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Welcome To America

A recent Facebook status headline that has been rearing it's ugly head over the last few days reads as follows:

"WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Press 1 for English. Press 2 to disconnect until you learn to speak English. And remember only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, JESUS CHRIST and the AMERICAN SOLIDER. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. If you agree... copy and paste in your status"

Posts like this one make my head want to explode.  Especially when I see professing Christians making the post. 

I assume that this "welcome" is addressed towards aliens/foreigners coming into America, yet it is anything but welcoming.  I find the intent of such a "welcome" to be ignorant, smug, and it even borders on racial intolerance.  

Christians should be ashamed of themselves in posting such dreg.  Is the statement  above really representative of our God and His welcome for us?  Indeed, I think not.  His welcome towards us has no condition other than we accept what He has offered.  Remember, we are all "illegal aliens" in His sight.  It is only by His grace, compassion, and love have we been restored to "legal" status.

If our only concerns as Christians regarding immigrants is if they speak a European language, and if they bow to our faiths and to our military triumphs...then I fear for our hearts.  

I encourage you to evaluate your heart and your attitude concerning immigrants...read the following poem by Emma Lazarus - which is written on our Statue of Liberty:

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,  

With conquering limbs astride from land to land; 

Here at our sea-washed, sunset hates shall stand 

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame 

Is the imprisoned lighting, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon hand 

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command 

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. 

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she 

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

And, if you still haven't gotten it yet, check out how God feels:

"The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." - Leviticus 19:34

 "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." - Deuteronomy 10:18

 There are many more Scriptures expressing God's heart towards the oppressed, the fatherless, and foreigners...search for yourself.

I can't express my distaste and the sadness I feel when I see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ make statements like the one above.  I encourage us all to seek humility, to honor others above ourselves, and to extend the love of Christ above and beyond our own prejudices and opinions.  And don't take my word for it, take God's Word.