Giveaway week!
Before the serious stuff, be sure to check out the 2015 Thought Driven Action giveaway. Click here for prize info and how to enter. Deadline is Sunday night, so get your entries in. Your odds of winning a good prize will be good!
Refugees and Hard Questions
This topic inevitably came up this week in a group of friends. We respectfully talked through many different viewpoints of the refugee situation and Biblical and kingdom implications. We didn’t solve anything, but balanced and level-headed discussion took place.
In that vein, let me share some hard questions I’m asking myself about refugees coming to the U.S. I’m NOT claiming to have the answers, but I have a growing sense that the issue demands multiple layers of thinking.
- Am I aware of what the Bible says about refugees? What Biblical texts will I use to form my views on what I think should happen?
- How do my desires as a believer compete with my love of country?
- What is the proper balance between fear of what might happen and my call as a believer to minister despite potential risk?
- Am I willing to listen to anyone (especially fellow believers) who has a different point of view than mine?
- Is the potential loss of my life in a terror attack the worst thing that could happen if believers were ministering to and the Spirit was converting many refugees?
- Do I have a proper and historical understanding of the loss of life as it relates to the advancement of God’s kingdom?
- What is the proper balance between compassion, security, fear, and love?
- Is it somehow “unChristian” to NOT want to be blown up? (I read this via Kevin DeYoung this week).
- How much is fear driving my view of this situation?
- Do I trust God’s sovereignty over the sovereignty of a nation or nations right now?
Think. How do these questions challenge you?
Act. My challenge here lies in accepting the complexity of the issue and showing a willingness to listen to and understand a lot of different views.