The root problems of refugeeism are giant and many. Policy, economics, discrimination. I will never forget when a Syrian project leader from Aleppo told me we are all responsible for displacement around the world because of our petty hatreds, our greed, and our blind eyes.
“We are all the cause,” she said. “We are all the problem.”
Everyone is corrupt. So where do we begin? Everyone is sinful. So what hope could there ever be?
First of all, it must be said that governments and markets and tribal identities are not inherently evil. Powers can be used for good. Earthly principalities can see reform. The government is on the shoulders of Jesus, and of his reign there is no end (Is. 9:6).
As such, lest anyone believe I am mandating the rejection of government or advocating total resistance of imperfect institutions, I assure you that is not my view. Nor is it biblical.
We are all called to “Submit yourself for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men” (1 Pet. 2:13-15) and accept our governors because they are established by God (Rom. 13:1-3). We are called to acquiesce to earthly leadership not blindly, but sincerely, hoping for their good work and praying for their maintenance.
Remind people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all. – Titus 3:1-2
Each of these commands affirms that the Church ought to be obedient to earthly authority—but not utterly, not without question. We are submissive, but not totally submissive. God appoints authorities, but none of them have authority over him.
These same passages also call us to do good (thereby silencing ignorant speech), to be peaceable and considerate, to show humility, and to do right.
Governments, markets, and earthly cultures may be good or bad—it seems their badness often overwhelms their goodness—but they are, at least in our present world, necessary and natural. They are among God’s ordained instruments for securing peace, dealing justice, and pursuing social good and progress. To be sure, States have created as many refugees as they have helped, but that does not mean they are beyond the pale.
We know how to resist and how to reform because God also tells us to be obedient to him above all (Ex. 20:2-3; Matt. 6:24; Matt. 22:37). Whenever we are forced to decide between the culture of God and the culture of men, we must choose God—and we can do it with so much joy. We are called not to corruption, but to holiness. Sometimes that means resistance.
Scripture tells us to have nothing to do with those who are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:1-5). The Church is directed to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires,” which is made possible through the divine power given to us “through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Pet. 1:3-4). We are called to cling to the good and resist evil.
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. – Romans 16:17-19
In light of this realization, that the Church must seek the cause of the King regardless of earthly policies, what can we do to tackle the root causes of refugeesim?
Like the problems themselves, the solutions are many. My goal is not to prescribe a step-by-step manual for ending oppression (see Chapter Nine for suggestions for concrete actions). Rather, I want to suggest a variety of postures the Church can adopt and prerogatives it can press into to resist evil with good and, ultimately, to quell our world’s wellspring of refugeeism. Some are positions the Church can take on and some are opportunities for action, but they are all what I will call moments of “presence” for the Church.
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