Part 1: How the Church Can...

The Responsibility of the Church to be a Sacred Space for Immigrants: How to Revision, Repurpose and Refashion itself as the Welcome Center in the Community

The tense discussions and heated debates around immigration are not new. The lens through which we examine migration, sojourning and walks of freedom could use a fresh perspective. In Part 1 of this blog series, I'd like to invite you to consider the historical and biblical impact that migration has had upon God's people. 

Introduction: 

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From a historical and biblical perspective, the genesis of migration is initiated by God in the “beginning” of the Hebrew Bible when the patriarchal figure Abraham is instructed to leave his country, his family and familiarity in order to sojourn to an unknown place wherein God will lead him. 

This is the first instance, if you will, of an identifiable immigrant, one who is traveling on a God-led migration to another land. In a real sense then, immigration is a divine destination, which because of human interference, gets entangled in an intersection of cultural barriers and government-ordered borders that leads to strategic displacement within the community. The greater the influx of immigrants, the greater the intensity of the impartiality and injustices imposed upon them, especially when those immigrants are of Hispanic or Latin descent. Greater, too, is the opportunity for the church to use its influence and identity as a ‘welcome center’ of the community to revision, repurpose and refashion itself toward living out the true meaning of being a sacred space – a sanctuary of safe-haven for immigrants. 

This blog series will explore the church’s responsibility of being a sacred space for immigrants by looking at scriptural passages in the Old and New Testaments as the contextual foundation for God’s intentions in immigration; the church’s core need to extend and expand its focus on hospitality to the stranger, and thirdly, the influence and power that the church has for ensuring that cities offer safe places in its policies and practices for these God-led travelers. For the purposes of this blog series, immigrants are defined as those of Hispanic or Latina descent.

Biblical Contextual Foundation | God’s Intentions in Immigration

              Most scholars would agree that the scriptural passage found in Genesis chapter 12 where God commands Abram to leave his familiar homeland of Haran is the impetus for what will become an act of mobile faith, meaning that because Abram’s travels are ordained and ordered by God, the odyssey that Abram takes is an intentional one of migrating so that God’s ultimate promise could be fulfilled. “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12: 1-3, NRSV) Within these three verses, there is an intentional plan shared by God, instructions for Abram to be an immigrant, and finally an idealistic blessing not just for Abram, but for all those with whom he comes in contact. There is however, a caveat, in that God is implicit in this plan that for the one who chooses not to welcome and bless Abram, instead choosing to curse him, will also be cursed. In the cultural understandings and implications of what it means to leave one’s homeland – some fleeing and seeking safety, while others leave desirous of better opportunities – it is conceivable that from this passage, God’s intent for immigration is for it to be a blessing.  In fact, it is in movement of God and of God’s people that God reveals God's covenant. If this is taken into consideration and expanded upon, then it is understandable to see that the church has a responsibility to be a major voice in the issue of immigration, as religious leaders begin to draw the connection between God’s intent for immigration (the conflicts and consequences of it) and the expectation of how immigrants should be treated socially, culturally and politically.