Black Lives Matter.
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

  • Voices
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Issue Statements
    • Governing Board
  • Programs
    • Ecumenical Immigration Alliance
      • Ideas for Action
      • Sign Our Statement
      • The NC Sanctuary Coalition
      • Immigration Bible Study
      • Contact
    • NC Interfaith Power & Light
      • NCIPL Overview
      • Faith in Action NCIPL
      • NCIPL Articles
      • NCIPL Resources
      • Upcoming Events for NCIPL
      • Contact NCIPL
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • PHW Staff
      • Mini-Grants
      • PHW Collaborative Pledge
      • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
      • PHW Articles
      • FAQs
  • Priorities
    • Racial Justice
    • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Public Education
    • NC Sanctuary Coalition
    • Farmworkers
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Christian Unity
    • Peace
    • NC No Torture
  • COVID-19 Resources
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Publications & Reports
    • Raleigh Report
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
  • Donate
  • Council Store
  • Show Search

Search NC Council of Churches

Hide Search

Walls Demonstrate Hostility, not Hospitality

Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director · February 7, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Second in a series of three blogs.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)
 

The idea of “building a wall” has been extremely popular in this administration, and President Trump’s first executive order followed through on that promise by directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use existing funds to “build a large, physical barrier” along the U.S.-Mexico border (a barrier which already partially exists). Moreover, possibility of building a wall along our border was highlighted Sunday night during the Super Bowl with a very controversial television commercial. While there are people literally on both sides of the fence about the issue of building walls to secure our borders, what does the Bible say about it?

The scriptural message related to this issue was the topic of the sermon preached at a private religious service held before Trump’s inauguration. The Rev. Robert Jeffress, an Evangelical Southern Baptist pastor, preached on Nehemiah, who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem for protection from enemies, but Nehemiah and those who assisted him did so working with one hand while bearing a sword in the other. And that’s not the only story of wall building in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles: 24, 27, 32; Ezra 9:9, Isaiah 60:18, and more). There are many stories of people building walls for defense and separation. Therefore, the Biblical exegesis demonstrates that one of the most ancient practices of foreign policy is wall building. When conflicts arise, we build walls. The taller and thicker the better. Throughout history we have seen countries erect walls to keep foreigners, their enemies, or “the other” out: East and West Berlin, Jerusalem and Palestine, China and Mongolia, Texas and Mexico. And then we must guard our gates with guns and round-the-clock surveillance.

This approach could have been seen as necessary in Old Testament times, but Jesus brought a different message. Jesus talked often about the coming Kingdom of God — would even this holy city have walls and gates? In Revelation 21 John is shown a vision of this holy city, a place with Christ as the king and ruler. And, interestingly enough, border control policy is mentioned: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.  Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there.” (Revelation 21:23-25)

From Revelation 21 we learn that in the Kingdom of God there may still be nations, rulers, and borders. But to exercise heavenly border control, the gates will be left open (vs. 25), with people being welcomed to pass through them. Those who are righteous can come and go as they please. While critics might say that undocumented immigrants are not “righteous” people because they have broken US law to come to our country, I do not believe that our morality can be judged by an unjust, broken system. Some of the most virtuous, respectable, and hardworking people I have met are immigrants who came here so that their families could have a better life. They may not have documentation, but they believe in family, hard work, compassion, and God above all else.  

I am not trying to say that we do not need policies and laws, but we need border enforcement policies that are sensible and protect human rights. The government has a duty to protect its people from criminals; however, that does not excuse officials from their responsibility to respect the dignity and lives of anyone who is a human being made in the image of God, including those who are forced to cross borders for their safety and the well-being of their family. I have been to the border and met people on both sides of the wall and can tell you that this executive order will not fix a broken legal system, and it will not change the violence and drug wars that are happening in Latin America. Instead of putting our efforts into building a wall to keep people out, we should be focused on border communities’ revitalization and demilitarization, and concentrate on mitigating the U.S. role in the root causes of forced migration. 

Hebrews 13:2 states: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” The Bible is clear about our responsibility to show hospitality and care to strangers. Building walls demonstrates hostility rather than hospitality and is antithetical to the message of the Gospel.  I pray for a day when border control is no longer necessary and the Kingdom of God reigns on Earth. However, until that day comes, I will continue to tell my representatives that border policies should protect and respect human life, civil rights, justice, cultural traditions, and public lands.   

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Civil Liberties, Economic Justice, Human Rights, Immigration, Interfaith, Prophetic Voice, Race/Ethnicity, Religion & Society

Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director

About Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director

Jennie was born and raised in Savannah, GA. She moved to Texas for her undergraduate education at Rice University, during which time she studied in Mexico, Peru and Argentina and participated in service projects in Central America. After graduation she moved to Spain for a year to teach English. Jennie then came to North Carolina for a dual degree MDiv/MSW graduate program at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill where her work focused on advocating for farmworkers and organizing churches for social justice. Recently graduated, Jennie is excited to use these skills in her role at the Council of Churches as she works to help improve conditions for immigrants and farmworkers in the state.

Jennie lives in Durham and attends First Presbyterian Church. In her free time she enjoys dancing, distance running, traveling, walking her dog, and planning her upcoming wedding. Jennie can be reached at: jennie@ncchurches.org.

Reader Interactions

More Like This

Defenders of Rights; Defenders of Privilege
Regaining our Faith in Democracy
Rights Advocacy At Risk

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Anonymous comments or comments that target individuals will not be posted (please include your first and last name). All comments must be on topic and respectful. Comments will not be posted until they have been reviewed by a moderator. Comments do not reflect the positions of the NC Council of Churches.

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Facebook

Partners in Health and Wholeness

Featured

Walls Demonstrate Hostility, not Hospitality

Latest Tweets

Amazing Earth Day spent with some incredible youth leaders! #EarthDay2021 twitter.com/NCIPL/st…

About 3 hours ago

Thousands of #Workers in NC are struggling to make ends meet on poverty-level wages. The majority of these workers are women and disproportionately women of color. It’s our turn to raise the wage to $15! pic.twitter.com/fwUM…

About 8 hours ago

North Carolina needs an economy that works for all & ensures broadly shared prosperity, but with a #MinimumWage that has not increased in 12 years, that is simply not the case for many hourly workers. Tell lawmakers to #RaiseTheWage: buff.ly/2Qp8cOD #OurTurnNC #NCFor15

About 9 hours ago

Happening today at 4! Join our leading youth activists for this important conversation. #EarthDay2021 twitter.com/NCIPL/st…

About 11 hours ago

The verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial is only a small step toward holding police accountable for using excessive force against our black & brown siblings. There is still so much work to do to dismantle racism that is apparent in the white supremacist culture we live in. #BLM

Yesterday

Follow @ncchurches

Latest Tweets

Now that all North Carolinians age 16+ are eligible to receive a #COVID19 vaccine, use the @ncdhhs resource hub to find a local provider near you to get your shot! #MySpotMyShotNC #NC covid19.ncdhhs.gov/v… #MindfulTogether

About 6 days ago

Join us next Thurs., April 22 for our Sacred Conversations event on caring for creation. We'll be discussing environmental caretaking, collective action, and our Sustainability Pledge. Register online at ncchurches.ourpowerb… @NCIPL #MindfulTogether #EarthDay pic.twitter.com/GTpI…

Last week

Read our spotlight piece on Olive Branch Ministry to learn more about their faith-based harm reduction work serving the foothills and piedmont of North Carolina. ncchurches.org/2021/… @olivebranchgals #MindfulTogether pic.twitter.com/xj2U…

Last week

Our work has led us to recognize the impact our environment has on our health and ability to flourish. Click below to read more about our commitment to being stewards of God’s good Creation through our Sustainability Pledge. ncchurches.org/phw-s… @NCIPL #MindfulTogether

Last week

Awesome opportunity from our partners at @emergingissues! #MindfulTogether twitter.com/emerging…

About a week ago

Follow @healthandfaith

Latest Tweets

RT @mocleanair This is in 20 minutes. twitter.com/GretaThu…

About 3 minutes ago

RT @mocleanair Net zero is not zero. Emissions are emissions whether you “count” them or not. 50% is not bold or dramatic, it is the bare minimum. It is more than we have done before, but we have 3 decades of ignoring what needs to be done. For our kids’ sake, don’t give up on 1.5C. twitter.com/GretaThu…

About 4 minutes ago

RT @AlabamaPJC pic.twitter.com/nlbX…

About 16 minutes ago

RT @ClimateNexus This #EarthDay, we have an our opportunity to rebuild America and create a safer, cleaner, more prosperous future for all. The #AmericanJobsPlan would put millions back to work, protect communities from climate disaster, and make transformational progress on the climate crisis. pic.twitter.com/d2Up…

About 34 minutes ago

RT @ClimatePower "We are not going to take it slow and we are not going to take it one step at a time ... We are going to take a giant leap into the future." —@VP We have a once-in-a-generation chance to build our economy back better and save our planet. We must seize it. #EarthDay pic.twitter.com/hCTv…

About 35 minutes ago

Follow @ncipl

Latest Tweets

Copyright © 2021 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine