The Post that's NOT about the Syrian Refugees

No, I’m not going to get into details of the Syrian refugees debate. Yes, I have my opinion on it. Feel free to ask my opinion privately. But I prefer to use my blog for encouraging or exhorting (okay yeah... ranting) rather than to discuss politics.

What I want to talk about are the Christians that I have seen using the Syrian refugee debate as an opportunity for the ultimate Jesus juke: “Jesus said to care for the least of these- the Syrian refugees are the least of these. Jesus would let the refugees into the country, how could you disagree? That’s an extremely unbiblical attitude! Jesus told us to love and care for others. Think about that before you make your opinion on foreign policy, etc. etc. etc.” The best is the people that even go so far as to make statements that assert that the Christians who don’t support bringing the Syrian refugees into the country are just cherry-picking what they like and don’t like out of the Bible.

Okay, really quick, just for the record so you can read this without judging me or labeling me as a hateful and greedy racist bigot and actually listen to what I have to say. Let me assure you that I agree that the Syrian refugees are the least of these and that we should help them in some way. That’s all the more I’m hinting at my opinion, really!

But here’s the thing, more so than Christians “cherry-picking from scripture,” I find it interesting that some Christians only choose to quote this passage of scripture about caring for the least of these when it applies to their government and not to them individually. If you are a Christian who is caring for the needy in some way, then this post isn’t for you. This post is for those that quote that passage but feel no burden to apply it in the same way to their personal lives. I’ve even seen defensive posts saying the scripture applies to the situation in the broader sense and whether they as an individual apply it to their life or not doesn’t take away from the truth of scripture.

There are two main issues with this logic: 

Practice what you preach and pay attention to the plank.

Practice what you Preach 

If you personally are not living out that passage of scripture, if you are not caring for the homeless, the hungry, the poor, the hurt, the widows, the orphans, the sick, the needy (take your pick!) in some way, shape, or form then you have no platform to say that anyone else should be doing that. You have no right to try to Jesus-juke other people with a passage of scripture that you aren’t following. How can you tell someone to do something if you aren’t leading by example? Paul wrote many instructional letters to churches in his time telling them what to do. But his witness was so pure and he was able to tell people to follow his example (Philippians 3:17). He practiced what he preached. Practicing what you preach is important because otherwise no one listens to what you are preaching. If you think caring for the least of these is important, get out there and do it! 1 John 2:5-6 even says, “By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” If you say you follow Jesus then you’d better be living like him not just talking like him. If you are claiming to be a follower of Christ and even go so far as to say that a government or group of people should live by a certain passage of scripture then you must first make sure you are living by it first. 

Your actions (or lack thereof) don’t hinder the truth of that scripture but your actions do hinder your ability to quote it for others.

Pay Attention to the Plank

Not only does lack of action hinder your ability to quote it for others, it especially hinders you from being able to suggest that other Christians are the ones cherry-picking scripture. How can you suggest that Christians are only applying parts of scripture that they like or that support their political beliefs if you aren’t applying the passage you’re using to judge them to your own life? There’s a passage of scripture that you might have conveniently ignored yourself- Matthew 7:3. It says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Why are you so quick to suggest that the Christians not supporting Syrian refugees coming to the USA don’t believe parts of the Bible if you have no problem not applying the ones above or this one? If you are not actively applying a scripture to your life but you’re going to accuse someone of throwing away parts of scripture, then you’re guilty of doing the exact same thing with this one. Don’t tell someone that you don’t think is applying scripture to their political beliefs that they are cherry-picking if you’re not applying it to your everyday life. Look at the plank in your own eye before you point out the sawdust in someone else’s.

It’s not wrong to discuss matters like these, in fact I think it would be wrong NOT to discuss matters like these. But what sort of witness are we leaving for nonbelievers that just see arguments back and forth about who’s a bad Christian? 
Imagine the witness we would have if we argued less about who’s supporting it in their political views and actually did something to care for the least of these in our personal lives. If believers spent more time doing that we might actually make an even greater impact on our government and world than we would by arguing about it.

So I leave you with a challenge, be the example. Pay attention to the plank in your own eye before your find sawdust in someone else’s and practice what you preach. If caring for the least of these is a command of Jesus, then actually go do it! 
Practice what you preach, don’t just preach about it. 
Examine yourself before you tell someone else how to improve.

Wherever you are, go and be the example Jesus in this hurting world.