The Stranger at the Gate — Immigration Through Scripture's Eyes
The immigration debate has become a proxy war for deeper questions about identity, security, and compassion. This plan cuts through political rhetoric by examining the Bible's extensive teaching on foreigners, refugees, borders, and hospitality — confronting both 'open borders' and 'close the borders' camps with what Scripture demands.
The word "immigration" has become a Rorschach test. Say it in a room and you will immediately discover the political temperature of everyone present. For some, the immigrant is a symbol of everything generous and hopeful in a society. For others, the immigrant represents everything disordered and threatening. In both cases, the actual person — the human being who left home, risked everything, and arrived somewhere unfamiliar — can disappear behind the abstraction.
The Bible will not allow this disappearance. Scripture mentions the stranger, the sojourner, and the foreigner over one hundred and fifty times. God commands Israel to love the stranger because they were strangers in Egypt. Jesus identifies himself with the stranger in one of his most sobering parables. And the early church was, from its very first days, a community that crossed every ethnic, cultural, and national boundary the ancient world had constructed.
What to Expect
Over seven days, this plan examines the Bible's extensive teaching on foreigners, refugees, borders, and belonging. It draws on the insights of Tim Keller, N.T. Wright, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to help us see what Scripture demands — which turns out to be more radical than the political left imagines and more ordered than the political right fears. Each day confronts slogans from both sides with the full weight of biblical witness.
Who This Plan Is For
This plan is for any Christian who wants to move beyond cable news talking points and engage the immigration question with the depth, nuance, and compassion that Scripture requires.