IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
At certain points in our lives, it’s good to take a step back from our reflexive emotions and reactions and engage in a “heart checkup.” This might be necessary when we’re feeling angry or frustrated. But it might also be needed when we’re happy or relieved about something.
The government of Canada has recently modified its policy on immigration. Many of us see this as a good thing, and we may celebrate it as a long-overdue decision. However, in the midst of our celebrations, it might be a good idea to take a step back to make sure that we’re rejoicing for the right reasons.
- Are we happy the policy has been modified because Canada's support networks for new immigrants have been collapsing, and it's markedly unsafe for the people entering our country to be met with such flimsy social safety nets?
or
- Are we happy the policy has been modified because we don't like the foreigners entering our country and taking jobs/resources?
In essence, is our stance one of concern or complaint?
WHY THESE QUESTIONS MATTER
These are important questions because God cares deeply about the state of our hearts. If we want to live in ways that are pleasing to Jesus, we are to follow the example of Jesus. He cares deeply about the motivations that drive us. Those motives can propel us to wondrous acts of love and sacrifice; or they can poison our hearts and minds, leading us down horrifying paths of evil.
Over the last 10 years, I've noticed a disturbing trend. People on social media—regardless of religion and social status—have been expressing disdain and repulsion at the idea of foreigners and refugees entering our country. I've no idea if this has been an increasing trend, or if it was always this way—but it was already happening years before the Liberals opened up the immigration floodgates, so it’s not a simple reaction to unwise policy. I wonder if my noticing these posts may be connected to the fact that for more than a decade I also have been a foreigner living in a foreign land.
THE LIFE OF A FOREIGNER
Becoming a foreigner myself has been quite an eye-opening experience. Struggles with language, culture, unspoken norms, humour, simple tasks like grocery shopping—these all are now a part of everyday life. At the start, simply living in our adopted culture took about 4x the amount of energy that it had in Canada. (Now it's down to 2x.) Peter and I quickly realized how helpless we are without the basic social understanding of our native land. With our simple language and lousy cultural understanding, we are often more helpless and vulnerable than children.
- Peter remarks that television commercials are often valuable for foreigners. If we go into a grocery store not understanding the packaging or language, it's helpful to have seen a few commercials beforehand. The ads will have informed us on products available to address different situations, and what the branding and packaging look like. We can head into shopping with a greater degree of confidence.
- Dealing with the police or government can be a scary thing because we’re never quite sure if we might be breaking some kind of unknown rule that might get us into trouble.
- We’ve noticed that we are very appreciative of the differences between our native country and our adopted one. We’re meticulous in caring for our surroundings in a way that perhaps we were less prone to do in Canada. We don't know enough to complain about the government or the various normal irritants, so we find that our level of gratitude tends to be a lot higher here.
- We also don't understand racism levelled against us to quite the same degree as we would if we were experiencing it within an English-speaking culture. We have been told that there are trucks that drive around with racist messages blaring from their loudspeakers, and I'm sure that this is true. However, we’re shielded from this for now by our own linguistic shortcomings and the poor sound quality of the loudspeakers.
We’re more helpless than children.
A PERILOUS MENTALITY
Here's the thing:
When we rant against foreigners, we're also ranting against Christian missionaries. God has called people like me and Peter from every country in the world to every other country in the world. We never know whom God may have called to such a move.
Some foreigners may have come as missionaries, or they may have come as regular workers. But if God has called them, and we are disparaging them, we are placing ourselves in a precarious situation. We are standing defiantly against the plans of God.
Who are we to do so?
THE BIBLE'S STANCE
At its most elemental, attitudes of jealousy, complaint, and outright hatred towards foreigners and refugees violate the second greatest commandment:
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
—Jesus, Matthew 22:39, NASB
Lest we think that we are permitted to ignore the second greatest commandment as long as we adhere to the first [1], the apostle John demolished this misconception:
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
—1 John 4:20, emphases mine, NASB
Both the Old and New Testaments are remarkably consistent in their instructions to embrace and care for foreigners. Here are a few examples from the Old Testament:
- Foreigners were given permission to eat tithes of food alongside the Levites [2]
- God calls for justice for foreigners along with justice for widows and orphans [3]
- God specifically “defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner…giving them food and clothing” [4]
- Within the biblical model, foreigners, widows, and orphans were to be allocated an annual 3% of the national GDP. [5] In Canadian terms, this would be the equivalent of allocating $64 billion annually directly to income and programs for this group of people. [6]
Have you ever thought of which of our role models in the Bible were at one point or another foreigners in a foreign land? I was quite staggered to realize that the list includes:
- Abraham
- Jacob*
- Joseph
- Moses*
- All of the Hebrews from the time of Joseph right up to the time of Moses
- David*
- Jesus*
- Paul
Interestingly enough, the people with stars beside their names were actually refugees, running for their lives. As Jesus stated, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me." [7]
TURNING TO REFUGEES
I have a hard time imagining an existence more vulnerable than the one I experience as a foreigner. Yet by definition, refugees are the most vulnerable foreigners. They have already been traumatized in their home countries. They may have been tortured or witnessed the death or torture of their loved ones. The trauma of being forced to leave or face certain death must be immense. They have had to leave everything they know, everything they own. They have had to come to a foreign country with nothing—little time to prepare themselves linguistically or culturally; no real resources of their own, whether financial or otherwise; no credit. (Have you ever tried to deal with a Canadian bank when you have no credit score? It's awful!)
They are completely vulnerable, completely dependent, and completely traumatized. They need therapy, but without resources, they probably can't afford it. When they meet hatred on the shores of their new country, they are being exposed to the same things they fled from. Talk about compounding the trauma.
These aren't simple immigrants. This wasn't their choice. This is something that has been forced upon them. And now they are also forced to live with a triggering wall of hatred aimed at them for things beyond their control.
BACK TO THE BIBLE
How careful we must be when we begin to criticize other people. The chances are so high that our criticism actually shines a light into places in our own hearts that we may not want exposed.
"Love your neighbour," Jesus said.
"And who is my neighbour?" we might ask along with the legal experts of Jesus’ time. [8]
In response, Jesus launched into the story of the good Samaritan. This was not a story of a Jewish man caring for his countryman lying wounded on the road. This was a story of a foreigner caring for the wounded man. Our neighbour often looks and speaks differently than we do. But we are still to love him or her.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
—Hebrews 13:2, NASB
PRAYING AND REFLECTING
Lord God I ask that you would give me courage to face the ugly things in my own heart, to repent of them, and to change. Today I come to You in repentance. There have been times when I've begrudged the time and resources that foreigners require of me. There have been times when I have not had a pure heart towards the people around me. There have been times when I have been overwhelmed and indifferent to their suffering. Please, forgive me of my sin. Please show me how I can serve You by serving them. Please germinate compassion and love in my heart. Please change my heart to be more like Yours. In Jesus' strong and powerful name I pray, amen.
NOTES
[1] The greatest commandment is to love God with all of our selves. See Matthew 22:37.
[2] See Deuteronomy 26:12.
[3] See Deuteronomy 24:17.
[4] Deuteronomy 10:18, emphasis mine, NIV.
[5] See Deuteronomy 26:12.
[6] Trading Economics, “Canada GDP,” accessed 30 October 2024, https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/gdp.
[7] Matthew 25:40,45, NIV.
[8] See Luke 10:27, 29, NIV.
