In April 1992, two years before the end of apartheid, Bosch tragically bled to death after a head-on traffic accident in a rural area of South Africa. Passersby called for an ambulance to bring the “jaws of life” and cut his feet free so the bleeding could be stopped. When they called a second time to ask what was taking so long, the emergency dispatcher reportedly replied, “You didn’t say he was a white man.” A later investigation of whether this actually occurred was inconclusive, largely because the tapes of the two phone conversations had disappeared.
How ironic that one who lived as an enemy of racism should die as an unofficial victim of it. But racism was not the victor in this story. Bosch’s death exposed racism for what it really is – an ideology that kills even when it does not intend to, an ideology that cannot silence those it wishes to silence. How could it, when mere death is its ultimate weapon?
- Discussing the death of missiologist David J. Bosch in the introduction of “A Reader’s Guide to Transforming Mission” by Stan Nussbaum.
Essentially, a South African pastor started off a sermon series stating, “Jesus was HIV+”.
However, as Pastor Skosana told those gathered in the modest Luhlaza High School hall for his weekly services, in many parts of the Bible Jesus put himself in the position of the destitute, the sick and the marginalised.
“Wherever you open the scriptures Jesus puts himself in the shoes of people who experience brokenness. Isaiah 53, for example, clearly paints a picture of Jesus who takes upon himself the infirmities and the brokenness of humanity,” he told the BBC.
He is also quick to emphasise that he is using the metaphor to highlight the danger of the HIV/Aids pandemic, which still carries a stigma in South Africa’s townships.
“Of course, there’s no scientific evidence that Jesus had the HI virus in his bloodstream,” says the pastor, whose non-denominational Hope for Life Ministry is part of a growing charismatic movement in South Africa.
“The best gift we can give to people who are HIV-positive is to help de-stigmatise Aids and create an environment where they know God is not against them, he’s not ashamed of them.” (from this BBC Article)
From the same article, local pastors here have reacted quite strongly:
“The subject of my Jesus being HIV-positive is a scathing matter,” he says.
“I believe no anointed leader with a sound mind about the scriptures and the role of Christ in our lives would deliberately drag the name of Christ to the ground.”
And foreigner pastors, bloggers, and others have reacted in a like manner:
De-stigmatising culture and sin is a dangerous thing. Don’t think this is too outlandish. This is happening here in the states as well; particularly in the area of homosexuality.
Making Jesus the poster child for your cause will never work.
Here’s an idea. Why don’t we stick to what Jesus actually said rather than try to conform him to our personality, bad habits and sin? (from here; google and you'll find more)
I’ll be honest, the headline is a shocker — Jesus was HIV+. But once you get past that headline into the substance I don’t quite get the outrage.
The pastor is explicitly not saying that Jesus had HIV in a scientific sense. He identifies the statement as metaphor. Not only that, he outlines from where he got such a notion in the Bible: Isaiah 53.
He had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special appearance that we should want to follow him. He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
I would throw into the mix a few other passages as well:
God made the one who did not know sins to be sin for us, so that in hims we would become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-10)
Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. Wet saw his glory – the glory of the one and only,t full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. (John 1:14)
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’ (Matthew 25:35-40)
With the context of the Isaiah passage, and these other passages, in mind I don’t really get the outrage. There are a couple of things about the outrage, in fact, that trouble me.
One of those things can be highlighted in the blogger passage above: the general equation of HIV+ status with sin. This is actually incredibly troubling to me because being HIV+ does mean one is sin. HIV often results from sin but this isn’t even always the case particularly in communities where its instance is so high (you have to take into account sanitation, available medical care, family history, etc); in many circumstances it can be of no general fault of the individual (many are even born with it). But this equation of HIV with sin has produced much of the stigmatization that the pastor in Khayelitsha is reacting against. It promotes an atmosphere where (a) people don’t talk about HIV at any level as it is shameful, (b) those known to have it are actively discriminated against and (c) those that have it feel shamed and as if they need to stay away from things like “church”. And it’s worth noting to whoever reads this that we work in Cape Town in a community often referred to as “Little Khayelitsha” and often see the stigmatization that Pastor Skosana talks about. The reality is that HIV is a sickness. It can be likened to the lepers of Jesus’ time. His response to such a people was love and compassion, and in the strictest sense of the incarnation we see in the above listed Bible passages, identification.
This also brings to mind the story of Jesus walking through a crowd where a woman, having bled for years due to what scholars say is most likely irregular, heavy menstrual cycles, touches Jesus and is healed because of it. Hers was a case similar to the HIV cases of today and is directly related to what Pastor Skosana speaks about. Her bleeding made her consistently unclean in a society that placed extreme value on purity. Any one that touched her or which she came in close contact with her defiled themselves and where likewise considered unclean. Because of this, you could liken her to an exile in her own society, not ever being able to have much close contact with people. Women saw her and thought “sin” because of purity issues but Jesus saw differently. By touching Jesus the woman was healed. And through that touch Jesus takes her condition — her uncleanliness — onto himself, becoming unclean as she was.
The other issue that troubles me about the outrage is it seems to be rooted in dualistic notions of Jesus that separate the spiritual and physical rather than seeing it as a whole thing. It’s easy to see the spiritual — Jesus as all powerful God — but we miss the heart of what happened in Jesus — God became as we are so that we might become as He intended. We don’t have salvation without the incarnation — God’s active identification with our situation. This seems to be so easy to miss, sadly, and when we do it breeds the religion that produces the stigmatization that Pastor Skosana is speaking against.
Anyways, for all those outraged, hopefully this is a little food for thought. Time prevents me from writing more now.
"There's nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible. If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible." Archbishop Tutu, September 2008.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu officially resigned from public life yesterday. It's amazing what he helped do for the nation in which we now live.
All the poor and powerless
And all the lost and lonely
All the thieves will come confess
And know that You are holy
Will know that You are holy
All will sing out, Hallelujah
We will cry out, Hallelujah
All the hearts who are content
And all who feel unworthy
All the hurt with nothing left
Will know that You are holy
All will sing out, Hallelujah
We will cry out, Hallelujah
Shout it, go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
We will sing out, Hallelujah
We will cry out, Hallelujah
We will sing out, Hallelujah
God
Shout it, go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
All the Poor & Powerless by Sons & Daughters. Download for free.
It is a desperate nation, where people are crying out to know something of justice and peace amidst a world of corruption. And, so it seems, as its people long for this, something is beginning to happen. There are glimmers in stories coming out of Zimbabwe. We see glimmers of this in the lives of those we meet in Masi.
It seems that every person we meet from Zimbabwe is hungry for something more in life. Not just physical needs and things such as that — they are important but it’s not the type of hunger we see most often. They are hungry for real and lasting change in their own lives and those around them. It’s led us to firmly believe that God is doing something in their nation.
In America right now it’s pretty commonplace to live in fear — we felt this in many of the areas we visited. It almost seems grossly fashionable. But we don’t really know what it’s like to live in terror day in and day out. Our friends from Zimbabwe, on the other hand, do. To give a quick snapshot of recent Zimbabwean history-
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Zimbabwe no longer has an official currency. Inflation ran rampant due to failed economic policy. At it’s height, before the dissolution of the currency, people would have to take a wheelbarrow full of money to the store to buy a small bag of flour or sugar. My wife and I have a 10,000,000,000 Zim note that, during this time, was a small piece of that wheelbarrow.
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The last “election” was in 2008. After the opposition party won the majority of the parliamentary seats, the president, Robert Mugabe, initiated a campaign entitled CIBD — Coercion—Intimidation—Beating—Displacement — run by a ruthless military which delivered what the campaign promised. Widespread, and brutal, violence caused the opposition party to pull out.
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Many of the economic problems can be traced to Mugabe’s “land reformation” programs, whereby he seizes (often violently) commercial farming land. Outwardly, it’s portrayed as an attempt to put land back into the hands of the poor of Zimbabwe. In reality it’s been shown that the land is primarily given to the elite of Zimbabwe.
So today is a day to come together and lift this nation up. The church of Zimbabwe is joining hearts and hands today to do this and we should as well, with them.
Specific Requests
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One side effect of current life in Zimbabwe is that many people have no other choice than seek asylum elsewhere. The best option from those that can’t afford plane tickets off of the continent is South Africa. Many of our friends in Masi come here because of this. The government of South Africa has generally been gracious in welcoming them in, regardless of status (many come illegally due to grave conditions at home and the impossibility of getting official papers). The government here though, from what we are hearing, are starting to revamp their asylum position. Everyone with asylum papers are being given a (sometimes very) brief window of time — generally two weeks to three months — to get official papers in order to apply for work permits. Official papers (a passport and Zimbabwean national ID) are things that many have no access to. Pray for grace with officials locally. Pray for safety if forced to return to Zimbabwe. Election season is coming up and gross violence is likely to return. Pray that our friends especially would be light where ever God takes them, whether that’s remaining here in Masi or going back to their home in Zim.
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Pray for the nation of Zimbabwe, that hearts would change. Pray that God would convict of the violence and coercion and that the will of the people would be heard in upcoming elections, free from manipulative and propaganda filled voices.
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Pray that a might move of the Kingdom of God would occur in Zimbabwe. Pray as Jesus does in the Lord’s Prayer: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Attached you'll find our summer newsletter. You may have gotten it
via snail mail -- if not, here it is! Enjoy!
I attended the main service at the Neno Evangelism Centre with two friends. Once again, I was glad to have a Kenyan friend with me, as almost everything was in Swahili. We arrived at the centre as we thought the service should be beginning, but were told that the service would not start until an hour later. In this time, we were able to speak to the assistant pastor about his understanding of church. It was interesting to see that when we asked to speak to someone, the ushers were very suspicious and concerned that we might be from the press. Despite this, we were eventually taken to the pastor’s office.
Much of what he said seemed very typical of any church with a low ecclesiology. I have highlighted the more interesting aspects. The pastor did not seem to consider church to be an important concept, except as a gathering place for believers. He stated that it was just the name Jesus gave for his followers. He was more concerned about leadership. Twice he took us through the idea of an apostle being someone who was sent by Jesus himself with authority to found a new ministry. He used the stories of Elijah and Moses to illustrate this, explaining that they passed on their visions to Elisha and Joshua, who did not have the same authority, but simply followed in their footsteps. This same illustration was later used by the apostle about himself and his followers when he spoke in the service.
First person account of a large church in Kenya. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: Africa needs discipleship. The same sort of description is not uncommon for what goes on in churches where we are as well. Go and read the whole post, if you have the time...
The WORD became flesh and moved into {our} neighborhood. That’s an exciting thought to consider, isn’t it? To think that God willfully stepped out of His kingdom and came to earth is an amazing thing. He came from a place of perfection that we can only imagine and entered into all of the goriness of life on earth. And in such an odd way. You would think that if God was going to visit earth and experience life as a human He start at a place of honor, born into royalty or wealth or something like that. But no — He forsook all of that, choosing the poverty of a voiceless Jewish family in the midst of imperial occupation. He chose to not even be born in a legitimate setting. Who of us in their right mind would say, “Yes! I want to be born next to donkeys and cows and sheep! Lay me in their feeding trough to rest!” What a choice this was.
This makes the words of Paul in Philippians striking:
Jesus existed in the form of God but emptied Himself of this. He took on the form of a slave. He looked just like you and me. He shared in our nature.
This WORD becoming flesh, this God becoming man, this incarnation — it’s not about who He was but about who He was becoming.
Jesus was God throughout His time on earth; if this wasn’t so, we wouldn’t have the cross and complete liberation from the works of evil in the world. What mattered though wasn’t that He was still God but that He became man. This identification is an incredible thing. It’s something I don’t currently fully understand and don’t think I (or anybody for that matter) ever will, fully. We like big words like incarnation and kenosis and theosis and the like to refer to doctrines that attempt to describe at least some of what is going on but I’m pretty sure there will always be something of a mystery surrounding it all.
And it’s well and good to sit and wonder and awe at the mystery of it all; that’s something I readily admit to doing. Recently though an element of sober reality has found itself intermixed in my wonders and awes. The WORD becoming flesh — the WORD emptying Himself of Himself and taking on the form of me, well as I said it’s incredible. It gets sobering now though: This WORD made flesh in inviting me to live as He made me to, has invited me to enter this incarnational kenosis as well: To empty myself of myself and what He has made me, and take on the form of the other.
What does that mean? Forsaking Jesus? No. Jesus emptying Himself of God didn’t mean He was any less God. God didn’t forsake God, so to speak. It does mean stepping outside the bounds of life He’s ushered me into. Jesus chose to leave heaven and enter our muck and mire — theologically speaking: kenosis. Taking up Jesus, we enter into heaven (at least metaphorically speaking; I suppose we could have theological discussion about the technicalities of this) which I find to be a form of Theosis — the filling of ourselves with what Jesus chose to leave. We are called to emulate Jesus though so kenosis must follow. Jesus set that aside, came as a man, called people into what He was (giving glimpses of it all along the way) and loved so much that He chose to die so that we might live.
That kenosis hits home to me now in ways it never did before. Life was comparatively easy back in Oklahoma. It didn’t take much effort to empty myself and become something other because the reality was that the other was more like me than I might care to admit. Now though — it’s something different. Not to long ago I found myself sitting on a wooden bench in a filthy concrete room full of junk that the attached Shebeen (illegitimate bar) didn’t have use for with my wife, teammate and the drunk homeless guy who slept there. He proceeded to spill His guts about all of life, culminating in his desire and plan to hang himself. He drank day in and day out to forget this pain he carried with him everywhere but it was getting to the point where the bottle could no longer numb him to it. Sitting there that day I experience incarnation as I’d never experienced it before. It was in love-driven desire to be somewhere I knew I didn’t belong. There it was, reaching out to someone who had drunk too many 40s to count. It was the willingness to enter his world and feel and understand and see as he did.
In an academic sense, I knew that coming here and living incarnationally would involve wading into deep and dark problems in the lives of people — issues and feelings and thoughts I’d probably never known existed before — but it wasn’t anything more than that academic sense.
And, I wouldn’t have it any other way. You see the incarnation produces something incredible. For where kenosis happens theosis is soon to follow. Jesus came as man and presented something more (His kingdom), and many back then, and you and me now, entered and where filled with something more. So to for people like this drunk homeless man who wanted to give up on life in the worst possible way. That day about a month ago was incredibly sober. Today though His story is something different. He’d never had someone tell him that they loved him. And for it to be a white guy from America — that blew his mind. It made him stop and think. And when he found out why (Jesus in me, my wife and teammate) it made him reach out for something more. We did a lot of sharing and a lot of praying with him that afternoon and God filled his heart with a joy and with a peace he had never known before. We came back the next week to find him sober and smiling. The next week he was outside playing soccer with kids. Two weeks ago he excitedly shared of his new job — something he hasn’t had in quite some time. Last week he brought us a friend who had seen his transformation and wanted it in his own life.
This has been long and rambling and probably won’t make much sense to anyone but me; I just needed to get the words down and the thoughts out, to be mulled over and considered further.
There are a couple of things worth discussing at this juncture. The first is that it works. Our tendency in western cultures is to want to teach (or perhaps worse: preach at) people when in reality God wants to work in their hearts in a way that is free of our own junk. Allowing people to discover the Word of God on their own opens them to God in ways I honestly haven’t seen before. That doesn’t mean there is no need for evangelism — more often than not Bible studies start up from a good old fashioned telling of the Gospel (we like to fashion it as “God’s Story”) — but it’s never the endpoint of discipleship. It also doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some good old fashioned preachin’ and teachin’ — we’ve had to do some of that too — but generally that’s something left for those that already believe. What it does mean is trusting in the Holy Spirit to lead and guide and to from this exercise restraint in our natural tendencies. A woman we met with just today told us how much she appreciated being able to discover God’s Word — how life-giving that was to her. She described it as this well of God’s love that bubbles up within her, and how, because of this well, when she comes to passages that talk about not stealing and not prostituting, it’s not something hard to comply with because the Holy Spirit is already working within her. And that’s what we are praying for all of the people. And that is what we are beginning to see, particularly with those truly hungry to know Christ.
The second thing I thought worth highlighting is that sometimes are tendency is to over-spiritualize things. This is often decidedly not helpful. The last DBS post I did was about prayer time and I think our tendency to over-spiritualize really comes out in it. As I (hopefully) mentioned, it’s designed to be a low impact prayer time that gets even those people not yet comfortable with the idea of talking with God involved. They don’t even have to pray — it starts simply with talking about what we are thankful for and talking about the needs in our life. The actual act of praying can come later, as people are drawn closer to God through the studying His Word. And for those that have little to know exposure to “church” and the like, this is what happens. There are many people though that are or have been involved in heavily religious cultures and they know Christianese as well as most Americans. And you ask what they are thankful for and its a wordy, religious-y response that doesn’t mean a whole lot. And you ask about their greatest need and it’s similar — wordy, religious-y and devoid of much meaning. And what’s worse, because we are doing Bible studies so often we facilitators and evangelists find ourselves doing the same thing. Unfortunately it does little to build community — we can’t be the answer to anyone’s prayer if the prayer is somewhat impossible to understand in the first place. It also can be discouraging for times of praise — how do you praise that which you can only barely abstractly describe with words that, when it comes down to it, tend to be rather vacuous?
Thinking on that convicted me of my own “taking the easy way out”. I started thinking of this particularly issue about a month ago and because of it, have been trying to tangibly express my thanksgiving to God — be it for the weather, something specific He has done in my life or the lives of those I know, or some particular trait of His that is especially moving on a given day. And for the needs I have, I’ve been trying to take serious stock at where my heart is at any given time and being honest for those needs. And I can’t say specifically how it’s impacted any of the Bible studies but honestly I believe a realness, and honesty, draws people closer together. Being honest narrows the distance between us and them (if we are real with them, they become us, after all). It’s something I want the friends we are making to be able to do in their communities and something I’d recommend for everyone doing this and similar forms of outreach.
Despite living across the world in South Africa now, I’ve tried to stay current on what’s going in on the states. I find it healthy to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the different hot button issues since it’s still where my citizenship is (even if my residence isn’t). I’ve found it particularly interesting of late that immigration is the current “hot topic”. I keep seeing news about ridiculous laws in Arizona (and the subsequent profiling that has occurred) as well as the story about the student in Georgia who was illegally brought here at age 11 and is now dealing with the consequences. And according to CNN yesterday, “immigration” was their number one trending topic.
It’s interesting now considering this topic while living as a foreign national abroad. It’s made even more interesting, nuanced and complicated by working in a place that is a melting pot of nations and with its people, many of whom are likely undocumented. Take the story of Hope for instance:
Hope is from a nation north of the one I live in. She’s married, about my wife’s age (25ish) and has an 18 month old daughter. 8 months ago she lived in this northern country and her husband lived here in South Africa. As she prayed and fasted about this, God told her: “Go to your husband. I will protect along the way. I need you there though.” This took her aback: Hope had no passport or papers or anything like that and the political situation in her current country meant that she wasn’t likely to get them. Also money (something she really didn’t have) was an issue. She prayed and fasted more because, while she wanted to do it, this didn’t seem like a realistic possibility. God told her the same thing again, emphasizing that He would protect her and He added, “Don’t try to hide or sneak or creep: just go.” Miraculously the money came for the trip. The pieces seemed to be falling into place. So she went to the bus, without papers or anything like that, and headed to her husband. There were 3 big checkpoints that were a concern though: the border and then two additional, random ones that she didn’t know about. At each of these checkpoints everyone on the bus was asked to get off, line up and get out there papers. She prayed at stop one and God responded, “Don’t hide, I’ll protect.” So she got off, lined up but had no papers to pull out. And at each stop the armed officials looked at her, told her to have a nice day, and moved to the next person, oblivious to the fact that she had no papers — something they checked with every other person. She finally ends up in the township her husband lives in and finds him, having entered completely undocumented.
To me, this story honestly trivializes much of the debate occurring in the states. Here we have a woman told by God to cross borders without papers and He miraculously makes the way for that to happen. Obviously God wanted her here and obviously that was more important than particular notions legal immigration. In the states though this possibility doesn’t really even enter our minds, and unfortunately the debate itself is ultra polarized at the moment: there seems to be one side that seems so bent on protecting their “stuff” (property, rights, opportunities, whatever) that there is no room for civil discussion about immigration and what to do with current undocumented peoples. The other side seems bent on calling all those not in favor of completely open borders Nazis. And lots of typed yelling and name calling and goofiness ensues. People like Hope get caught up in the middle of this debate and are often dehumanized and/or forgotten. We forget in all of our name calling and land grabbing that real people with real stories and real circumstances are deeply affected. And that is really quite tragic.
This has got me thinking about the Bible though and what it says. Surprisingly enough it has quite a lot to say. Let’s start with Exodus 22:21:
You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
This particular translation is from the NET Bible and includes a translation note specifically referring to the Hebrew word for “foreigner.” In the context of this verse (and further verses referring to “foreigners”), the foreigner is a resident of the nation. He is living in the land but makes note that he is not necessarily a legal residence. Regardless though, God exhorts His people to not wrong or oppress him, recalling Israel’s own time as resident foreigners in another land.
The OT is rife with similar passages:
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:33-34
Leviticus 19:10, Exodus 23:9, and Deuteronomy 10:17-19, 27:19 are all similar, even going so far as putting care for the foreigner on the same level as care for the widow and orphan.
1 Kings 8:41-43 talks of foreigners too. It says,
“Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. When they hear about your great reputation and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, obey you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.
I read that and think of how people I know stylize the land I come from: our reputation precedes us in the things that can be done (the American Dream?) and they direct their prayers toward its temple (Wall Street?). We don’t seem to be listening though. It’s just as well though as our reputation and the things that can be done in our nation are so often hollow and compare nothing to that of the Kingdom of God. I do, however, have to think — what if we did pay legitimate and honest attention to the foreigner amongst us? What if we did seek honestly to answer their prayers, not in the name of America (or any other nation) but in the name of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven? I honestly don’t understand how people following Jesus can respond so callously towards the foreigner and alien. And I haven’t actually gotten to the words of Jesus in the New Testament.
Matthew 7:12 tells us, “In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.” Others includes the alien (as it obviously did in the law and prophets, where foreigners figured prominently, as we saw, with widows and orphans in many passages). Then there is this same idea labeled as the second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Then there is talk of Jesus returning and people being separated into “sheep and goats”. The goats He sternly tells to “Depart!” Why? “I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Pretty strong words — words we would do well to keep in mind.
So where does the leave me? For one thing, it leaves me with an earnest desire to love the alien, regardless of their “legal” status. Frankly, as the testimony of Hope and others like her speak to, I’m not so convinced that God is much concerned with man-made boundaries and borders. He will take people where He will for reasons perhaps entirely His own. Often these are unknown to us and I’m perfectly comfortable in this. My task is to worry less about that and more about love and how I am treating them. And I’m more and more convinced that that treatment in the Bible is more than just words: it’s an active welcoming them in, and a seeking of their wellbeing alongside my own. It’s something we walk alongside people in now and will continue to do.
For another thing, it leaves me a bit less concerned about sides in an illegal immigration debate. Frankly regardless of the word “illegal” in the trending topic my call to love — to welcome — to walk alongside — doesn’t change. It doesn’t change with Hope nor would it change with any of the “least of these” back in the states. If the government wants to make such a designation and do something about it — that power is theirs. I likely wouldn’t protest unless it was in some way unjust (as the Arizona laws are — racial profiling, whether strictly codified or the natural product of what is codified should never be acceptable). Honestly if I’m asked of my opinion, it will be in favor of “the least of these” but it’s merely my opinion, formed by what God is doing in my heart. It’s not necessarily what everyone would agree with.
And I guess that leads me to reiterate again, never forget that there are real people at the heart of every number and stat. That’s not ever going to change. You might not agree with my take on the aliens amongst us but don’t forget, none the less, that they are people too — people loved dearly by God.