1. My heart is heavy and saddened as I watch so many compassionate people talk about this group of human beings in such dehumanizing ways. I understand the fear. Of course we need to protect our children. I get that we have limited resources. Yes, migrants have to enter the country legally. I just don’t think these concerns are near as connected to this migrant caravan as they are to our collective enslavement to fear and misinformation. Rather than be moved by a commitment to understand and care for the “least and the last” we are being stirred into a frenzy of self-protection that is compromising our collective soul. It’s sad. But we can be healed.
2. Many of you may remember the last Migrant Caravan that got alot of news a couple years ago. I was there in Tijuana to welcome them when they stepped off the bus. Who did I meet? Exhausted and scared grandma’s, momma’s, daddy’s, babies and young kids traveling alone holding out a sliver of hope that they might have a future worth living for. This wasn’t a community of people that WANTED to flee their countries…they had no choice. No one would want to go on the journey they are on. Months of jumping on buses, trains, walking with kids on their back, corrupt police and gangs exploiting their vulnerability. 80% of women who go on this journey are sexually exploited in some way. As to this caravan, if women know they can travel with the protection of a group, of course, they are going to do that. THEY ARE NOT COMING TO TAKE AWAY THE AMERICAN DREAM. They are simply trying to have a chance at life.
3. Some might say, “But they should come legally!” Yes, they should. And they are. They are coming to our southern border to walk through the port of entry and seek asylum. That is NOT ILLEGAL, but a central function to the core values of the United States. Now, there are always some who are so desperate (and often misguided by organized crime) that they try to cross the border illegally. Whether some in this caravan choose to do that, I have no idea, but having sat with migrants considering an illegal crossing, I can assure you it is not something they want to do…it is pure desperation.
4. If we are going to engage with this crisis with any kind of integrity and humanity (not to mention faith convictions that require us to care for the foreigner/stranger), we have to ask WHY they are migrating in the first place. What is it they are running from? What could be so bad that they are literally having to choose which children to take and which to leave behind? I’ve talked to mothers of multiple children who had to flee violence in Central American and were forced to CHOOSE which kids could actually make the journey and which couldn’t. They knew this was their ONLY chance of survival and hoped to one day send for the ones they had to leave behind. The level of despair and heartbreak in their eyes is indescribable. A simple study of the history of Central America will not only give us hints as to what these people are fleeing, it will point a finger back at ourselves as participants in the destabilization of the region back in the 1980’s. Violence and economic desperation don’t come out of nothing. We have to become students who ask the story behind the story behind the story. The fact that our administration is threatening these countries by taking away funding is short sighted and will only perpetuate the instability.
5. No number of talking points will change our hearts and minds. We have to get close to those in crisis. We need to be in proximity. We need to share tables and stories. And, in a country filled with immigrants, we can. We just have to choose love over fear and curiosity over critique. Let’s allow relationship to lead the way and the Spirit to guide our steps. For those of us who follow Jesus, let’s remember that he didn’t call us to be safe, he called us to be faithful. Now is our time.

UPDATE FROM JON:

My last post on the Migrant Caravan really struck a cord. As the story continues to unfold, I’m going to pose a challenging theological question with really tangible implications for how we show up in this moment (specifically related to the migrant caravan).

1. The Context

The migrant caravan is made up primarily of people with deep Christian convictions and tradition. As they move north, they are holding vigil, praying for God’s guidance, protection and ultimate liberation. Momma’s are pushing strollers as they pray for their children’s future and pleading with God to deliver them toward safety and new life.

Here in the US, many people with deep Christian convictions and tradition are praying for the migrant caravan to turn around (at best) or violently resisted/restrained (at worst). Parents are fearful that this caravan could threaten the safety and future of their children and are pleading with God to protect them from the “invading enemy.”

2. The Question

How and where does God act in a moment like this? Whose prayers are “heard”? I trust that all the concerns raised by both groups are real to them (although, in some cases, I’d disagree on their objective reality). All are praying with ferver for God to “show up.” One group for safety. Another for liberation.

3. The Reflection

I’m convinced one of the greatest obstacles to following Jesus in the United States is HOW we read the Bible. Namely, how we often read ourselves (specifically dominant culture USAmericans) into the story as the “favored protagonist” who has a corner on the market of God’s blessing.

Some thoughts…

The Bible is the story of an occupied and oppressed people trusting that God will guide them toward liberation. The main characters who modeled faithfulness most often were those OUTSIDE of power. Many of us have been taught (albeit subconsciously) to read ourselves into the biblical story as the protagonist when in reality – whether we like it or not – we have more in common with the antagonist. We live in one of the most powerful and wealthy countries in human history. We don’t need to be ashamed of that, but we do need to be honest about it. And, if we are honest, we have more in common with Pharaoh than with Moses. With Pilate than with Jesus. With those on the side of Empire extinguishing the good news of the Kingdom. As my friend Tony Campolo says, “We may live in the best Babylon in the world, but it’s still Babylon.”

We mis-read the Story when we use the Bible as a tool to support our retaining and maintaining of power when the reality is that it is a Story of God working among oppressed people to distrupt and dismantle oppressive power. We mis-read the Story when we read the text to justify and support systems that maintain the status quo (comfort, power and privilege) when the reality is that the Bible is the Story of God subverting power (economic, political, racial, patriarchal, social, etc). God didn’t give up on those in power, but DID require they repent of their addiction to it and seek their own liberation.

Tangibly, this incomplete reading allows us to interpret our world as though God is with “us” and “they” are the ones who are coming as a threat (in this case, migrants, refugees or asylum seekers), when in reality it was among those communities where God was seeking to deliver all of us in bondage to systems and structures that oppress. Maybe those in the migrant caravan are coming to deliver us back to God in the way Moses delivered Egypt (although painfully) from their addiction to power, safety and comfort. Maybe we are being delivered from our addiction to safety that frees us to be faithful. Maybe we are being delivered from a mentality of scarcity to a celebration of abundance.

Jesus message was good news to those on the underside of power. The captives, the oppressed, the hurting, the diseased. It wasn’t good news for the systems and structures that oppressed them. But it was good news to the oppressor. It was liberating for EVERYONE if only they had eyes to see and ears to hear.

For many of us, it’s going to take a long, confessional journey to read the Bible through the lens of its orginal context and community, but it is a journey worth taking. It will require people like me to listen, learn and be mentored by people around the world (and on our streets) who are faithfully following God on the underside of empire. Our sisters and brothers who aren’t in the halls of power, politics and religious beaurocracy. Those who have been beaten down, displaced and enslaved. We are being invited to new life. To have our sight healed and our wounds repaired so we stop spreading our disease and start spreading the good news.

If this requires a confession booth, I’ll be the first in line.

Original post can be found on jonhuckins.net.