Southern Baptists Take Stand on Refugees, Racism in America

America's second-largest religious group wants its members to welcome refugees.

At its annual meeting this week, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution on the resettlement of refugees in the United States.

Alan Cross, a Southern Baptist minister and refugee advocate talks with CBN News about the meeting's outcome. Click play to watch.

"Scripture calls for and expects God's people to minister to the sojourner," the resolution said, referring to Bible verses that discuss welcoming strangers. "We encourage Southern Baptist churches and families to welcome and adopt refugees into their churches and homes."

The resolution stated, "that refugees are people loved by God, made in His image, and that Christian love should be extended to them as special objects of God's mercy in a world that has displaced them from their homelands."

"When they come here to the United States, we don't want to turn our back on them. We want to minister to them; we want to help them or share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them, and we want to advocate for them," Alan Cross, a Southern Baptist minister, told CBN News.

In addition, it addressed concerns about the safety of taking in refugees.

"We call on the governing authorities to implement the strictest security measures possible in the refugee screening and selection process, guarding against anyone intent on doing harm," it said.

Matthew Soerens of World Relief, an evangelical organization that provides refugee and immigration services, told The Washington Post that churches that agree to sponsor refugees in the U.S. also help keep those refugees from becoming hostile to their new home.

"A strong integration process in a faith-based or community organization, that's the best antidote for any sort of radicalization," he said.

The SBC also voted to condemn the Confederate battle flag. SBC representatives encouraged those who still fly the flag to stop as a way to promote racial harmony. 

Cross told CBN News that the Church, in general, gives an answer to racial issues that America does not provide.

"We are unified in Christ across races, across socio-economic groups," he said. "As America divides and fights over these issues, the Church can have a unified voice, to say there is peace in Jesus, there's sacrificial love in Christ."

"And as we love one another sacrificially, we don't just promote our own way of life over and above others. We see a beautiful picture emerge of what Heaven is like, and we can model that," he continued.

The SBC also voted to stand against boycotts of Israel, urged members to exercise their right to vote, and voted to oppose women being eligible for the U.S. military draft.