It's a pivotal moment for Britain in its treatment of immigrants. Nationalism is becoming the norm. Brexit has been and gone. Many Europeans feel unwelcome in the UK and the first of maybe 300,000 Hong Kongers will arrive in Britain this year. As International students arrive in the UK to study, I wonder what sort of welcome they will receive from the church? What attitudes do Christians have towards immigrants?
Immigrants, in the UK, refers to the 3.6 million here for work, (2.3 million from the EU and 1.3 million from outside the EU), the 485,000 international students (who mostly return home) and the 31,000 who seek asylum from persecution each year (the total number of asylum seekers in the UK is no 133,000). The majority of immigrants come here to work and benefit the UK economy, yet there's a lot of anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric in the UK. When I asked one Rwandan student, in Leeds, whether he had experienced racism here he said that for him it was, "a daily experience". His experience coroborates an academic's analysis that “there is something about strangers that evokes a profound sense of fear”.
So what does the Bible have to say about this? Not just about political policy, but how Christians should act towards immigrants and the foreigners around them on a day to day basis. It says that Christians should not fear immigrants but rather, show them love!
The Bible considers all humans as being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) so the ‘stranger’ shares the divine likeness of God. Therefore, when people meet someone who is different to them they can “encounter God in the face of a stranger” (Genesis 1:13). The Bible doesn't give humans dignity based on how much money they can generate, something which appears to be at the heart of much of the immigration debate in the UK. Instead, it sees that everyone has divine worth because we are made in God’s image.
The second reason the church should not fear foreigners is because being an immigrant nation was a key part of the identity of Israel in the Old Testament. Central to all the Jewish patriarchs was their history of being immigrants: Abraham (Genesis 12:10; 19:9; 20:1, 21:34), Isaac (Genesis 26:3), Jacob (Genesis 32:4), and Jacob’s sons (Genesis 47:4) are all described as "ger", usually translated as sojourner, foreigner or stranger. This history was remembered every year in a thanksgiving liturgy which began: "A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there" (Deuteronomy 26:5-6 ESV).
This experience of being foreigners was part of the reason why Israel was commanded to "love the foreigners amongst them", something which appears no less than 36 times in the Old Testament. This care for, and inclusion of, immigrants should have been so counter-cultural that it was meant to be noticed by other nations. It was one of the ways that Israel was to be a "light to the nations" (Isaiah 42:6). Christians who long for the church to make an impact in our society and in the nations should follow this powerful command to love the immigrant, it would certainly be noticed.
Christians should not fear foreigners who come to their country because Jesus himself was a foreigner. He was both a heavenly foreigner on earth (John 1:14; Phillippians 2:5-11) and a literal foreigner in Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). In Matthew 25 he identifies himself as the ‘xenos’, the stranger in need of a room, and stated that to welcome strangers such as these, was to welcome him (Matt 25:31-46). Therefore Christians cannot distance themselves from ‘strangers’, otherwise they are distancing themselves from Christ.
Jesus' behaviour towards foreigners is an example to Christians today. He showed great dignity, respect, and even preferential treatment towards them. For example he commended the great faith of an immigrant soldier (Luke 7:9), told stories in which the "stranger" was the hero (Luke 10:29-37) and healed a foreigner's daughter (Mark 7:24-30). His last words recorded by Matthew were for his followers to make disciples of "panta ta ethné" (which can be translated ‘all the gentiles’) (Matthew 28:19). It seems to me that if Christians today were to truly follow Jesus, they would be pleased for foreigners to receive healthcare, tell stories where the Muslim asylum seeker is the hero, and be delighted to have the opportunity to share the gospel with the nations studying here without having to leave this country.
The fourth reason that Christians should love foreigners is because the New Testament church went out of its way to welcome foreigners (Gentiles) into God’s people. Paul says, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). This key teaching is reiterated in texts like Acts 10:15-24 and Ephesians 2:11-22. Additionally, in Romans 12:13 the exhortation goes far beyond just "welcome", as the Greek word is "xenophilia" which literally means "love of strangers", the antonym of xenophobia. Therefore, the Christian community should be one where foreigners are strongly loved. It is inconceivable that Christians would fear the "stranger", as the New Testament states they are to do the exact opposite.
Therefore, as Britain is at a crossroads regarding its treatment of immigrants, I hope that Christians will look closely at what the Bible actually says on this issue. If Christians speak up with confidence, because they know what the Bible says, then they can make a significant difference to the lives of millions of foreigners in the UK and the church can be a positive influence in the immigration debate our country is having.
To get involved in welcoming international students to Leeds just email phil.thomas@transformationsleeds.org.uk
