Article: Immigration&The Church (Part 3) - a podcast by Christopher Stephens

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    So, what is the church to do?  I believe that we must first understand that Patriotism and Christianity are not the same.  One must come before the other.  For the church, our allegiance to God comes first.  When America sees a brown-skinned animal, immigrant criminals, and immigrant rapists the church should see a creation of God. Remember at one point in time it was illegal to help runaway slaves.  Would your home have been a part of the underground railroad?  Law of the land should never supersede the will of God.  The church must be a place in which the minister challenges their congregations to seek God before party and country.  To listen and watch the news through God’s eyes.  To throw out the normality of never speaking of politics from the pulpit.  We may be preaching to the next president of this country! 

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I believe the next thing that the church should focus on is not choosing which poor to help and love.  There are times when it becomes easy for the church to help those less fortunate who are more “easy on the eyes”.  We do not mind helping children, homeless women/mothers, or poor people in their native lands who look like us.  The Church must seek justice and equity for all people everywhere.  The neglected people of this world are suffering a great deal.  It is a terrible thing when your unchangeable skin color puts you at the bottom of a caste system.  Let our love be as consistent as God’s! 

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Finally, I believe that the church must return to God.  We must be willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of others.  Maybe that means that our churches may not need a gym if we can instead homeless person back into a functioning member of society.  Maybe it means that the preacher does not need to have yearly raises but instead every single mother in a congregation is blessed with holiday meals, so they do not have to cook.  Maybe it means that use one of our weekend days to sacrifice our time in serving people who have nothing to give us back.  Maybe it means speaking up on issues that make the highest giving members squirm in their seat.  If the Church is the image of what God would have the whole of creation people ought to be able to do as we say and do. 

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