The U.S. Migrant Crisis is a Test for Christians

The U.S. Migrant Crisis is a Test for Christians June 30, 2019

Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez left El Salvador with dreams of giving his 23-month-old daughter Valeria a better life in the United States. 

His journey ended on the bank of the Rio Grande when their lifeless bodies washed up on the Texas border.

Their deaths were sadly similar to the death of three-year-old Alan Kurdi,  who drowned in the Mediterranean on Sept. 2, 2015. Photos of his body on the beach symbolized the refugee crisis in Syria.

Refugees aren’t generalities or stereotypes. They are suffering children with desperate parents struggling to find a better life.

And for those who survive the dangerous struggle and enter the U.S., their children are taken away and tortured. The Trump policy of separating children from refugee parents has led to a humanitarian crisis.

Evil is being perpetrated against children.

Children, on American soil, are being deprived of basic human rights. Families are being torn apart forever. Intentionally.

That some people still accept it, is horrific.

 To make excuses is inhumane.

To even begin to excuse it for a moment demonstrates how far our national morality has fallen.

This isn’t policy from previous administrations. This isn’t because of lack of funding or resources. This is the official, intentional policy of the Unites States government, under President Trump. No matter the history — this is a national disgrace.

From the border agents making arrests, all the way up to Trump and self-avowed ‘christian’ Vice-President Mike Pence, there is not a Christian involved in this situation. You can not participate in this evil and truly be a Christian.

This is one of the most stark, clear choices a Christian can make:

Defend torture of children,

or

support Christ.

You can’t do both.

You can not be a Christian and support what the government is doing to families and children.

The scripture is crystal clear. To deny these children is to deny Christ himself.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” ~ Matt. 25: 41-45

The refugee crisis at the United States border is a simple test that Christians either pass or fail.

If you see this suffering and want it to stop, you’re doing what Christ teaches.

If you make excuses, you’re not a Christian.

You are not a Christian, if you support this policy. You worship a false god of your own creation. Your prayers are empty words to yourself.

You either support the government driving nails into the Body of Christ or you defend the children made in the image of God.

Psalm 83:16-18:

Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.


Jim Meisner, Jr. holds a Master of Divinity.


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