“The Kingdom of God is in the Midst of Undocumented Immigrants and Incarcerated (Immigrant) Poor People”

Because of obsessive patriotic zeal and dangerous nationalistic ideologies, many (Evangelical) Christians have lost the capacity to think Christianly and biblically and to act with mercy and compassion, as Jesus would have and commanded us to do likewise, toward undocumented immigrants. This is called the idolatry of nationalism and it is a grave sin before God.

Many of those undocumented immigrants come from the so-called poor nations and they themselves live in the so-called “extreme poverty” and “almost extreme poverty.” Guess what! The God of Bible is on the side of the poor and justice, not just “Christian poor,” but all the poor people in the world; he has commanded his people to care for the poor, which simply means to make an eternal impact and investment in the lives of those who are economically weak and needy for the kingdom of God. This is what servant evangelism looks like. This is the way to store up your treasures in heaven.

Some of us from the Christian community here would give a lot of money to international mission just to help those poor and pagan people in the black and brown world stay in their place, and not because we sincerely want to make an eternal impact in their lives–the very thing Jesus has commanded his followers to do: “store up your treasures in heaven” by distributing your wealth to the poor, demonstrating compassion toward them, and by willingly investing your wealth and resources in their lives as a Kingdom investment–that is to advance the Kingdom of God in America (local Christian mission) and in their country (international Christian mission). The undocumented adult immigrants and their children in
American prison-shelters and refugees-camps
are potential recipients of the benefits of the Kingdom of God on earth. The majority of these people try to flee from their country simply because of political violence and social evils they can no longer endure, and not because one day they decided that they were going to break American Immigration laws and violate American Border Ruling.

How are Christian communities in the U.S.A. defending their rights to life and existence, and their human rights as Imago Dei? How are Evangelical Christians in America treating them, both through word and action? How are American Christians with power and influence using these resources to provide hope to these economically-disavantaged group?

Confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior is not enough to guarantee your seat in the Kingdom of God when you have a heart of a monster and that your interests and values contradict the values and interests of the Kingdom of God and the transformative and redemptive teachings of Jesus Christ. Undocumented immigrants and incarcerated poor people matter to Jesus! He has also called these group of individuals to be partarkers of the joy of his Kingdom. The message of the Kingdom is a clarion call to renounce idolatrous American nationalism, to see all people, especially the economically-disavantaged poor and families, from God’s perspective, to develop an unadulterated and single vision for the things of God, and it is also an urgent call to snatch individuals from their evil ways and actions through the proclamation of the spiritual salvation of the kingdom to all people.