I remember when the first Spanish speaking people began to move into the Upstate of S.C. over 20 years ago. As their numbers began to increase, so did the number of racial slurs and derogatory comments made against them. Yet when anyone took the time to look closely, they would see hardworking men and women who did without in order to send most of their money back home to needy family members.
Living near the university we often come in contact with many people from Asian countries. While helping out with an ESL class at church recently, I was given quite an education myself. The language barrier can be extremely frustrating at times and the cultural differences often loom large. If, however, you are able to move past the outward differences and get to know the inward person, you will often find someone very much like yourself. A person with hopes, dreams, heartaches, and pain.
Many of the Chinese ESL students are here in America to receive a college degree. They bring little with them and depend on public transportation, a ride from a friend, or their own two feet. One Sunday I offered a ride to one of the students. This gave me an opportunity to make casual conversation with him. He began to tell me about the remote village he was from and about his mother who attended the village church that had been started there. She was a believer but his father had no desire to learn about Christ. His father’s health is failing. He talked about his desire to complete his education in order to make enough money to provide for his parents. He looks forward to joining his wife who attends another university in the northern United States. He looks forward to returning to China one day and hopes his father accepts Christ before it is too late.
God opened my eyes that day to see an entire group of people as I had never seen them before. Determined people willing to leave everything familiar behind in order to gain an education they plan on using to help their families back home.
How many times do we puff up our chests with American pride and fill our minds with the notion that we deserve the good life due to where we were born? As if we had any control over where we were born! How many comments have we been guilty of making about foreigners needing to speak and behave like we do or else “go back where they came from”? Do we see them as individuals with the same needs that we have? Are we concerned about their greatest need of all which is to know Christ? We are fine with the idea of sending missionaries to them but feel uncomfortable when God sends them to us. And what does God really think about all of this anyway? Apparently, God felt so strongly about the importance of the treatment of foreigners that He directly addressed the Israelites concerning this subject.
In Leviticus 19:33-34Leviticus 19:33-34
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
33 ; . Don't mistreat any foreigners who live in your land.
34 Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
WP-Bible plugin God spoke directly to Moses and said, “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The foreigner living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
What was true for the Israelites is still true for us today. “Love him as yourself.” God has said it and God always trumps our personal preferences and prejudices. In so doing, you will not only be obedient to God’s command, but you will also find a wonderful blessing along the way.
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