Conservatives are tired of hearing progressives lecture them, especially about the Bible. On the issue of immigration, left-leaning advocates of migrant rights are quick to cite scripture, including many who don’t profess Christianity in their own lives. It can come off as an irritating bit of sophistry when aimed at lifelong churchgoers who prefer strict immigration policies.
And yet, what if the critics are right?
The command to aid the stranger in need, even at risk to oneself and against the taboos of one’s tribe, recurs throughout the New Testament—exemplified, of course, in the parable of the Good Samaritan. While theologians debate its precise meaning, and most folks merely take up their preferred party’s line, some politically conservative Christians accept that their obligation to strangers is no mere abstraction. In a rural part of the Texas panhandle, I spoke with members of one church who agree that their duty to help immigrants is literal and profound. And since Jesus describes his followers as those who “hear my words and put them into practice,” they are acting on their convictions each day.
I talked with Kimberly Snelgrooes last summer, not long after she’d finished teaching a missions class at the summertime Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church in Panhandle, Texas. She asked a group of about 80 elementary school–age children if they knew what the word immigrant meant.
