Islam, ISIS, Immigration & Christianity

Ten thoughts about Islam, ISIS, immigration and Christianity.

1. Christians should be looking to care for and love immigrants as they are coming into the United States. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ -Jesus
2. We need to speak kindly and compassionately about immigrants. Every immigrant is made in the image of God and is therefore of immense value and worth. As Russell Moore points out, “We might be natural-born Americans, but we’re all immigrants to the kingdom of God (Eph. 2:12-14).”
3.  Loving immigrants and vetting immigrants are NOT mutually exclusive. It does not make a person Islamaphobic if they believe in vetting and want to make sure that our country is safe.
4. We should not ban Muslims from entering our country. We should absolutely  ban anyone who supports radical Islam.
5. ISIS is a real danger and this is true because it takes Islam seriously. Loving our neighbor does not mean that we stick our head in the sand when it comes to dangers that we (and our country) are facing.
6. I think it is odd if a person posts online a lot about loving immigrants but they don’t know their next-door neighbor. I think the reason we are tempted to do this is because posting stuff online is much easier than loving our actual next-door neighbor.
7. I think it’s sad if people argue and complain online about immigration and yet don’t actually do something to make the lives of immigrants better.
8. We should stop the name calling when it comes to people who disagree with us. In most cases we don’t know the heart of the person we are disagreeing with and slinging insults only further divides us.
9. It seems crazy to me that many Americans still seem naive about the intense hatred that radical Islamists have for the United States of America.
10. Call me captain obvious, but there is a difference between immigration and illegal immigration. One is OK, the other is not (Romans 13:1-7).