The theme of this month’s synchroblog is “CHRISTIANS AND THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE – As Congress debates how to handle illegal immigrants already within U.S. borders and how to more effectively handle hopeful immigrants in the future, Christians will need to consider what it means to love these new neighbors in our midst.”
This immigration theme is of interest to me, not out of any interest in US domestic politics, nor out of any entrenched support for increasing immigration, but out of concern for the way immigration debates are often hijacked by xenophobic sentiment.
So, in a way, the important issue for me is not what decision we arrive at, but how we arrive at it. This is where our recent experience in Australia has left me less than impressed. No, let’s be honest, at times I’ve been outright disgusted.
I think it’s time we recover a forgotten truth. That the Christian practice of hospitality, that we are all called to, is the opposite of xenophobia. Literally. For the ancient Greek word for hospitality was philoxenos. Philos, φίλος (friend)+xenos, ξένος (stranger, foreigner). The one who shows friendship to strangers. Not fear.
With this in mind, let’s consider some of the New Testament teachings on what it means to be a Christian leader:
1 Timothy 3:2 – Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable (philoxenos), able to teach,
Titus 1:8 – Rather he must be hospitable (philoxenos), one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
1 Peter 4:9 – Offer hospitality (philoxenos) to one another without grumbling.
So, whatever we decide on immigration, let our conversations be salted with philoxenos, not xenophobia. If we argue for restrictions, let us first rid ourselves of faithless fear.
Leave a Reply