Questions about refugees are just not that simple

The author of the opinion piece entitled “Montana and Havre should welcome refugees” makes some thoughtful and valid points regarding available work and housing in our community and encouraging the residents of Havre to be welcoming and neighborly. Well and good.

However, I disagree with the main premise of his argument as reflected in the following statements: “The Old Testament tells us to show justice and mercy to the foreigner seeking refuge among us, because the Israelites knew full well what it was like to be strangers in a strange land.” (from Leviticus 19:34) and “Simply put, our faith (Christian) demands that we take in the orphan and the widow and the foreigner and the refugee. There is no room for interpretation, uncertainty or argument. We can accept it or deny it.” Really?

What about verses 9 and 10? “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.” Do our 21st century farming practices need to change?

How about verse 13 of the same chapter: “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.” What about verse 19: “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.” or verse 28: “You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.”

Does God forbid being paid weekly or monthly as opposed to being paid at the end of each day? Does He frown on tattoos or wearing a cotton blend in the 21st century? No. Those particular civil laws were specific to Old Testament Israel. The book of Leviticus spells out three categories of laws God gave to His people Israel:

1 )the moral law

2) laws governing how they were to worship Him; and

3) civil/political laws specific to the people of Israel at that time and place.

We need to keep that straight or we will end up discarding anything that doesn't fit our particular agenda and policy preferences. The book of Leviticus is all about holiness – God's holiness and how it finds its ultimate fulfillment in the holiness of the Savior Jesus for us.

There are no simple Christian answers to the Syrian refugee crisis. Yes, Christians are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, but what is the best way to do that? Does loving our Syrian neighbors mean opening our homes to them? Is that the most effective and only humane and loving way to keep both Americans and Syrians safe from ISIS attacks and Islamist violence? What about a “safe zone” in the Middle East? Is that possible?

Certainly there are similarities between Syrians fleeing ISIS and Mary and Joseph seeking refuge in Egypt in order to save Jesus from the murderous wrath of King Herod. I'm quite sure that most Christians in America would gladly welcome those Syrians who are fleeing the bloodlust of ISIS, as long as there was certainty that ISIS itself or that worldview wouldn’t cross the border with them.

Christians must agree that these Syrians are people who need our help and we need to love as Jesus loves and commands us to do. Where Christians can and do disagree is on the issue of what is the most effective and helpful way to do that. There are scriptural principles to guide us, but not very often divinely mandated policy statements. What is the best way to love them and keep our citizens safe? The Scriptures do not give a “Thus says the Lord” answer. We need to be very hesitant to claim or imply that those who do not subscribe to the same policy we do are not being “Christian”.

(The Rev. Mark Schultz is pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Havre. He is writing in response to a column in Tuesday’s Havre Daily News from Havre City Council member-elect Caleb Hutchins.)