The following is taken from a post Dylan put out last week in the midst of increasingly tense discussions nationwide surrounding immigration. I love his pastoral heart and wanted to include it here in this month’s publication. – Nick Padovani, Lead Editor
Let’s start with some common ground. Can we all agree that God loves every human being? He absolutely cherishes and delights in every single human soul. He designed each one in their mother’s womb and even already had a plan for them and loved them before the foundation of the world. If you can agree with that, let’s proceed…
1. We can’t label each other and define each other by our political beliefs. If you view people as “liberals” and “conservatives,” that is a very worldly and sinful way of thinking. I challenge all of you to see past the surface, and to view the world through the lens of the apostle Paul in Colossians 3:11. He saw beyond the outside and saw Christ in people. I challenge you to use language like “that’s my sister or brother in Christ even if they think or believe conservatively or liberally.”
2. Can we agree that ICE is needed on some level? God delights in a healthy society and the original creation of ICE was to build a healthy way of legal immigration and also filtering out people who are here to cause harm (people who commit terrorism, sexual immorality, sell drugs, etc). Obama and multiple other presidents used ICE frequently before Trump. It DOES come across hypocritical when liberal minded brothers and sisters in Christ are so against trump using ICE but never said a word when Obama used it so many times. If you believe in a borderless free-for-all country where anybody can walk in, I’m sorry but that’s just not realistic for a nation. Yes the Bible says take in the foreigners, but that didn’t mean a borderless Israel with no laws. And Jesus didn’t try to get Rome to do his work. We can love the foreigner while also encouraging them to enter the country the right way.
3. Can we agree trump and the White House posting these celebration style “music videos” as immigrants are getting deported is wrong and not Christ-like? If you are someone who laughs and enjoys when a person “gets what’s coming to them,” you, my friend, have missed the heart of God. God does not delight in that kind of “justice.” That’s not biblical justice at all. That’s consequences. And God’s heart is grieved when one of his image-bearers is suffering. If you claim to be a Christian, you should not be celebrating human suffering. Jesus suffered and mourned with those who mourned.
4. Can we acknowledge that the enemy wants to turn us against each other? We have way more common ground than we’d like to admit. We have to move beyond a place where we are condemning each other. We have to learn to listen to each other. The book of James talks about being slow to speak and quick to listen. There’s no way we can continue to demonize each other for the next 20-30 years. I think that would actually lead to our society collapsing. And it grieves the heart of our Father.
5. To bring it back to the top, if God really delights and values every human being, we have to grieve and mourn when someone dies, and we have to respect and show grace to those we disagree with, as we try our best to speak truth. How we treat each other is so important. It shows what we believe about God. We cannot say we love God and hate our brother and sister. And just because you give lip service to “I don’t hate them,” your anger and resentment shows otherwise. Love means you can actually enjoy someone as a person, even if you disagree with them. God loving every human being means he actually likes them too. We can’t just claim to love people in some generic way that doesn’t mean or look like anything.
6. This post will certainly upset or disappoint somebody. But at least now you know my thoughts on it all. I believe we can still be friends and even spiritual family, even in our disagreement. Jesus doesn’t need us to agree on everything. He just commands us to love each other.
7. If this post is a let down and it feels like I’m not taking a side, I’m okay with you feeling that way. I believe I’m in good company. That Jesus has lots of people on both sides and it’s not as simple as some of you think it is. If you are someone who thinks “everyone on that side is deceived,” then you are definitely part of the problem.
8. Though God truly delights in every human being, much of humanity still hasn’t come to believe. And we therefore live in a world which includes chaos, sin, and madness. That’s what we’re seeing play out right now. Take your shelter in the Most High and find your rest and peace in Him.
God bless, family