2. As Christians, global citizenship trumps national citizenship.
3. Christianity affirms that all people have the same value, regardless of their current religion, since all of creation comes from God.
4. The Good Samaritan story includes ethnic dimensions: (1) those outside of your ethnicity may surprise you with kindness, and (2) our neighbors include those of other ethnicities.
5. The Golden Rule requires it: treat others as you would like to be treated.  (If you were endangered, you would want someone to help you.)
6. Personal safety is not the ultimate ethic for Christians, while love is.
7. Political policies are not divinely insprired and often contradict God’s call for justice.
8. Political policies should never be superior to Christ’s commandments.
9. “Love your neighbor” is not limited by a country’s border and includes those from other countries.
10. Hospitality is an important motif throughout the Bible (e.g., Abraham welcoming the sojourners, Jews welcoming and not welcoming Jesus, the Apostles welcoming Paul, etc.)
11. “Love your enemies, bless those who persecute you” includes atheists and those of other religions.
12. Religious litmus tests may increase personal safety, while hindering the spread of the gospel.
13. Religious litmus tests are inaccurate; after all, some people within our own churches are “faking it” for one reason or another.
14. Religious litmus tests work against the gospel, since at one point, you yourself were not a Christian; being banned by Christians would have turned you away from, not towards, the faith.
15. Welcoming other religions to your country offers an opportunity for mission without ever leaving your homeland.
16. Ignoring human rights issues for the sake of personal safety merely perpetuates the problem.
17. Love always involves some degree of risk, so risk itself is not an excuse not to love.
18. The innocent, such as children, should not be slaughtered with the guilty.
19. Abraham was a sojourning immigrant (in Egypt).
20. Joseph was an enslaved immigrant (to Egypt).
21. Israel as a nation was an immigrant (in Egypt), poorly mistreated yet protected and rescued by Yahweh.
22. Moses was a refugee and immigrant (in Egypt).
23. Jesus was a refugee (in Egypt).
24. In the Bible, marked by the recurrence of Egypt, the necessity of immigration and the importance of hospitality cannot be ignored.  (Lev. 19:33-34)
25. Jesus sacrificed His personal safety for the betterment of others, including those outside (Gentiles) of His own ethnicity (Jewish).