All across America immigrants marched in the streets this week.  In addition to marching, many did not go to work or buy anything on Monday May 1, to highlight the contribution they make to the U.S. economy.            Illegal immigration has become a contentious topic.  Tempers flare and politicians run scared because it seems everyone has an opinion about it and many people have a financial stake in any laws, or enforcement of laws, that are enacted.

            As Christians, we look to the Bible to provide us with direction and moral principles to follow.  The scriptures give us two basic principles that apply to the subject of immigrants.  The first is found in Leviticus 19:34, “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

            This directive to treat aliens and foreigners well is repeated a number of times in the Old Testament.  It is from these scriptures that the writers of the Declaration of Independence derived the famous statement that “all men are created equal.”

            The second scriptural principle has to do with the conduct of aliens.  The Old Testament required them to keep the Sabbath and all other laws of the Jewish nation in which they were residing.  So sum up the Biblical teaching, aliens are to be welcomed but they are expected to behave themselves.

            Interpreting and applying these principles becomes a matter of conscience for individual believers.  Behaving themselves could be interpreted narrowly to mean that all illegal aliens should be immediately deported or jailed.  But it could also be loosely interpreted to mean that anyone is welcome to live here as long as they don’t commit murder or sell drugs on the street.

            I freely admit to a bit of prejudice in this matter based upon my experiences in foreign mission work.  Most of our 10 million illegal aliens are from Mexico.  A typical Mexican man working as a laborer in Mexico can expect to earn about five dollars for eight hours of hard work; if he can find work.  Food costs about the same in Mexico as it does in the United States.  This is crushing poverty.  There are few opportunities to better yourself in Mexico.  Widespread government corruption adds to the oppression.

            If my family were starving, I would do whatever I had to do to find them some food.  That’s the motivation for most of these illegal aliens.  The vast majority of them would gladly return home tomorrow if they could survive, but they can’t.

            This simple fact gets lost in the political rhetoric but it is really the most powerful truth in the immigration debate.  Based upon these Biblical principles and my own experience I offer the following observations.

            Immigrants should be allowed to pay taxes.  President Bush’s guest worker program is a good idea in this respect.  Our borders should be secured and that would be much easier to do if legal immigration were easier to obtain.  We have several legal Mexican immigrants in our local church and I know first hand that the process is unnecessarily grueling.

            Mexico must be forced to clean up its government, its military and its police force.  If this were accomplished, business could flourish in Mexico and much of this problem would simply fade away.  I realize this last statement is a bit utopian and grandiose, but we have seen several third world countries make great strides in this area in the past couple of decades, so it is not outside the realm of possibility. 

            Mexico has been seeing large numbers of people converted to Christianity in recent years.  As those men and women take their rightful place in positions of leadership, positive change can occur.

Pastor Steven G. Dyer

More people are going to church in America now than ever before.  Perhaps you’ve wondered why new churches seem to be cropping up regularly.  In order to accommodate the increase, we either have to start new churches, build bigger buildings for existing churches, or conduct multiple services.            All of these approaches are being adopted.  According to the Barna Group, 47 percent of Americans now attend church.  That’s up from 37 percent in 1996.  Couple this with the population growth and it explains the increase in church plants and church expansion.

            But this is not the only indicator America may be turning around spiritually.  Barna also reports that 47 percent of American adults are now reading the Bible every week.  Nearly one in four is involved with a small group Bible study and a record 27 percent of adults volunteer in some way at their church.

            Is all this indicative of a religious revival in America?  George Barna is hesitant to draw such a strong conclusion.  Instead he replies, “If we see stability or even minimal growth in all of these measures over the next year or two, then we can confidently suggest that the U.S. is genuinely experiencing meaningful change in people’s religious habits.”

            Another study completed last year shows a very strong correlation between church attendance and family stability.  Respected researchers Dr. Brad Wilcox and Dr. Byron Johnson surveyed Americans who describe themselves as Christians.  This is a distinctive approach that has never been tried before. 

            Their findings show that people who attend church, especially weekly, are less likely to divorce.  They are more likely to report that their marriages are happy and are also happier in general than those who do not attend church.

            Wilcox and Johnson point out that religion has been the moral guide for our nation for two and half centuries, so it’s no coincidence that church attendance still correlates with marital faithfulness and happiness.

            I believe there are several reasons for the increased interest in spiritual things.  Certainly September 11 had a strong impact upon our psyche.  It reminded us of our mortality.  Many Americans are also seeing the emptiness of humanistic philosophies that once captivated our hopes.  Fewer people today put their faith in scientistic thought or humanistic utopian dreams.  The Age of Aquarius arrived and then left its’ adherents empty.

            Another reason for increased church attendance is the rapid adapting of new churches to our changing American culture.  This trend is much more noticeable in larger cities than here in Grove.  New churches today usually appeal to a particular demographic such as young adults, alternative cultural adherents, or yuppie families. 

            But even in our area we see churches with distinctive congregations such as cowboy churches and even Messianic Judaism.  Each local congregation today is developing a distinctive style of worship and ministry focus. 

            Is it revival?  Not yet.  But it certainly is an indicator of better things.

Pastor Steven G. Dyer