Log in to your Account

The issue of refugees has been a part of human history across the ages and around the globe. People are displaced as refugees sometimes as the result of natural disasters, but sadly often as a result of situations created by humans. The war in Syria and the instability in the countries of that region have caused a spike in refugees that is putting the entire world to the test. Nearly five million Syrians have fled their nation. Over four million of those are now refugees in the three nations of Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. In fact, one in five people in Lebanon are Syrian refugees! That is 20 percent of its population. By contrast, if you take all the refugees resettled in the US since 1980, they comprise about one half of one percent of our population. So while the photos and news stories may prick our hearts, for most people in North America, the issues are distant from us, and our engagement risks remain at a hypothetical level.

What the Scripture says
As Christians, we are to seek the heart of God in the midst of this unfolding story. One should expect to see at least as much searching of the scriptures to determine our response as we see in other areas of social concern. Ironically, much of the response from Christians regarding the issue of refugees makes no reference to the scriptures. Actually, there are a multitude of scriptures related to hospitality and how to treat the sojourner. We find this issue is the very center of the making of God’s covenant with the people of Israel. When Moses is instructed to build the Ark of the Covenant in Deuteronomy 10, we read these words: “[B]e no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 10:16-20, ESV). Loving the sojourner was to be a mark of God’s people—a reflection of God’s own heart.

In addition to statements in Scripture about God’s heart for the sojourner, one can find very harsh language as well. Often when divine judgement was meted out in the Old Testament, a lack of justice for those in need was one of the reasons given. Consider the warning in Ezekiel: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49, ESV). In the New Testament, one of the most striking statements of judgement by Jesus comes in Matthew 25 when separating the sheep from the goats. The reasons for their acceptance into their inheritance were, among other things, because “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me…” (Matthew 25:35-36, NIV). A few verses later, the absence of these actions is given as the reason for eternal judgement. God takes very seriously what our attitude is toward refugees.

What the Scripture doesn’t say
In the many examples of God’s heart and mandate of care for the refugee, one thing is absent. There is no mention of our concern for the refugee being based on our convenience or our gain in any way.

So what can we make of this? First, we are not to exploit the sojourners’ vulnerable condition. The Christian is to be at the forefront of defending their integrity, value, and rights.

Second, the primacy God places on care for the refugee also suggests that, while wisdom is called for, demonstrating His heart for sojourners must ultimately supersede our concerns for safety—and very well may require our sacrifice. (In the current debate, how often do we hear the need for a guarantee of safety as an excuse for ignoring God’s mandates? How often do we hear “Is it safe?” rather than “Who is my neighbor?”)

Third, the primacy God places on care for the refugee also means that our motive must not be to “make them Christians.” At first blush, that may seem anti-evangelical. Yet in all the biblical examples, the motivation for welcoming the stranger is simply to reflect the nature of God, not to provide for an evangelistic opportunity. One of the accusations sometimes leveled at faith-based aid organizations is that help is contingent upon conversion. If we are to reflect God’s heart, however, such conditions must not be placed on our response.

Having said that, as God’s people demonstrate the heart of God through outreach and hospitality, there is no doubt that others experience His love and are drawn to Him; doors to hearts are opened. Our motive for offering hospitality to the sojourner, however, must be simply to demonstrate the heart of God without utilitarian or manipulative intent. Opportunities for appropriately sharing our faith will come naturally.

While there is unimaginable suffering and pain in this current crisis of refugees, we also know from the Bible and from history how God has often moved in the midst of refugee situations for His purposes. How God’s people respond matters not only to the physical and emotional needs of the refugee, but our response also matters in how faithfully we are living into our identity as His people. As individuals and as communities of faith, let us make sure we are siding with the sheep and not cowering in fear with the goats.

Jim Ramsay is The Mission Society’s vice president for mission ministries.

PHOTO BY JEDEDIAH SMITH/GENESIS PHOTOS