There is more migration today than ever before in world history. Over a hundred million people have been forced to flee their homes due to war, famine, and persecution. Immigration policy is among the top concerns of voting citizens in nations around the world. But unfortunately, “Immigration” is one of the topics that has become polarized in many Western nations. This has two consequences: 

1. Everyone is categorized as either “pro-immigration” or “anti-immigration” without leaving any room for a nuanced discernment between desirable and undesirable forms of migration. Similarly, “immigrants” are treated as a single category, without distinguishing between tourists, terrorists, professional green card holders, and refugees who have lost everything.

2. Someone’s “take” on immigration is bundled together with their views on climate change, sexual ethics, gun control, abortion, racism, capitalism, etc. Most people assume that if your position on one of these issues is “left” or “right,” then your position on all the others will be the same.

But Christianity is not captive to the categories of 21st century political allegiances. Its ethics and politics do not neatly fit on one or another side of the growing divide in Western society. The Christian tradition has resources for thinking through each issue on its own terms rather than treating them as “guilty by association.” Above all, it promotes character qualities that seek the truth and the good of the world above any party allegiance or self-defense instinct.

“Immigration” is one of the topics that has become polarized in many Western nations.Yet Christians do not all agree on how to think about immigration. Appeals to “Christian values” are made both by people who want their nation to restrict immigration and by those who think it should welcome more immigrants. Those who advocate restrictive policies fear that their culture is under threat: mass immigration will sweep away traditional Christian values in a tide of foreign and unfamiliar ways of living. They believe that we must fight to preserve those values by keeping foreigners out.

But what if one of those values is to welcome strangers? Not, of course, all immigrants without discrimination – not known terrorists, or wealthy merchants, for example. Yet the vast majority of people seeking entry at the borders of Europe, Australia, and North America are neither. They are not trying to promote some high multicultural ideal or erode Western values. They treasure their home, its language, its way of life, as much as Westerners treasure theirs, and would have remained if their life or safety were not at risk.

The Bible has much to say about these kinds of immigrants. It even has a special Hebrew word for them: the ger.1  Consider the following passages (adapted from the NRSV): 


When a ger resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the ger. The ger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the ger as yourself, for you were gerim [the plural of ger] in the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

There shall be for both you and the ger a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you and the ger shall be alike before the Lord. You and the ger who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance. (Numbers 15:15-16)

You shall love the ger, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19)

Do these commandments, extracted from the middle of the Old Testament law, apply today? If so, are they meant for private individuals, national policy, or both? These questions plunge us into hotly contested topics like the relationship between church and state and the proper Christian use of the Old Testament. But at the least they denote an attitude of welcome, support, and equal status before the law, by which God’s people can reflect God’s just and gracious character. Moreover, these Bible verses are supported by similar ones in the New Testament. In one terrifying passage, Jesus even makes welcome of strangers one of the criteria for eternal salvation (see Matthew 25:31-46).

There is no zero-sum game between citizens and foreigners. In economics and in culture, wise and compassionate action will create more for everyone.In spite of these verses, Christians have not always been kind to immigrants throughout history. In early modernity Jews and Muslims were expelled from Spain and other European countries unless they converted to Christianity, motivated by a call to purify the body of Christ from all foreign "infections."2 Today many Christians see their faith as calling them to prioritize their own citizens over foreigners. But the ordo amoris tradition says nothing about national citizenship: all it says is that one should care first for one’s own family before helping strangers. This is no excuse for anyone whose family is sufficiently provided for to turn away strangers in need. Likewise, it is no excuse for wealthy nations to ignore the plight of strangers. There is no zero-sum game between citizens and foreigners. In economics and in culture, wise and compassionate action will create more for everyone. God calls us to give our lives to all in need because in doing so we will see his abundant life multiplied, like the loaves and the fish, to the satisfaction of all.

My coauthored book, On the Significance of Religion for Immigration Policy,3 explores these issues in more depth. It outlines the contours of the debate and identifies key trends in Christian attitudes, focusing on Europe and North America. Better still, it is Open Access, meaning you can download it free online. It is my hope that this will equip everyone to better understand the role that Christianity plays in one of the most urgent and pressing issues of our time.

To open one’s borders to strangers is to make oneself vulnerable... Yet to close one’s borders is to deny the gospel in one’s own heart and thus to erode Christian values from within.The paradox of Christian immigration policy reflects the paradox of the gospel. To open one’s national borders to strangers is to make oneself vulnerable: to risk erosion of the values and culture that one loves. Yet to close one’s borders is to deny the gospel in one’s own heart and thus to erode Christian values from within. Jesus said "those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matt 16:25). In like fashion, the only way to save Western culture is to risk losing it. This is the practice of self-emptying kenosis (Philippians 2:5-11) that finds its deepest identity by not considering it something to cling to. It means refusing the world’s self-defensive power games and embracing the power that is made perfect in weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Only in this way will Christian values be preserved, and only in this way will Christians shine brilliantly with God’s wise and just compassion for all they are privileged to be able to help.