I have had a long-standing concern for refugees. This concern in large part stems from a summer internship experience I had while in seminary (graduate school for pastors) with an evangelical Christian organization called World Relief, which helps resettle refugees along with other ways to serve the vulnerable across the world. That summer, I served in World Relief’s Aurora (Illinois) office and helped various refugee families (Somali Bantu, Meskhetian Turks, and other groups) navigate American health care, social services, phone companies, and grocery stores. The two churches I have previously served (Naperville Presbyterian Church and Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hinsdale and Palos) both had partnerships with World Relief. When I came to Faith Church last year, a topic in the news was the “European refugee crisis,” which allowed me to share more about the topic of refugees and how Christians can respond at a Wednesday night service (watch that here, starting around minute 23:00).

A variety of recent events, though, prompted me to give deeper attention to this long-standing interest. First, Pastor Bob took a trip to a refugee camp to see firsthand what it is like (something I have never done) and, as might be expected, shared stories about it. Second, I listened to this talk over on the Gospel Coalition by David Platt on how the church can respond to the refugee crisis. Third, I became part of the board of the Chicagoland Immigrant Welcome Network, a Christian organization Faith Church supports and one that hopes to resettle refugees in Northwest Indiana. Finally, my friend Tony, who serves as the Executive Director of that organization, gave me a copy of a recent book on the global refugee crisis, Seeking Refuge, a book I highly recommend.

I have previously written about refugees (you can find that here, about halfway down the page under “biblical basis for caring for the stranger”), but these various resources have prompted some additional thoughts regarding refugees from the perspective of a Christian that I wanted to share.

1. Remember how many refugees are Christians!

In Seeking Refuge, the authors highlight that between 2003 and 2015, 340,000 professing Christians were admitted to the US as refugees, more than any other religion (p. 52). In addition, while a majority of Middle Eastern refugees admitted to the USA between 2006 and 2015 are Muslims, almost 40% are Christians — which is a much higher percentage of Christians than is found in those countries (p. 72). This is because many of our sisters and brothers in the faith are persecuted in their homelands, causing them to flee. If we want to stand with the persecuted church and truly welcome “the least of these, my brothers [and sisters]” as Jesus commands us, then as Christians, we should care about our brothers and sisters in the faith who are refugees. I have often prayed for the persecuted church, but for some reason never drew the connection that supporting refugees is a way to support the persecuted church and encourage freedom of religion.

2. Remember how many of these refugees could become Christians in America!

Some people argue that America should only accept Christian refugees in light of the threat of terrorism and other safety concerns. While such a stance may stand reasonable, there is some question if it is constitutional (as we celebrate freedom of religion in the country) and if it could set a precedent for discrimination against Christians and be a threat to religious liberty. Some fears about refugees that prompts such a stance can be answered with facts, such as the fact that the long-vetting process of refugees (which is more thorough than that for visitors) makes it one of the least desirable routes for someone to try to enter the USA (only a small portion of refugees come here) and that Muslim refugees are often the ones who are fleeing from militant Muslims since they belong to different groups.

Something else to consider about non-Christian refugees is that refugees coming to America from whatever religious background now come to a place where they can worship how they choose and they can be presented with this choice – which they might never have had before. Pastor Bob, Dr. Platt, and the authors of Seeking Refuge all share stories of refugees becoming Christians because of the love shown to them by Christians. The refugee crisis therefore is an opportunity for the church to step up its witness in word and deed, showing the love of Christ in action to these people who are vulnerable in our country because they do not know the language or customs — and people who have experienced great trauma that caused them literally to run for their lives from their home and country. Such love might cause them to turn to Christ and be transformed. We are called to love fellow Christians especially, but that does not mean that we do not love people who are not (or not yet) Christians as well. This seems to be what we see modeled in Jesus and the early church. In fact, the authors of Seeking Refuge also note that one of the ways that we can fight terrorism and its threat is by becoming friends with people from other lands, regardless of whether they become Christians (p. 82). This not only seems to be a practical step, but one in line with Christian convictions.

There are more refugees today than at any other time in history. May the church respond to the things happening in our world as people shaped and sharing the gospel message, welcoming others as Christ has welcomed us.

Questions about Bible or theology, e-mail them to Pastor Brian at Theology@wearefaith.org. You can also subscribe to the blog and get its weekly updates by clicking here and filling out the info on the right side.