The current attitude in America and indeed around the world includes much animosity towards perceived outsiders like refugees, mainly Muslims, and immigrants, mainly Hispanics and Mexicans, at the hands of Christians and non-Christians alike. A culture of fear and hostility is being perpetuated by those in power who are ostracizing and demonizing these vulnerable populations through derogatory extremist language and discriminatory policies. Support for minimizing the numbers of refugees and immigrants allowed into the United States, building border walls, deporting many who are already here, and enhancing security on these borders is high in many areas and ultimately comes from a place of ignorance, prejudice, and/or fear of personal harm to body and property and harm to the economy and communities. This fear is largely a result of the antagonistic propaganda being spewed by the powerful members of society who are predominantly rich white men, some who would call themselves Christian, and through the works of the enemy. This fear and the wielding of it for economic, political or personal gain does not come from tenants of the Christian faith that teaches love for neighbors as well as enemies, yet many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are the most vocal supporters of exclusionary walls and divisions that would seek to distance them and this country even further from people seeking refuge, often from war and violence, and a chance at a better life. One cannot profess faith in Jesus as Lord, on one hand, and advocate the exclusion and oppression of the most vulnerable of these, on the other, for these are two opposites that cannot be reconciled. This is not only hypocrisy, it is the evidence of a lack of faith and disbelief in the word of God. "The way of the cross and the way of the sword are irreconcilable."[2] Whether the weapon of choice is an actual sword or a gun, a wall or language, anything less than acceptance and love toward all humanity is irreconcilable to Jesus' message and should therefore be intolerable to those who consider themselves his followers. At every opportunity he was preaching and living out unconditional love, abundant humility, and perpetual sacrifice. The spirit of fear which underlies much of these divisive acts and is contrary to Christianity must be addressed and dismantled within ourselves and within our world by following his example of selfless love.
Fear
is synonymous with worry, often developing out of uncertainty, and is an
emotional response to a perceived threat that is real or imagined.[3]
Fear and worry are lies disseminated by the enemy with the goal of bringing
distraction, division, and destruction to keep humanity from turning to God for
its salvation, peace and security. Fear of death seems to be the most broadly
held fear that plagues Christians and non-Christians alike. The widespread belief
that death, and anything which can lead to death, is the worst thing that can befall
a person causes people to live their lives in constant fear of dying. Jesus warns against this fear of death and those who might
inflict it, saying, “Do not be afraid of those who kill
the body and after that can do no more. But I will show
you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has
authority to throw you into hell," (Luke 12:4-5). He is reminding and
encouraging people that, "Death is not the
worst thing that can happen,"[4] and that death and those who might inflict it is not
something to be feared for he has overcome death. If the enemy can succeed in
convincing people that death is in fact the worst case scenario and anyone
threatening to cause death should be feared, he gains influence and can spread
this fear through manifestations of violence, hatred, and oppression toward
others.
Going
hand in hand with the fear of death is the fear that someone or something is
going to inflict harm on oneself or a loved one. With dictators committing
genocide against their own countrymen as is being witnessed in Syria and Sudan, to choose just two
locations, millions are left with no choice but to try to flee or face certain
death. As the violence in these and many other areas breeds greater fear, desperation,
and hopelessness on all sides, one manifestation can be seen in the terror
attacks that spread across borders, with terrorists carrying out attacks all
over the world. Another manifestation is the fleeing of millions hoping to
escape death and oppression. When the attacks come at the hands of people who
are considered outsiders due to their faith or ethnicity, fear and animosity
towards all people of similar backgrounds becomes another excuse for a fearful
reaction and a rejection of those from that same background who are fleeing the
same violence. Not only are some of the oppressed becoming oppressors, many
more deeply oppressed people are suffering even further oppression, not at the
hands of these terrorists and dictators but from those to whom they are turning
for help. As Pope Frances
says, “No one should be forced to flee his or her homeland but the evil is
doubled when, facing terrible circumstances, the migrant is thrown into the
clutches of human traffickers to cross the border. And it is tripled if,
arriving in the land where he or she hoped to find a better future, one is
despised, exploited or even enslaved.”[5]
Instead of being welcomed, these most vulnerable of people often face rejection
from those with the ability to provide refuge and even from those who are
called to love and care for them.
Fear can also lead to other dangerous
reactions that include stockpiling weapons for the perceived imminent attack,
building walls to keep out the imagined enemy, amassing personal wealth for
one's own benefit and security, utilizing hateful language to demean those who
are seen as somehow different than oneself and must thereby pose some threat to
body or lifestyle, and distorting God's word to support an errant agenda. The
fear-mongers who preach safety through violence and at the end of a gun, who
advocate protection only through a wall on the border and more stringent laws,
who defend the vilification and oppression of strangers and others, are not
speaking from a place of love or justice. Rather, they are acting from a place
of fear and deception which is in direct opposition to God's word which
repeatedly calls Christians to not be afraid, not to worry and to show love to
everyone.[6] To take up arms to defend oneself against some threat
is to become that very same threat that instilled the fear in the first place
and makes one no better than someone who may seek to inflict harm.
While these fearful responses have
become startlingly normalized and even expected, it certainly is not the
response God calls his followers to have. Nothing about Jesus' words or deeds
condones violence or retaliation for any reason. The
Sermon on the Mount has the foundational and radical teachings of loving one's
enemies, praying for one's oppressors, and resisting the temptation to react
with anything but love, sacrifice, generosity, and humility toward anyone who
might seek to do harm. Jesus came to earth, not
to condone fearful reactions, but to bring the truth in love and to show the
world another way. Jesus reminds his followers that God is love unconditional and it
is this love that aught to compel believers to show love to neighbors as well
as enemies. He is the very embodiment of unconditional love, teaching that, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out
fear. . . We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister
is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have
seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God
must also love their brother and sister," (1 John 4:16, 19-21). To profess Christ as
Lord and then to speak against another person, whether friend or foe, is to
bear false witness to one's faith and to be a deemed a liar. Any actions, words, or thoughts toward others that do not
reveal his love are not of God and cannot be credited to him. Jesus commands
his followers to not only love their neighbors, but more importantly to love
their enemies and to go so far as to lay down one's life and give up one's
comforts for them as he did for all of humanity while we were still his enemies.
Loving those who love us is easy but the challenge is to love those who we
dislike and even view as enemies because Jesus does and if we are to be like
him, we must seek to act in the same manner. It is in this love of enemy and
stranger and the subsequent rejection of all words, actions, and beliefs which
perpetuate fear and the sinful acts that often follow, that justice and peace can
prevail.
Not
only are Christians called to love everyone including God, parents, neighbors,
foreigners, and enemies, they are called to welcome in these perceived enemies
and neighbors, not build walls and enact laws to keep them out. Fear traps both
the bully and the bullied. In a speech condemning fear and wall-building, Pope
Francis accurately describes the all-encompassing ability of fear to control
people on both sides of an issue, saying, “Citizens are walled-up, terrified,
on one side; on the other side, even more terrified, are the excluded and
banished.”[7] Promising
security and protection through greater violence and further division is a
false promise, for any security that professes to come from anything other than
God is a lie. God did not call his people to lives of fearfulness and safety,
but to live sacrificially, mercifully, justly and above all, with love in every
circumstance. Jesus asked people to give up everything they knew, including
families and homes, jobs and security, wealth and possessions, to follow him so
that they might gain eternal rewards far greater than any of the earthly treasures
they could imagine and would far outweigh the troubles of oppression, violence,
and injustice that he warned they would face. His repeated commands to not
worry and to not be afraid were reminders that his love is far greater than any
damage this world could inflict. There is no place for fear in a faithful
Christian life and is something that must constantly be rejected.
To
be living in love as Christ exemplified should mean that any lies of the enemy
are refuted with the word of God, particularly the powerful deception of fear. Fear
must not be the driving force in our lives or our responses to immigrants, refugees,
or even terrorists, who have all been demonized by false doctrines and
incorrect theology but all of whom we are commanded to love unconditionally. All of humanity stands before him as one body with every single
person being of inherent and equal value and necessity and there are no
divisions of nationality, wealth, or gender.[8] "Our Savior started life as a refugee, lived under the
military occupation of his enemies, spent his ministry years homeless, and was
persecuted to the point of execution,"[9] and
he loved and forgave us all still. We can then have no excuse for subjecting
anyone to the same abuse he underwent. He went to the cross for everyone and
offers everyone eternal life equally. There is immeasurable power in that kind
of love and sacrifice and it is in the embracing of and
living out of this radical love that the whole body of humanity can hope for reconciliation,
forgiveness, and justice. We will be held accountable
for the actions we take toward others, whether enemies, strangers, or friends,
so it is incumbent upon us to treat everyone as if they are Jesus and to bear
faithful witness to our faith. Our response as Christians should begin
and end in love for all, belief in the truth of God's word, and the knowledge
that no matter the threat, real or imagined, fear has no real power and death
is not the end of the story.
Bibliography
Adams, Sam.
"Week 2, Session 3," Lecture, Bend,
OR. September 19, 2016.
Belousek, Darrin
W. Snyder. Atonement, Justice, and Peace: The Message of the Cross and the Mission of the Church.
Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2012.
Gilmore, Chris.
"What If God Doesn't Want To Make America Great Again ..."
Huffingtonpost.com. July 18, 2016.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-if-god-doesnt-want-to-make-america-great-again_us_578b037be4b0e7c873504a05.
Pulliam Bailey,
Sarah. "As Election Nears, Pope Francis Warns against Fear, Building
Walls." November 06, 2016.
https://cdnpoli.net/links/as-election-nears-pope-francis-warns-against-fear-building-walls-343011.
[1] Post on
Facebook Sept. 21, 2016.
[2]
Belousek, Atonement, Justice, and Peace, Grand Rapids, MI,
William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2012, 72.
[3] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/fear?s=t.
[4] Sam
Adams, "Week 2, Session 3," Lecture, Kilns
College, Bend, OR,
(September 19, 2016).
[5] Sarah Pulliam
Bailey, "As Election Nears, Pope Francis Warns against Fear, Building
Walls," Washington Post, November 06, 2016,
https://cdnpoli.net/links/as-election-nears-pope-francis-warns-against-fear-building-walls-343011.
[6] Romans
8:14;12, John 14:27, Luke 12:22-34.
[7] Pulliam
Bailey, "As Election Nears."
[8] Ephesians 2:19.
[9] Chris
Gilmore, "What If God Doesn't Want To Make America Great Again,"
Huffingtonpost.com, July 18, 2016,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-if-god-doesnt-want-to-make-america-great-again_us_578b037be4b0e7c873504a05.
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