"Taking a Stand"

For many pastors and church leaders the actions of President Trump during the first week of his presidency have led them to want to take a stand. The greatest concern is over the suspension of the U.S. refugee admissions program for 120 days and the blocking of immigrants and visa holders from seven majority countries—Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan for 90 days. He also cut the U.S. refugee quota for the year in half and stated that “religious minorities” (not Moslems apparently) should get priority for the remaining spots. But other early actions such as the inclusion of an Alt-right publisher, Stephen Bannon, in the national security meetings have led pastors and other leaders to ask, “when is it necessary to take a stand?”

All of this is happening at a time where the number of refugees and displaced persons around the world is at its highest since after World War II. There have been many domestic terrorist acts since 9/11 and there was a recent attack just 100 miles away from our border in Canada. Anxiety has risen across the board over the refugee/displaced person situation, and several other countries have responded by taking in hundreds of thousands of these persons. Still, the country that once said “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to be free” is sending refugees away.

In the wake of all of this, what is the proper response for churches? What kind of stand can pastors, as well as other church leaders, take? First, it is necessary to call attention to the massive human crisis in the world today. Certainly from a Christian perspective there should be a great deal of compassion for those who have no home, no livelihood, and are unable to be in their own homeland. In prayers and sermons this crisis should be lifted up. Second, it is appropriate to lift up the essential respect for all world religions, including Islam, and to neither discriminate or make second class people out of anyone for their religious beliefs. On both of these first two positions pastors are on solid ground for taking a stand.

Third, it is appropriate in informal conversations and educational forums to talk about the change in the way in which our country is treating foreigners and refugees. Here it might be important to lift up any statements by our national leaders and church bodies that might be applied to this situation. Any way in which we can lay aside our current situation the positions and practices of the past—even over different political administrations—may be appropriate and may contribute to the education of our membership.

Fourth, in sermons in the church pastors may lift up the passages of Scripture appointed for each Sunday and let people make an application. For example, this past Sunday Micah 6:8, “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to walk humbly with your God” should have been lifted up. Even a simple reading of it begins to get people to think, but a sermon either on this passage when its context, or including this by example, will lead people to ask, “what should I be doing to follow the prophet’s challenge?”

Fifth, whenever it is possible to lift up the stands that the prophets and Jesus Himself took in their times and circumstances, the opportunity should be taken. By doing this without drawing particular conclusions (“Thus saith the Lord”) the pastor/religious leaders respects the diversity of positions within the congregation.

Ultimately, “taking a stand” individually in terms of support of a position can be done, but care should be taken for not only paying attention to “respecting the office of the president” (“respecting the emperor” in Scripture-- 1 Peter 2:17) and to the care that the parish pastor should have for his/her own flock. Taking a stand within a non-parish setting may lead to very different and farther reaching positions.

Above all, we should urge each person we meet to be thoughtful and cognizant of the golden rule to “treat another person as we would be treated.” We should encourage each member of our Christian flock to “love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.”