In this series, I am addressing the responsibility each of us has – as individuals – to navigate the tension of important topics. Our world is rife with extreme positions on issues, and you and I both hold some of these views until we put in the work of considering all aspects. I am not advocating that we all must find our way to the exact middle of any issue and agree completely. I am advocating that a willingness to engage in critical thinking and consider all views will navigate you away from a radical view.

Today I would like to tackle the topic of immigration. Personally, I speak to this from two specific perspectives: as an American and as a follower of Jesus Christ. Bear with me, those of you who are not followers of Jesus, because the points from that perspective are worthy of consideration from a human point of view regardless your religious convictions.

From an American perspective, on one end of the issue is closing our borders. The radical viewpoint incites hatred toward anyone in the country who was not born here. But wait, it can get more radical. It can also incite hatred toward those who are born to those who were not born here. Worse still, this type of hate morphs into a superiority complex that leads to racial tension, disdain for those with a different sexual orientation, or any other of a myriad of different-than-me-phobias.

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. I understand that as a sovereign nation on this earth, we have elected leaders who bear a responsibility to its citizens. Regulation of the borders is a part of that responsibility, and I am grateful for these leaders taking on that responsibility.

That said, I turn to my personal responsibility on this matter. God spoke to his people in Leviticus 19:33-34, saying, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

The idea here is that because the nation of Israel had once been (and would again be) forced to live outside a physical border of their own, they should have compassion on people who are living within the physical borders of their nation. These sojourners may have been political refugees, displaced by war, naturalized citizens, or perhaps purposefully found their way into Israel in search of a better life. Their treatment was important to the heart of God.

As an American, it is equally important how I treat sojourners in my land. As a follower of Jesus, I recognize that as a citizen of heaven I am truly a sojourner on earth. These facts require me to do a stranger no wrong, certainly, and further to consider him as native and love him as myself.

Personally, rather than advocate for a wall, I would prefer to use our abundant resources to assist sojourners in finding and building the better life they seek. That is what happened when previous generations of my family found themselves as sojourners in this land, which I call my native home. Some would consider that to be my radical view on the other end of the spectrum.

Here, then, is the tension of the middle: for whatever reason, because of or despite immigration regulations, there are sojourners in my land today. How I treat them is a matter of great importance.