Competing Voices
Immigration and Justice
young EFCA leaders speak out
I recently had the privilege of talking with several young evangelicals involved in biblical expressions of justice. Ben Johnson works with EFCA’s new ministry Immigrant Hope. Adam Gustine is senior pastor at First EFC in Brooklyn, N.Y., a pilot site for Immigrant Hope. Jeanette Thomas is pastor of extension ministries at Christ Community EFC in Kansas City, Kan.
Social justice is a hot topic today. Do you see a difference in how Christians are responding to these issues compared to the culture at large?
Jeanette
I think some churches have been hesitant to get involved in justice issues because they want to uphold the core of the gospel; they haven’t wanted Jesus and His call to salvation to be missed by these other complex issues. But Jesus and His call has never been an isolated reality. It always ends up challenging every aspect of a person’s life or even the broader world. Sometimes I wonder if those leaders assume that as the gospel brings that kind of transformation, the social-justice issues will take care of themselves. I do think there is a changing trend with younger churches, and it seems like that’s permeating churches across the nation.
Ben
For years in the United States, the only justice issues that drew a concerted biblical response from the Church involved abortion and homosexuality. We’re now starting to ask whether our churches are fulfilling their biblical mandate to stand with the marginalized and oppressed. For Jesus, bringing freedom to the oppressed and sight to the blind went hand-in-hand with seeking and saving the lost. We increasingly see responding to issues of injustice and division as essential to faithful Christian living.
Adam
Usually, issues of justice get dragged down to a political level, so battle lines get drawn based on political boundaries. But justice doesn’t belong to politics; it belongs to God and His kingdom. We let God and His story tell us how to interact. I think that is starting to happen, but we have a ways to go. It’s not a super-safe conversation to have in the church, because you still run the risk of being characterized as one political side or the other.
How do you think the church is called to respond to injustice in general, and particularly to this issue of immigration??
Adam
The biblical story calls us to remember who we are and allow that to shape how we interact with other people. Yes, an undocumented immigrant has broken the law, but I’ve broken God’s law with some degree of regularity too. Scripture calls us to see them, like myself, as in need of grace and worthy of compassion.
Churches need to look at their neighborhood and understand the people there, understand the pain and brokenness and the extent to which it’s [inflicted by] the system. The people of God enter into that pain and brokenness and actively pursue justice. For us, it has to involve immigration because there is no way to be a church in our neighborhood without thinking of that.
Ben
The Bible teaches us to value sacrifice and obedience over protecting our personal rights, and that’s just an un-American way to think. What does it mean to live justly and love sacrificially, whether it will benefit me or hurt me? The Bible is clear that God uses even people’s evil, sinful actions for their salvation or the salvation of others. So the question is not, “Should they be here?” or, “Have they done something wrong?” but, “What is God calling me to do?”
Jeanette
The Church is called to be at the forefront of social-justice issues by engaging in biblical justice. God justifies us as sinners, but He doesn’t stop there. He’s committed even more broadly to the brokenness of our world and calling all of it back into relationship with Him.
It’s sad that we’ve only had one idea of what it means to “be about justice,” and that is to change the laws to almost mandate justice. And while I think the laws will change if we are active justice-bearers, I don’t think that’s the only way to bring about change. It’s also a question about the way we use power. Jesus was a radical example of that: He left the riches of heaven and entered a different context, taking on sacrifices and giving up every right to assert power.
What dangers do you see if the church takes merely a political or pragmatic view toward immigration and doesn’t get involved?
Adam
There’s a disconnect between a God who is pursuing people and a Church that is drawing lines and saying, “This group of people is off limits.” A big problem in the Old Testament was that people became self-focused and forgot they were the channel of God’s purposes in the world. Over time they became perpetrators of injustice. If we stand by and let injustice happen long enough, it stands to reason that we ourselves might become perpetrators of the very things we’re watching now.
What are some of the other big justice issues out there now, and how can we balance one important cause (like immigration) with so many others?
Adam
From where I sit in NYC, some of the biggest issues of justice today are immigration, human trafficking, access to education and adequate housing (and other basic human needs), racism, and poverty. Issues often come into the spotlight as the media picks up on things, and then we move on when the media moves on. There might not be room in most of our hearts to get fired up about all the injustice we see around us. I think it would crush us.
My humble suggestion is that Christians put the majority of their prayer, passion, resources and effort into the issues of injustice in their local communities. Our stand against injustice—or, perhaps better, for justice—is best done in our local context. It has been my experience that focusing on local issues of injustice not only helps the church orient its mission to its community but also reveals the global implications of those issues.
So there is a place for caring about meta-justice, but it arises out of the pain of your neighbor. This helps guard against picking the next hot topic as your banner for the year, only to choose a more popular one next year. You can’t very well look your homeless neighbor in the eye and say, “Sorry, I’ve chosen to get involved in another justice issue this year. Too bad you didn’t lose your house two years ago, when homelessness was more chic.”
Ben
There seems to be a diminishing focus on apartheid, segregation, abortion and other issues. In our culture, problems seem to eventually move from “a major disruption requiring drastic action” to “a regrettable part of the status quo that we’ve learned to live with.” Yet I think it is as important for the Church to have a biblical, gospel-centered response to those issues as to immigration, racism, etc.
The answer to both the questions of “How do we make and measure real progress?” and “How do we decide what issues to focus on and how to approach them?” rest on getting in tune with God. God uses the obedient in powerful ways.
Jeanette
I ask, “What do you look for when you’re going to move into a new neighborhood?” I think the list is intuitive: housing, education, safety. (Violence is often an indicator that injustice is underway.) There are others, but this is a short list. Education can be an incredible grace gift from God in helping to bring justice into the hands of some of the most vulnerable people in our world. Education can level the playing field and re-allocate power. If injustice is the abuse or misuse of power, forging ways to re-allocate some of that can be really, really effective
What one message about justice do you wish every church leader in America understood?
Adam
That justice is not a political issue. It’s a gospel issue. The coming of Christ into the world was marked by justice and compassion. The spread of God’s kingdom is marked by the same. If grace is extending to people things they don’t deserve, then biblical justice is extending to people things they do deserve. You do not have to disconnect the two. Justice gives a taste of the gospel.
Ben
Well said, Adam. But I guess I would say not just that they don’t need to be separated but that they can’t be separated. They weren’t separated in Jesus’ ministry. EFCA churches pride themselves on being gospel-centered churches. The gospel is that we can be reconciled through the death of Christ, and when we’re reconciled to God we can live in a kingdom of reconciliation. That’s the gospel we’re preaching. If we don’t live it out, it’s a hollow offer.
Jeanette
It’s one thing to understand God’s heart for justice in some abstract way, as a theoretical idea, but it’s another to be sitting in the heart of the brokenness of our city and to understand that. To think about two children who were born to a crack-addicted mom; who don’t have any neighbors who are holding down a mortgage payment much less looking out for them; who are going to a school where they’ve had three teachers in one school year; who are waking up every day to drive-by shootings. God’s justice speaks to that. And His primary heart for executing that justice is through the people He’s called into His kingdom.
Jennifer M. Kvamme is student ministries coordinator at Centennial EFC (Forest Lake, Minn.), where she tries to find regular opportunities to involve students in God’s kingdom work at home and around the world.
Immigration and Justice
I recently had the privilege of talking with several young evangelicals involved in biblical expressions of justice. Ben Johnson works with EFCA’s new ministry Immigrant Hope. Adam Gustine is senior pastor at First EFC in Brooklyn, N.Y., a pilot site for Immigrant Hope. Jeanette Thomas is pastor of extension ministries at Christ Community EFC in Kansas City, Kan.
Social justice is a hot topic today. Do you see a difference in how Christians are responding to these issues compared to the culture at large?
Jeanette
I think some churches have been hesitant to get involved in justice issues because they want to uphold the core of the gospel; they haven’t wanted Jesus and His call to salvation to be missed by these other complex issues. But Jesus and His call has never been an isolated reality. It always ends up challenging every aspect of a person’s life or even the broader world. Sometimes I wonder if those leaders assume that as the gospel brings that kind of transformation, the social-justice issues will take care of themselves. I do think there is a changing trend with younger churches, and it seems like that’s permeating churches across the nation.
Ben
For years in the United States, the only justice issues that drew a concerted biblical response from the Church involved abortion and homosexuality. We’re now starting to ask whether our churches are fulfilling their biblical mandate to stand with the marginalized and oppressed. For Jesus, bringing freedom to the oppressed and sight to the blind went hand-in-hand with seeking and saving the lost. We increasingly see responding to issues of injustice and division as essential to faithful Christian living.
Adam
Usually, issues of justice get dragged down to a political level, so battle lines get drawn based on political boundaries. But justice doesn’t belong to politics; it belongs to God and His kingdom. We let God and His story tell us how to interact. I think that is starting to happen, but we have a ways to go. It’s not a super-safe conversation to have in the church, because you still run the risk of being characterized as one political side or the other.
How do you think the church is called to respond to injustice in general, and particularly to this issue of immigration??
How do you think the church is called to respond to injustice in general, and particularly to this issue of immigration?
Adam
The biblical story calls us to remember who we are and allow that to shape how we interact with other people. Yes, an undocumented immigrant has broken the law, but I’ve broken God’s law with some degree of regularity too. Scripture calls us to see them, like myself, as in need of grace and worthy of compassion.
Churches need to look at their neighborhood and understand the people there, understand the pain and brokenness and the extent to which it’s [inflicted by] the system. The people of God enter into that pain and brokenness and actively pursue justice. For us, it has to involve immigration because there is no way to be a church in our neighborhood without thinking of that.
Ben
The Bible teaches us to value sacrifice and obedience over protecting our personal rights, and that’s just an un-American way to think. What does it mean to live justly and love sacrificially, whether it will benefit me or hurt me? The Bible is clear that God uses even people’s evil, sinful actions for their salvation or the salvation of others. So the question is not, “Should they be here?” or, “Have they done something wrong?” but, “What is God calling me to do?”
Jeanette
The Church is called to be at the forefront of social-justice issues by engaging in biblical justice. God justifies us as sinners, but He doesn’t stop there. He’s committed even more broadly to the brokenness of our world and calling all of it back into relationship with Him.
It’s sad that we’ve only had one idea of what it means to “be about justice,” and that is to change the laws to almost mandate justice. And while I think the laws will change if we are active justice-bearers, I don’t think that’s the only way to bring about change. It’s also a question about the way we use power. Jesus was a radical example of that: He left the riches of heaven and entered a different context, taking on sacrifices and giving up every right to assert power.
What dangers do you see if the church takes merely a political or pragmatic view toward immigration and doesn’t get involved?
Adam
There’s a disconnect between a God who is pursuing people and a Church that is drawing lines and saying, “This group of people is off limits.” A big problem in the Old Testament was that people became self-focused and forgot they were the channel of God’s purposes in the world. Over time they became perpetrators of injustice. If we stand by and let injustice happen long enough, it stands to reason that we ourselves might become perpetrators of the very things we’re watching now.
What are some of the other big justice issues out there now, and how can we balance one important cause (like immigration) with so many others?
Adam
From where I sit in NYC, some of the biggest issues of justice today are immigration, human trafficking, access to education and adequate housing (and other basic human needs), racism, and poverty. Issues often come into the spotlight as the media picks up on things, and then we move on when the media moves on. There might not be room in most of our hearts to get fired up about all the injustice we see around us. I think it would crush us.
My humble suggestion is that Christians put the majority of their prayer, passion, resources and effort into the issues of injustice in their local communities. Our stand against injustice—or, perhaps better, for justice—is best done in our local context. It has been my experience that focusing on local issues of injustice not only helps the church orient its mission to its community but also reveals the global implications of those issues.
So there is a place for caring about meta-justice, but it arises out of the pain of your neighbor. This helps guard against picking the next hot topic as your banner for the year, only to choose a more popular one next year. You can’t very well look your homeless neighbor in the eye and say, “Sorry, I’ve chosen to get involved in another justice issue this year. Too bad you didn’t lose your house two years ago, when homelessness was more chic.”
Ben
There seems to be a diminishing focus on apartheid, segregation, abortion and other issues. In our culture, problems seem to eventually move from “a major disruption requiring drastic action” to “a regrettable part of the status quo that we’ve learned to live with.” Yet I think it is as important for the Church to have a biblical, gospel-centered response to those issues as to immigration, racism, etc.
The answer to both the questions of “How do we make and measure real progress?” and “How do we decide what issues to focus on and how to approach them?” rest on getting in tune with God. God uses the obedient in powerful ways.
Jeanette
I ask, “What do you look for when you’re going to move into a new neighborhood?” I think the list is intuitive: housing, education, safety. (Violence is often an indicator that injustice is underway.) There are others, but this is a short list. Education can be an incredible grace gift from God in helping to bring justice into the hands of some of the most vulnerable people in our world. Education can level the playing field and re-allocate power. If injustice is the abuse or misuse of power, forging ways to re-allocate some of that can be really, really effective
What one message about justice do you wish every church leader in America understood?
Adam
That justice is not a political issue. It’s a gospel issue. The coming of Christ into the world was marked by justice and compassion. The spread of God’s kingdom is marked by the same. If grace is extending to people things they don’t deserve, then biblical justice is extending to people things they do deserve. You do not have to disconnect the two. Justice gives a taste of the gospel.
Ben
Well said, Adam. But I guess I would say not just that they don’t need to be separated but that they can’t be separated. They weren’t separated in Jesus’ ministry. EFCA churches pride themselves on being gospel-centered churches. The gospel is that we can be reconciled through the death of Christ, and when we’re reconciled to God we can live in a kingdom of reconciliation. That’s the gospel we’re preaching. If we don’t live it out, it’s a hollow offer.
Jeanette
It’s one thing to understand God’s heart for justice in some abstract way, as a theoretical idea, but it’s another to be sitting in the heart of the brokenness of our city and to understand that. To think about two children who were born to a crack-addicted mom; who don’t have any neighbors who are holding down a mortgage payment much less looking out for them; who are going to a school where they’ve had three teachers in one school year; who are waking up every day to drive-by shootings. God’s justice speaks to that. And His primary heart for executing that justice is through the people He’s called into His kingdom.
Jennifer M. Kvamme is student ministries coordinator at Centennial EFC (Forest Lake, Minn.), where she tries to find regular opportunities to involve students in God’s kingdom work at home and around the world.