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Christian Living

wehispanics 08/25/09

Kingdoms in Conflict

(Click here for Spanish) I talked yesterday with an international leader of a great denomination, who told me that as he has studied the theology of immigration he discovered that throughout history God has used migratory movements to spread His Gospel in the earth.  His opinion is that the Church must minister to all, in fulfillment of its own call, regardless of legal or immigration status.

The Apostle Paul teaches that, as a result of our faith in Christ, we Christians have dual citizenship.  We belong to two kingdoms simultaneously: the Kingdom of Heaven and the earthly kingdom (or nation) to which each of us belongs.   There is no doubt about which of these two kingdoms is more important: the spiritual, eternal and infinite or the material kingdom, which is temporary and limited.    

However, we must be careful not to fall into the error of despising the earthly, because in fact we were created to live in this world, albeit temporarily, and our responsibility, as long as we live in it, is to fulfill the purposes of God, here and now.  God loves His natural creation, despite its being ephemeral, and has given it a purpose: to serve us to fulfill our eternal mission.  It may be secondary, but it is important; the natural is an instrument, not an enemy of the eternal.  

Because of the Fall, the two kingdoms are often in conflict.   The demands of the one frequently contradict – or seem to contradict – those of the other.  Because of that, the theological interpretation of my friend – that the Church must minister to all without inquiring about their legal status – arouses strong controversy, even among Christians.   Many, especially now when several immigration reform proposals are being bandied about in the United States, are offended by the human wave of undocumented immigrants that has entered the country in the last ten years.   As a consequence, their civic-political instincts tend to polarize them towards those biblical mandates of obedience to laws.  Others, whose feelings of compassion cause them to focus on the enormous difficulties and risks that the undocumented and their families face, are prone to emphasize the biblical mandates of hospitality towards foreigners and solidarity with their plight.

Lack of space prevents me from making a thorough analysis of the situation, which has many aspects and nuances.   However, we can see that a part of the problem, at least from the perspective of my friend, is this conflict that sometimes occurs between the two kingdoms.  As citizens of our nation, we Christians want to respect and abide by the law.  However, as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we recognize the priority duty of loving our neighbor and expressing solidarity with his needs. 

In honor of the truth, we Christians must recognize, as we approach this issue, the complicity of the whole political, economic and legal system of our nation, having allowed millions of human beings to enter and take up residence in our country with impunity.  Those responsible, both government officials and citizens, did it for their own convenience, whether political or economic, due to a family obligation or as a protest against laws that they considered unjust or impractical.  We have massively disregarded the law ourselves, as a people.  But, be it for whatever cause, the fact remains that the authorities and the people of the United States have allowed a massive number of undocumented to enter, to work and to establish roots here.

On the other hand, we Christians must also realize that those who brandish political arguments are appealing to our patriotic or to our empathetic sentiments, evoking either logic or religion, often for their own interests, partisan, economic or affective (family ties, class solidarity, etc.).  Therefore, their arguments must be weighed carefully, lest we allow ourselves to be swept away and to become instruments of others, whose true motives are not known to us

Yes, the kingdoms are often in conflict.  But, it is the privilege of Christians to find in God’s Wisdom the motives, the tone, the arguments and the sensible proposals to help to reconcile relations and to find solutions capable of receiving broad support among our citizenry.  This is part of our mission as reconcilers, peace-makers and sowers of justice.

I invite you to share your comments with me at blog@joselgonzalez.com and to read many more of my articles on our Hispanic culture at www.semilla.org. We’ll talk more next week…

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