In 2019, the Maybe God Podcast team released a two-part episode called “Can Loving ‘Illegals’ Save Our Souls?”, which quickly became one of our most popular releases ever. Upon seeing the overwhelming listener response, Julie Mirlicourtois (MGP Producer and The Story’s Media Director) said to me and the rest of the team, “We have to do more.”
Within a few days, we were off to the races with the crazy idea of producing a documentary film that tells the real stories of Central American migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers who are crossing our southern border. We knew this would be a risky venture for three reasons. First, none of us had ever made a full-length film before, so there was a decent chance that this film would be a total disaster. Second, it required a significant investment of time and money, so there was a good chance we’d run out of both. And third, the border crisis is one of America’s most divisive issues, so no matter what we said in the film, we were almost certainly going to upset a significant segment of our audience.
Fast-forward thirty months and, as most of you know, ACROSS has been accepted to several international film festivals and last month, our film was awarded a silver medal at WorldFest Houston! We also hosted our first-ever screening of ACROSS at Houston’s Match Theater in April, and we just announced an additional, free screening next Friday, May 20, 2022 from 7:00-8:30pm at The Story Church (4910 Montrose Blvd) to be followed by a live Q&A forum with Julie and me! This event is family-friendly (we’ll show an age-appropriate film for the kids in the Discipleship Hall). Be sure to RSVP; I would love to see you there!
Even with all of the early success of ACROSS, the risk of alienating people who are deeply concerned about illegal immigration remains high. I’ve heard from several friends at my church who are troubled by the idea that, by encouraging Christians to love people who cross the border illegally, we are enabling sin and willfully ignoring all the negative consequences created by a porous border.
They’re right to be concerned. The situation at the southern border is a monumental disaster, and the political response from Washington has been an abject failure. There can be no doubt that asinine border control policies over the last few decades have emboldened the drug cartels, victimized countless women and children, and dishonored law-abiding, would-be migrants who’ve patiently waited their turn.
Our decision to make ACROSS was not a denial of these facts, but an insistence that two things can be true at the same time:
1. Illegal immigration is a serious issue that must be addressed, and
2. The biblical mandate to love immigrants, strangers, and foreigners is not limited by their legal status.
Throughout the entire Bible, God commanded believers to be holy. The holiness of God’s people is the running theme in the Old Testament book called Leviticus, where the word holy (qadesh in Hebrew) appears over 150 times.
The root of qadesh is a word meaning “to cut or separate” so, biblically speaking, to be holy means to be a cut above, or to be separate from the status quo. Holiness means reflecting God’s heart by aspiring toward perfection and by separating yourself from sin.
The essential question Leviticus poses is, “Instead of trying to be like everybody else, how are you aspiring to be more like God – more merciful, more just, more compassionate, more holy?”
This passage from Leviticus 20 is a good example of God calling His people out to live differently than everyone else around them:
“You must keep all my rules and all my regulations, and do them so that the land I am bringing you to, where you will live, won’t vomit you out. You must not follow the practices of the nations that I am throwing out before you, because they did all these things and I was disgusted with them. But I have told you, ‘You will certainly possess the fertile land; I am giving it to you to possess. It is a land full of milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from all other peoples. You must be holy to me, because I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from all other peoples to be my own.”
– Leviticus 20:22-24, 26
The nations around God’s people were routinely doing unholy things: they were sacrificing their children as offerings to a false god named Molech and they had justice systems that were based on vengeance instead of justice. But in Leviticus, God said things like, “You will not sacrifice your children to Molech or to any god” (18:21) and “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself” (19:18).
And regarding how His people should behave around immigrants and foreigners, God could not have been clearer. While other nations were notorious for treating outsiders and immigrants as infidels and slaves, God said,
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33).
In other nations, the poor (especially poor foreigners) were seen as a curse and left to fend for themselves. But in Leviticus, God said,
“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God” (19:9-10).
Whether it’s with how we treat children, or women, or criminals, or immigrants, or the poor, God has always called His people to aspire for something greater than the status quo. That’s holiness.
It’s easy to look at Leviticus and think it’s irrelevant to us today. And yes: we’re clearly not bound by the letter of Levitical law. You won’t burn in Hell for eating crawfish for lunch, but that doesn’t mean Leviticus no longer applies to us. In fact, it’s safe to say that you can’t really take Jesus seriously without taking Leviticus seriously, because Jesus took Leviticus seriously. His most famous sermon, The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), is entirely predicated on Levitical law.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished…For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
– Matthew 5:17-20
This makes it sound Jesus is saying that anyone who wants to follow him has to follow the Law, too, which would be a deal-breaker for most of us here today. I mean, we like you Jesus, but it’s just too hard. But if you read the rest of his sermon, you’ll see that he’s not calling us to live according to Leviticus…not because it’s too hard, but because it’s not hard enough. The reason Christians aren’t bound to the letter of the Law is because the Law isn’t aspirational enough.
Jesus said,
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt.5:48)
Then, one law at a time, Jesus breaks it down. Levitical Law instructed people not to murder other people. That I can handle because, despite all the shenanigans of certain Little League umpires, I still haven’t murdered anyone…yet.
Before any of us proudly proclaim non-murderer status, however, check out what Jesus said next:
“But I tell you that anyone who is angry will be in danger of hell.” (Matt.5:22)
Leviticus also says, “Don’t sleep around,” which is much harder than “Don’t murder,” but still I’ve managed to not sleep around. But according to Jesus, “not sleeping around” doesn’t equal sexual holiness. Instead, he said:
“Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already slept with her in his heart.” (Matt.5:28)
This trend continues throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount. The Law says “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” but Jesus said, “Turn the other cheek.” The Law says “Love your neighbors” but Jesus said, “Love your enemies.”
I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I wish we could go back to following the Law again because, in many ways, it’s easier than following Jesus. The Law is simply words on a page, which can be easily understood and attained, but Jesus’ insistence that we become perfect and holy exceeds my moral capacity.
It would be so much easier to see the border crisis as a political football instead of a humanitarian disaster, but the holiness of God doesn’t give us that option. As Christians, it’s okay to want a stronger border. It’s okay to advocate for a border wall. It’s okay to vote your political conscience. But it’s never okay to be cold-hearted or spiteful toward refugees and immigrants – no matter their legal status.
Spite toward strangers is the way of the world, but God has called believers to a higher standard. The biblical mandate is to love whoever the Lord puts in our path; therefore, every chance to love a stranger is a chance to love the Lord.
Jesus said it better than I ever could:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
– Matthew 25:34-40
If these issues have been a challenge for you, you’re not alone. These are troubling times, to be sure. But every Christian can grow to love more like Jesus. Loving immigrants and strangers begins with a heart transplant of the Holy Spirit. If you struggle with feelings of anger or resentment toward people who are crossing the border, ask God to give you a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) to love everyone the way He first loved you.
As we listened to the stories of Christian migrants from Central America, God made our hearts more like His. That’s why we made ACROSS.
