For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)
In January, I was asked to facilitate a session on the question: What should the Church’s response be to U.S. Immigration Policy in 2026? Here, I share insights from that session, along with additional reflections.
Let me begin by underscoring three points, which are largely interwoven.
- This is not merely a political question; it is also a human one.
- This is not merely a political question; it is also a theological one.
- This is not merely a political question; it is also a missiological one.
A Human Issue
We begin by reminding ourselves that the question of immigration is not merely an abstract political issue for debate but a deeply human one with real-life consequences.1
To underscore this, I want to share a text I recently received from an immigrant friend with a pending asylum case. With their permission, I share a portion of that text to humanize this issue.
With events unfolding in uncertain ways, may you please not only keep us in your prayers but also check on us periodically, because if anyone is not safe anymore, we’re also exposed and vulnerable, with our asylum interview stretched into the unknown future. The level of violence I’ve seen online involving ICE reminds me of the day the ruling party youth and former war veterans came chanting at my house to beat, destroy property, and harm me. It reminds me of the day a provincial governor singled me out because of my race and told the people to get rid of the enemy and anyone like me, because I was a living reminder of what they hate. It reminds me of an ambassador from my country and the ruling army that threatened me while I was doing humanitarian and peacebuilding work because the ruling party deemed me an enemy of the state. At no time did I ever think state-sanctioned political violence could become global and find me here in the U.S.
Keep us in your prayers, and please check on us. We are rattled and shaken but not dismayed. My text reflects my human fear, not my faith, for I’m aware that God’s will endures. Thank you for caring for us.
Now, multiply this text by millions, and one begins to come to terms with the human stakes at play.
A Theological Issue
Next, we need to understand that the questions surrounding immigration are not merely political but also deeply theological. This fact is sometimes lost or overlooked in our public discourse, and even, many times, among Christians. That is because…
Public theology is theological reflection that participates in public discourse for the common good. Public theology provides a framework for Christian social ethics and serves as a bridge between theology and public discourse. While a relatively recently named discipline, the Church has practiced public theology throughout the ages; it was formally named in 1974 and has since developed into a recognized discipline.2
As it pertains to the topic of this article, a private theology question would be: What does the Bible teach about loving neighbors? Whereas, a public theology question would be: How should a society structure immigration policy in light of human dignity and neighbor-love?
A Missiological Issue
We also need to remind ourselves that this is not merely a political issue but also a missiological one. This, too, is often missed or quickly glossed over by many Christians who are often sucked into debating immigration policy in the same rancorous, polarized way so common in our day. This debate is often devoid of meaningful theological reflection and consideration of the Missio Dei, the Mission of God.
In my 2001 thesis project, I outlined what I referred to as “A systemic theology of diaspora (refugee and immigrant) ministry and mission.”3 In that paper, I offered four interrelated theological points that build upon one another.
- God, as part of His overall work of advancing His Kingdom, has always had a clear design on redeeming people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Gen. 12:1-3; Matt. 24:14; Acts 1:8; Rom. 16:25-27; Rev. 5:9).
- In the New Testament, God’s design for advancing His Kingdom includes creating and using a multi-ethnic community called “the Church” where Christ-centered unity is fleshed out amid cultural diversity (Rom. 10:12; I Cor. 12:12-13; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:11-20; 3:6; Col. 3:11).
- God’s means of accomplishing His redemptive plan among all peoples of the earth has always included the strategic use of diaspora peoples (Gen. 12:1-3; Ruth; Esther; Jeremiah 29:4-7; Acts 8:1,4; 11:19; 13; Acts 17:26-27; James 1:1; I Peter 1:1; Rev. 1:9; 21, 22).
- God’s means of carrying out His redemption plan, and thus advancing His Kingdom rule on the earth, has always included the mandate to His people to offer hospitality and service to the “aliens” and “strangers” among them (Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:33-34; Deut. 10:17-19; 26:1-13; Matt. 25:31-46; Heb. 13:2).
When I present this theology in a lecture or sermon, I often pause after each point and ask, “Have you ever heard this point preached?”
For many Christians, they immediately answer “yes” to the first two points (though point #2 is often a more theoretical “yes” than a regularly experienced one). But at points three and four, the “yeses” become dramatically fewer.
For point #3, many Christians miss the golden thread throughout Scripture: God always used diaspora people for his redemptive purposes. Sometimes this movement was voluntary, like when Ruth followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, from Moab back to Bethlehem, or when Abram followed God’s call to go to a land he did not know (Genesis 12). In both cases, there was divine purpose in the moves.
In other cases, the movement was involuntary, like when the Jews were carried into exile to Babylon or when Joseph was trafficked to Egypt, or when there was a persecution of Christ followers in Jerusalem and Christians were scattered near and far, or when the last diaspora saint was exiled to the Isle of Patmos.
In all of these cases, God had redemptive purposes in mind to use his diaspora people to bless their new communities (Jeremiah 29:4-7), to advance the Gospel (Acts 8:1-4), and to apprehend and testify to his heavenly vision (Revelation 1:9; 21).
If God has always used diaspora people to accomplish his will, it is imperative that we adopt this perspective as our mental model for any consideration of refugees, immigrants, and human migration. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.
Similarly, in point #4, the mandate for God’s people to practice hospitality to foreigners and strangers is often overlooked as a core practice of our modern Christian discipleship. This mandate is another golden thread interwoven throughout the corpus of Scripture. God’s people were commanded time and again to attend to the orphans, widows, and strangers (foreigners). In the Old Testament, the command to attend to foreigners was repeatedly linked to the memory of when God’s people were foreigners in Egypt (Exodus 22:21; 23:9).
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, you shall not oppress the foreigner. The foreigner residing among you shall be as the native-born among you; you shall love the foreigner as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34).
In the New Testament, this command is reinforced in the parable of the Sheep and Goats.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me'” (Matthew 25:31-46).
So, from a Christian perspective, before we jump to any consideration of our modern immigration policy in the U.S., we must root ourselves deeply in our ancient calling to love the foreigner and alien among us. How are we doing with this task?
Is our impulse to build walls or to build bridges to the foreigner and alien among us? How are our discipleship muscles performing in loving people who are culturally or religiously different from us? Have we befriended refugees and immigrants as an expression of our higher citizenship to the Kingdom of God? This must be our starting point for any discussion on policy and practices related to diaspora people.
From the four interconnected theological statements outlined above, we can comprehend and cooperate with what God is doing on the earth today in sending the nations to our doorstep. Systemically speaking, when statements two, three, and four are practiced, statement one is advanced. When the Church pursues Christ-centered unity within cultural diversity, engages diaspora peoples in missions, and offers hospitality and service to “aliens” and “strangers,” then people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be redeemed.
On the other hand, when statements two, three, and four are not practiced, statement one is inhibited and delayed. It is important to underscore that the omission or neglect of any one of the last three statements will impede the realization of the first statement. When Christians unify along sectarian lines instead of Christ, when they operate in ethnic silos, or fail to love the strangers among them, then the Kingdom of God will not be realized.
With the human, theological, and missiological perspectives established, let us now examine current U.S. immigration policy and practice, and consider how the Church might respond in this context. First, we need to understand the realities of our current moment under the second Trump administration.
Changes in Policy and Practice since Trump Returned to Office in 20254
Here is a brief summary of some of the changes:
- Stronger Border Enforcement and Restrictions on Entry. Beginning in 2025, the administration implemented a series of executive actions aimed at sharply reducing unauthorized crossings at the southern border, including ending certain parole programs, expanding barriers and enforcement personnel, and limiting access to asylum at the border. These actions followed the collapse of a bipartisan congressional proposal in 2024 that had sought to tighten border enforcement while also reforming the asylum system.
- The U.S. Refugee program was effectively shut down. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) was suspended beginning January 2025, resulting in a near halt in refugee arrivals, except for a few limited exceptions.
- A rollback or wind-down of many Temporary Protective Status (TPS) programs. These terminations and at-risk terminations have affected over one million people. TPS Terminated/Discontinued under Trump 2025–Jan 2026: Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Somalia (March 2026), South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela (attempted/contested). Some of these are being contested in court.
- New travel or immigration restrictions for people from certain countries and paused legal processing for people from those nations already in the country. Nineteen countries were banned from entry in a June 2025 proclamation, expanded to 39 effective January 1, 2026, and effective January 21, 2026, it will be expanded to 75 countries.5
- Detention expanded sharply in 2025, with detention reaching record levels (69,000 by January 26 — compared to the Biden administration’s high of 40,000) and people spending longer time in custody as cases move slowly.
- Deportation priorities have shifted from a targeted approach to a more universal one, with more aggressive interior enforcement and removals, and broader use of faster processes in some cases (including expanded expedited removal).
Who is being detained and deported now?
It’s not just the “worst of the worst.” Three categories have emerged:
- People with a deportation order — These are often long-term community members who were not enforcement priorities before now.
- Raids in various spaces where immigrants or migrants gather — ICE raids most commonly occur in three types of spaces. First, workplaces and job sites — including factories, farms, construction sites, and warehouses — have historically been the most visible locations for large-scale raids and employment audits. Second, public spaces such as streets, parking lots, and transit hubs are frequent sites of at-large arrests, where agents detain individuals in areas open to the public. Third, residential homes are sometimes targeted in operations aimed at specific individuals, though entry into private spaces typically requires a judicial warrant. In many cases, ICE targets individuals based on skin color and language or accents.
- Asylum seekers — Even those with strong cases are now increasingly being detained before or after a court hearing or a mandated “check-in.”
That’s what has changed under the Trump administration. The human costs are real, the stakes are high, and the Church cannot afford to be silent or confused. So the question before us is not merely political — it is deeply pastoral and theological: How should we respond? While not discounting any Scripture already offered above, I would like to frame our response around five biblical goods that must be held in tension.
Five Biblical Goods That Must Be Held in Tension
- Human dignity (Genesis 1:27)
- Hospitality to the stranger (Deut. 10:19; Matt. 25)
- Justice and order (Romans 13)
- Truth and responsibility (Ephesians 4:25)
- Solidarity in the suffering Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:26; Col. 1:24; Philippians 1; 3:10)
A critical feature of this framework is that these five biblical goods must be held in tension. We cannot pick one of them and ignore the others. I often see people pick one and huddle up with others who pick the same one, while ignoring the rest. Doing so will not steer us in the right direction and will undercut our role as people of God called to be shalom seekers in our nation and world. We need to wrestle with how these five goods can be faithfully embodied in this moment.
Without these goods being valued and held in tension, various distortions emerge:
- Hospitality without order → chaos and backlash
- Order without mercy → cruelty and fear
- Compassion without capacity → burnout and overwhelm
- Enforcement without truth → dehumanization
Let me comment on each of the five biblical goods. I will give more attention to the last three, as the first two are more self-evident or have already been covered in my previous comments.
1. Human Dignity
This is self-evident but often overlooked in practice. According to Scripture, all human beings are made in the image of God and are worthy of respect. In order to move forward in a positive direction, we must apply this good to all people, including immigrants (regardless of legal status), ICE agents, politicians, and people who are our political opponents. It is impossible to make progress as shalom seekers without grounding our conviction and actions in this first good. Indeed, the dehumanization of others sabotages any chance of fruitful discourse and of moving forward as a more just and compassionate society.
2. Hospitality to the Stranger
I gave this point significant attention in my previous comments, specifically under point #4 in my “Systemic theology of diaspora (refugee and immigrant) ministry and mission.” Please refer to my comments on this point there.
As I shared above, if we adhere to a biblically informed social ethic, it must include meaningful hospitality toward refugees, immigrants, and strangers. Indeed, until recent decades, the Church in the U.S. has historically led the way in providing hospitality to refugees. This social ethic has been among the highest ideals of both the Church and U.S. civil society, but over the last decade or so, there has been substantial opposition to this biblical good.
3. Justice and Order
Throughout the Christian tradition, civil authority has been recognized as a legitimate institution — a gift from God meant to uphold order, restrain evil, and promote the common good. Romans 13 clearly affirms this role, calling believers to live as respectful, law-abiding residents and citizens. But Scripture also draws a boundary: when earthly powers demand what God forbids or forbid what God commands, the people of God are called to a higher loyalty. In moments like these, Acts 5:29 (“We must obey God rather than men”) and Revelation 13’s warning about beastly empires remind us that our ultimate allegiance is not to any nation or ruler, but to the Lord of heaven and earth.
Jesus himself modeled this principle in the Gospels, repeatedly transgressing religious and civil laws — particularly Sabbath regulations and purity codes — when human dignity and well-being were at stake. His pattern of choosing the person over the regulation offers the Church a compelling model of faithful, prophetic action when earthly laws conflict with a higher loyalty to God’s kingdom.6
There are many nuances to this conversation, and different parts of the Body of Christ have worked this out in different ways over the centuries. To this day, there is tension within the Church over how this is to be worked out. This is another reason we need to come together as a diverse Body to listen to and learn from one another.
People who select this good as the primary (or only) good often cite Romans 13 without including other passages in Scripture that support drawing a boundary. Read in context, Romans 13 follows Paul’s call to reject vengeance, bless persecutors, and overcome evil with good. The passage affirms legitimate authority but also places moral limits on power, holding rulers accountable for wrongdoing.
Romans 13 does not exist apart from Romans 1–12, where Paul establishes God’s ultimate authority, the dignity of human beings, the limits of power, and the call to sacrificial love. “There is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1). “Love does no harm to a neighbor” (Romans 13:10). When the state (or anyone) acts in ways that harm, dehumanize, or deny justice, the Church is not rebelling by speaking — it is being faithful. Scripture is clear: “We must obey God rather than human authority” (Acts 5:29).
As a reminder, racial segregation was legal, and the church stood up to change the law. Slavery was legal, and the church stood up to change the law. So, too, must we today.
While there is a danger in misapplying Romans 13 in isolated, weaponized ways, there are concrete elements of justice and order that need to be incorporated into any holistic shalom-seeking response to immigration policy and practice in our day. Among them:7
- Remove Violent Criminals: This is indeed the state’s responsibility. Scripture affirms the legitimate role of governing authorities in restraining harm and upholding public safety (Romans 13:3-4). This must be done with discernment and justice — without criminalizing entire communities.
- Respect for due process for all: Due process is already embedded in our laws, yet it is not being honored equally, particularly for immigrant communities. “Do not show partiality in judging” (Deuteronomy 1:17). “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits” (Exodus 23:6).
- De-escalation and Non-Violence: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). We must call for restraint, wisdom, and safety for all.
- A Secure Border: Border security should protect life and uphold the common good — not dehumanize people.
- Bipartisan Immigration Reform: This is the right thing to do. Justice is not partisan. “Do what is just and right” (Jeremiah 22:3). We must call for real solutions that fix what is broken.
Sidebar: Thoughts on Our Broken Immigration System and the Need for Reform
Our U.S. immigration system is broken because our political system is so dysfunctional that it resists any meaningful Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). We have long needed CIR in our country, but because our political environment is so partisan and divided, politicians prefer to use the issue of immigration in a weaponized way that appeals to their base rather than work toward better legislation. Because CIR legislation has not passed, the executive branch retains significant discretion and power, which tends to provoke reactions and backlash from one administration to the next, outraging each base until another backlash can occur.
How do people who claim to follow the way of Jesus help in such a scenario as this?
First and foremost, we must filter the issue of immigration through a thoughtful, holistic biblical moral lens, and we cannot do this alone; we need perspectives from the whole body of Christ, not just our corner of it. We need to consider how we can be salt and light in this moment, rather than adding to the toxic environment that’s unfolding in our church sanctuaries and in the public square. And we need to demand more of our politicians rather than allowing them to use immigrants as their political pawns.
4. Truth and Responsibility
Public discourse today is rife with misinformation and lies. Indeed, the Prophet Isaiah’s words, spoken centuries ago, have never been more apt: “For truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14).
Ephesians 4:25 admonishes the people of God: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” This certainly applies to how we engage with social media and civic discourse on immigration policies and practices.
Truth is not just accuracy — it’s moral love. In Scripture, lies don’t merely misinform; they injure. And responsibility means we don’t get to speak carelessly about whole groups of people made in God’s image.
Let me give some examples of how this plays out in our day.
Irresponsible speech sounds like:
- “I saw it on Facebook, so it must be true.”
- “They’re animals/invaders.”
- “They deserve whatever happens.”
Responsible truth sounds like:
- “I’m not sure whether that claim is accurate — I should verify it before sharing.”
- “We can support order and still speak with compassion.”
- “Even if someone broke a law, they remain a human being deserving due process and dignity.”
Christians can affirm the need for immigration enforcement — but we must insist on truth and dignity. When enforcement is fueled by fear and falsehood, it ceases to be justice and becomes cruelty. The quickest way to dehumanize a group is to lie about them.
A dehumanizing sentence sounds like: “They are eating our cats and dogs.”
A truthful sentence sounds like: “Some migrants commit crimes, but most do not, and all remain image-bearers with legal rights.”
As we wrestle with these things together in a truthful and responsible way, we gain greater biblical moral discernment.
5. Solidarity with the Suffering Body of Christ
Our world today is groaning as in the pains of childbirth (Rom. 8:22). As of this writing, there are 56 active armed conflicts worldwide, marking the highest global total since World War II. One ramification of these conflicts is that 121 million people have been forcibly displaced. Many millions of these individuals and families are fellow Christians.
A groundbreaking 2024 study maintains that “at the end of 2024, there were more than 10 million Christian immigrants present in the United States who are vulnerable to deportation. Overall, about 80% of all those at risk of deportation are Christians, including about 61% who are Catholic, 13% who are Evangelical, and 7% who are adherents to other Christian traditions.”⁸
Let that sink in. The immigrant community is suffering in the U.S. now, and a large percentage of those suffering are not strangers to us — they are our Christian brothers and sisters.
In I Corinthians 12:26, the Apostle Paul records these words: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Whenever one part of the Church is suffering, the whole is called to suffer alongside it. The Catholic writer Henri Nouwen observed that the Greek word for compassion literally means “to suffer with.”
Are we suffering in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters?
Conclusion
The primary question before the Church is not simply what immigration policy should be, but what kind of people we will become in responding to this moment. For such a time as this, we are invited to embody a witness marked by truth, justice, hospitality, and Christlike love — trusting that faithful presence is itself part of God’s redemptive work in the world.
Action Steps Toward Practicing Faithful Presence
1. Begin with Relationship
- Intentionally build a friendship with an immigrant or refugee neighbor, coworker, or church member.
- Listen to stories from different perspectives — especially from the immigrant community — before forming opinions.
- Participate in cultural events, shared meals, or community gatherings that foster mutual understanding.
2. Practice Informed Compassion
- Commit to learning from reliable sources before sharing immigration-related information online.
- Read or study Scripture passages related to migration and hospitality as part of personal or small-group discipleship.
- Engage resources such as The Bible and Migration course together as a church or small group.
- Attend a frontline prayer meeting such as the one sponsored by our partner, Agencia Alpha.
3. Strengthen the Church’s Welcome
- Volunteer with or support local ministries serving immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers.
- Help your church evaluate whether immigrant newcomers can easily belong, participate, and lead.
- Consider forming a small hospitality or accompaniment team to support immigrant families and churches as they navigate daily challenges.
4. Cultivate Responsible Public Engagement
- Speak about immigration with humility, accuracy, and dignity — especially in polarized conversations.
- Pray regularly for immigrants, policymakers, border officials, and community leaders alike.
- Encourage elected officials toward policies that reflect both justice and mercy, resisting dehumanizing rhetoric from any side.
5. Practice Solidarity
- Learn about global displacement and pray intentionally for suffering parts of the Body of Christ.
- Support organizations providing legal aid, resettlement assistance, or humanitarian care.
- When immigrant members of the Church experience fear or uncertainty, check in personally — presence itself is ministry.
- Volunteer to be a doorkeeper at a local immigrant church. This sounds simple, but it is a powerful way to stand in solidarity through a ministry of presence.
- Write to a person who is detained.
Other Resources
- The Bible and Migration, a short video course produced by The Center for Public Theology and Migration
- Agencia Alpha: https://www.agenciaalpha.org
Reflection Questions
Personal & Spiritual Formation
- Where have my views on immigration been shaped more by media, politics, or fear than by Scripture and relationship?
- Which of the five biblical values (dignity, hospitality, order, truth and responsibility, solidarity in suffering) do you feel most drawn to — and which do you struggle with most? Why?
- How does my understanding of citizenship in the Kingdom of God influence (or challenge) my national identity?
- Where do I sense the Spirit inviting me toward greater compassion, humility, or courage in this moment?
Church & Discipleship
- How often does our church teach or model hospitality to strangers as a core practice of discipleship?
- Which of the five biblical goods (dignity, hospitality, order, truth and responsibility, solidarity in suffering) does our congregation emphasize most? Which might we unintentionally neglect?
- Are immigrants and diaspora Christians recipients of ministry in our church — or partners and leaders within it?
- How might listening to immigrant believers reshape our theology, worship, or mission priorities?
Public Witness & Civic Life
- What would it look like for Christians to model a different tone in public conversations about immigration?
- Using the five biblical goods, where do we see them show up in — or disappear from — our current U.S. immigration policy and practices?
- How can we pursue justice and order without sacrificing compassion and dignity?
- Where do we see misinformation shaping Christian conversations, and how might we respond faithfully?
- What does it mean to be “salt and light” in a polarized political environment without becoming partisan actors?
Notes
1 I was sitting at a Starbucks in Melbourne, Florida, while working on this article. Sitting across from me was a couple from El Salvador and a visiting guest from Ecuador. I shared my project with them and asked how things were in their communities with ICE in Florida. They shared how challenging things are in their communities and how great the fear is simply because of the color of their skin. They told me about friends who had been detained, and recent raids at workplaces where immigrant friends worked. It was good to ground my writing with these real human beings in mind.
2 Most scholars agree that the modern term “public theology” was first clearly articulated and popularized by Martin E. Marty (a church historian at the University of Chicago) in his 1974 article, “Reinhold Niebuhr: Public Theology and the American Experience.” In this essay, Marty used public theology to describe how Reinhold Niebuhr engaged American political and social life through theological reflection. Marty did not claim to invent a new kind of theology — he named something already happening.
3 Gregg Detwiler, DMin Thesis Project, “Nurturing Diaspora Ministry and Mission in and through the Local Church.”
4 Donald Trump’s executive actions and policy changes associated with immigration matters are symptoms of our broken immigration system and the backlash of toxic partisan politics. When Joe Biden took office, he reversed many of the policies of the first Trump administration. The story of border control under Biden is far more complicated than the news sound bites that say the border was wide open. That is not true, but there were record-setting crossings under the Biden administration. This all points to the need for sane, bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform. As I note later in this article, “Our U.S. immigration system is broken because our political system is so dysfunctional that it resists any meaningful Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). We have long needed CIR in our country, but because our political environment is so partisan and divided, politicians prefer to use the issue of immigration in a weaponized way that appeals to their base rather than work toward better legislation. Because CIR legislation has not passed, the executive branch retains significant discretion and power, which tends to provoke reactions and backlash from one administration to the next, outraging each base until another backlash can occur.”
5 Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
6 Examples of Jesus transgressing law for the good of people are numerous. Most striking are his repeated Sabbath violations: healing the man with the withered hand (Mark 3:1-6), the woman bent double for 18 years (Luke 13:10-17), and the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18), among others. When his disciples were challenged for picking grain on the Sabbath, Jesus responded with a principle that reframes the entire question: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Beyond the Sabbath, Jesus also touched lepers (Mark 1:40-45) and the dead (Luke 8:54), associated openly with Samaritans (John 4), welcomed the touch of a woman deemed sinful (Luke 7:36-50), and disrupted commerce in the Temple (Mark 11:15-18) — each act a transgression of existing law in service of human dignity. Importantly, Jesus was not dismissive of the law; he declared he came to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). His hermeneutical key was love: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40). This pattern suggests that when laws reduce people to categories rather than honoring them as image-bearers of God, faithful obedience to Christ may require prophetic resistance.
7 Some of these elements are found or adapted from statements made by the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.
8 The study was conducted in partnership with the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, the National Association of Evangelicals, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and World Relief to produce a new report on the impact of proposed deportation on American Christian families. See https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/deportation-impact-report/
As I sat in Starbucks writing this article, this group of young people from the local high school marched right in front of me. I appreciated their zeal in wrestling with what justice looks like in this arena. May we all, likewise, wrestle.