Beware Trading Patriotism for "Biblical Principles"

OPINION: Christian principles for immigration reform

By David Gushee

Published: June 5, 2007

One of the problems with shifting patriotism toward biblical principles is that we can be guilty of merely switching our objects of worship…Being more biblical than American does not necessarily mean that we are more Christian…In fact, more or less Christian does not compute…

This is not a balancing act for the believer…The Christian’s citizenship is in the Kingdom of God, to which the Bible gives life and meaning…Love of neighbor does not evolve because it is commanded in the Bible…It evolves because of the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit on the Kingdom kid…

McChurch has made a fetish of biblical principles while ignoring regeneration…That is a dangerous ground that invites the words of faith but not the fruits of the faithful life…No amount of human effort can possibly engender love of neighbor…It merely directs the focus toward the neighbor-of-the-month...

This month, it happens to be the illegal immigrant…Next month it may well be those whose jobs have been lost to cheap labor…

Stan Moody is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry

I have become persuaded that immigration reform is one of the most important moral and policy issues facing Christians and the nation today. And there is landmark legislation on the table -- the bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill, supported by the president -- that in my view reflects the best approximation of Christian principles.

The first question a Christian must ask when thinking about immigration is whether the highest priority for us is American self-interest or biblical principles. As American Christians, are we more Christian or more American?

I think that we should be Christians first. We should seek God’s will for his people (the church) as revealed in Scripture. Only then do we take the second step -- considering our loyalty to the nation -- to see how we might best apply biblical principles there.

Biblically, the five most relevant moral principles on this issue are love, justice, hospitality, family and humility.

Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. He then makes clear that our “neighbors” include not just family, friends and folk like us but also strangers and enemies. Every person is my neighbor, whom I am called to love. The “undocumented worker” or “illegal alien” is my neighbor.

Jesus calls us to advance justice. In biblical teaching, justice tilts toward the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the oppressed because these are the ones who have no social power. The Bible even offers specific teachings in relation to that vulnerable stranger called the “resident alien,” such as this one from Jeremiah 22: “Do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed violence in this place.” The principle of justice is not merely retributive, focusing on the punishment of lawbreakers; it is restorative, looking for ways to repair and build community.

In the famous “sheep and goats” judgment parable of Matthew 25, the king says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Illegal immigrants are strangers. As Christians, we are called to demonstrate welcome, or hospitality, toward them. We do not want to court the judgment that comes to those to whom the king must say, “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.”

The principle of family -- one might even say “family values” -- means that we should not support any policy that breaks up families or endangers children. Sometimes immigration enforcement does precisely that. As Christians, we cannot rest comfortably with raids that leave children in schools and daycare while their parents are deported.

Humility might seem the least relevant principle to the immigration debate, but Christians should humbly recognize that, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Paul is speaking to Gentile Christians who, by God’s unmerited grace, have been brought into the covenant relationship with God formerly reserved for the Jewish people alone. This should remind us that our true “citizenship” is in the church, and we are there as “resident aliens” hospitably welcomed by our gracious God. In this sense, we too are aliens, immigrants and strangers, and we should identify compassionately with this world’s versions of the same.

Having identified these principles as Christians, we are prepared to turn to the national debate about immigration. There are 12 million illegal immigrants in America amid a bitter debate about what to do about them, as well as what to do to prevent more of them from arriving. Options range from draconian schemes of mass deportation to border-security-only approaches to more comprehensive grand plans.

The tension between Christian principles and national self-interest is such that even the most generous-minded bills being considered in Washington are more security-oriented and enforcement-oriented than will come naturally to a biblically suffused perspective.

Of the options, it is clear to me that a comprehensive grand plan is the best option and that the bipartisan immigration bill supported by the president is the best way forward. That plan moves sequentially: it begins with enhanced border security, then provides a mechanism for undocumented workers to come out of the shadows and obtain probationary temporary worker status and a secure work document, greatly improves the system for employee verification of worker status and enforcement against those who hire illegal workers, and sets limits on the number of family members guest workers can bring with them.

This is hardly the kingdom of God in action. But it is far better than any alternative, and Christians should support it.

-- David Gushee is university fellow and Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. www.davidgushee.com.

Copyright © 2005 Associated Baptist Press. All rights reserved.

Stripping "Marriage" Out of the Civil Code

Gay Tolerance in U.S. Reaching Record Marks

Pro-gay rights attitudes have reached high points this year, according to a new poll, with more Americans expressing tolerance.

Tue, May. 29, 2007 Posted: 12:23:08 PM EST

There are a number of points made in this article that deserve comment from a Christian perspective…

Unfortunately, the Christian Right has become mired in equating morality with righteousness…Morality goes to behavior; righteousness, for the Christian believer, goes to condition…One has to do with the ability to appear righteous in the eyes of one’s neighbor; the other has to do with one’s standing before God...

While morality can be a by-product of righteousness, it also can be a veneer of respectability that has no connection to righteousness…

Equal rights for gays or any other minority group is a moral issue that speaks to the provisions and protections in our Constitutional Republic…It is reflective of an attitude that confirms the biblical purpose of civil government – to enforce and maintain order and civility among citizens…

In Jesus’ day, adultery and divorce were rampant within the church, as both are today…Notice, however, that He never made faithfulness in marriage the standard for righteousness…Instead, He made it the standard for self-righteousness – that adultery (both in thought and in deed) stood in the way of the ability of all of us to lead lives acceptable to a righteous and holy God…

As to sanctioning homosexuality as an “acceptable alternative lifestyle,” the Christian has to separate the Church from the State…We can live in peace with our peaceful neighbor – indeed, want for our neighbor the best of what we want for ourselves – without accepting his or her lifestyle as righteous…We must, however, understand that whatever our neighbor’s lifestyle, it is no more moral under the biblical standard of righteousness than is ours…

The institution of marriage is not a sacrament of the State; it is a sacrament of the Church…The State, in fact, has hijacked the word “marriage” as a means of census and maintaining legal order in matters of inheritance and social responsibility…A worthy effort by the Christian church might be to strip the word “marriage” out of the civil code and replace it with something else…

If we are to believe the Bible, everything we do is morally wrong in the sense that we pollute it with our own self-interests (“There is none righteous, not even one…” [Romans 2:9])…How, then, can we be heard to condemn what we may consider to be another’s immorality by stripping that person of his or her constitutional rights? Lead by example, yes; lead by self-sacrificing love, yes; lead by apartheid, no!

Stan Moody is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry

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Pro-gay rights attitudes have reached high points this year, according to a new poll, with more Americans expressing tolerance.

Today, 57 percent of the American public believes homosexuality should be sanctioned as an acceptable alternative lifestyle – the highest the Gallup Poll has recorded since 1982. Also indicating higher tolerance, 59 percent of Americans believe homosexual relations should be legal.

The Gallup Poll has recorded a general increase over the past 20 years of those who believe homosexual relations should be legal. The statistic reached an all-time high in May 2003 at 60 percent but then fell to 50 percent in July of that year and has remained level through 2005. A June 2003 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas law banning homosexual sodomy appeared to have produced a backlash of public opposition to gay rights, the Gallup report noted. The leveled trend began rising again last year with 56 percent saying homosexual relations should be legal and today, the statistic is nearly at the record 60 percent mark.

Revealing a long-term increase in pro-gay rights attitudes, 46 percent (up from 27 percent in 1996) believe same-sex couples should be recognized by the law as valid with the same rights as traditional marriages. And the percentage of those who say they should not be recognized by the law as valid fell from 68 percent in 1996 to 53 percent today.

On the question of morality, Americans were found to be nearly evenly divided. Since 2001, the percentage of those who say homosexual relations are morally acceptable has increased from 40 percent to 47 percent. And for the first time in the 21st century, less than the majority of Americans say homosexual relations are morally wrong (49 percent). Last year, 51 percent said such relations are morally wrong.

At the same time, the majority of Americans say sex between an unmarried man and woman (59 percent), divorce (65 percent), and having a baby outside or marriage (54 percent) is morally acceptable.

As debates continue over the origin or cause of homosexuality, the Gallup Poll found that an increasing percentage of Americans believe homosexuality is something a person is born with. The poll showed 42 percent express such a view compared to 13 percent in 1977. And the percentage of Americans who believe homosexuality is due to factors such as upbringing and environment fell from 56 percent in 1977 to 35 percent today.

Among those who believe homosexuals are born that way, 78 percent say homosexuality should be considered an acceptable lifestyle. In contrast, among those who believe homosexuality is caused by upbringing or environmental factors, only 30 percent say it should be acceptable.

Gallup's results support other surveys that indicate more open and accepting attitudes among today's young adults. A recent Pew survey found 58 percent of 18-25-year-olds say homosexuality should be accepted.

The Gallup Poll found younger Americans aged 18-34 years old (75 percent) are more likely to express the same view than older Americans aged 55 years and older (45 percent). Women (61 percent) are also more likely than men (53 percent) to say homosexuality should be an acceptable alternative lifestyle, the poll further found. And highly religious Americans who attend church weekly (33 percent) are less likely to say it's an acceptable lifestyle than those who seldom or never attend church (74 percent).

Results from the Gallup Poll are based on telephone interviews with 1,003 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted May 10-13, 2007.

Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter

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Copyright ? 2006 Christianpost.com. All rights reserved.