A Christian take on –‘illegal immigration’ 

   Many people forget that Heaven itself has a very strict immigration policy. Jesus called it the ‘narrow gate’. Jesus also said, “I am the door… and I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can go to the Father except through me.” This is pretty exclusive stuff.

 

   On the other hand, entry to heaven is not loaded down with bureaucracy and endless hoops to jump through. Yes, we have to go through the way the Lord has prepared for us by the blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross, but the Good News is that the Bible repeatedly states, “whosoever will may enter’. Don’t hop over the fence, don’t go around the gate, don’t tunnel under the gate- just simply come through the gate and NO ONE will be excluded.

 

  I personally believe that people entering this country should follow the country’s laws and enter legally. We are admonished in scripture to obey the laws of the land. I certainly understand however, that sometimes people feel that 'a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do' to support his family. I am not at all certain that I wouldn’t have been tempted to slip across the border myself if I was in a place where a better job was on one side of a line and I was born on the other. I have just been in too many countries and seen to many situations to not at least understand why a person would opt to try to live here instead of wherever ‘there’ might be.

  

   Some people look at it a little like football. In their minds they are breaking the rule of a game more than the law of the land. If you go up to catch the ball and push off of the defender, you run the risk of getting called for interference. If you get called, there will be a penalty. If the ref' doesn't catch you then you just might score a touch down.

 

    I think the rule is good and it is there because it is right to regulate who comes into the country for purposes of national security and economic balance. These are very good and valid reasons to have immigration laws. The problem is that many good, honest hardworking people can’t afford to wait around for years and years to go through the process of going though all the hoops. They sometimes feel that they have to try to score their touchdown and if they get caught-they get caught. The idea of the law is good but the process of cooperating with the law is unduly cumbersome. The people know the 'game' and they know the rules. They would like to catch the ball within the rules, but if they go outside the rules, they are taking their chances and on their own. I don't say it is right or make excuses for illegal behavior but I do understand that it is not always cut and dried.

 

   Anyone watching their favorite football team would want the ref to call the interference on the other team and NOT call it for ‘their’ team. They agree with the rule but certainly don’t blame ‘their’ guy for going up for the ball and making contact with the defender (as long as they don’t get caught).

 

   I really don’t sweat immigration issues to this country that much because this country has a much bigger immigration issue to worry about! 85% of our nation’s citizens (and illegal immigrants) are on a greased pole to eternal hell. I am much more concerned about getting people through the gates of heaven ‘legally’ than this country’s immigration situation. If the people all in an uproar over illegal immigration were honest and consistent in their position, they would be just as concerned with ‘How THEY THEMSELVES’ plan to enter eternity in heaven as with others entering the temporal boundaries of this piece of land. It boils down to existing 80 -100 years here or absolute forever in heaven or hell. The problem is that millions of souls are deceived into thinking they are going to heaven based on a false understanding of heaven's immigration policy. It is not about being a nice person, or your good outweighing your bad. It is an issue of citizenship and entering 'legally'.

 

   Illegal immigration may be an issue that needs attention and discussion but it pales in comparison to the bigger question of the Ultimate Immigration question. How DO YOU intend to enter heaven and on what grounds? If you get your back up and DEMAND that foreigners OBEY our laws and enter the country LEGALLY. You had better know that God absolutely agrees with that position and more.

 

   In heaven, NO FOREIGNERS can enter- ONLY citizens. If you are not born again as a Child of God by receiving personally the gift of eternal life purchased on your behalf by the blood of Jesus, you WILL BE DENIED ACCESS to heaven. If you attempt to enter on the basis of ‘being a good person’ or your good outweighing your bad’ you will be denied access. It is God’s heaven. IT is HIS way. If you say you can enter on your own terms on your own merits, you are spitting on the blood of Jesus and say you don’t need His gift. You will be denied access. But here is the good news.

 

 “To those who have received Him, to those who have believed on His name (Jesus-savior-deliverer), he has given the right to become children of God. (John 1:12) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son (on the cross) that WHOSOEVER would believe (trust) in His should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

 

   Now about that ‘Illegal Immigration issue…” On what basis do YOU plan to enter heaven?