The next When Heaven and Earth Collide interview is up with Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Akin and I have a wide-ranging conversation about how immigrants coming to America relates to Scriptural commands involving the Great Commission and loving our neighbor. Dr. Akin calls upon Christians to engage immigrants with the gospel, with service and sacrificial love, and to put aside fear of others and trust Christ in what God is doing in the people movements around the world.
I asked Dr. Akin what he thought should be done about immigrants who are here illegally – if he could change the laws to address this situation, what would he do? He referred to both the previous head and current heads of the ERLC, Richard Land and Russ Moore, who he says that both claim that a safe, wise, compassionate path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is what Christians should advocate for. He reiterates that we should seek something safe, legal, and compassionate for undocumented immigrants. He doesn’t want the path to be hard. It should be easier than many would try to make it. While some would want to throw the borders open (he rejects that view) and some would shut the door completely (he rejects that as well), he said that we should try and juggle the balance between the two and develop a solution that incorporates safety and compassion. He said that the believes that this would be the Christ-like response to this situation.
Dr. Akin then said that “We want to love the nations well whether they are ten thousand miles away or right across the street.”
This was an inspiring and informative interview. I am grateful for Dr. Akin joining me in this interview and for his perspective. I see pastors and churches all over the country pivoting to engage the immigrants in their midst who have come to them with the gospel and advocacy. It is because of leadership of men like Dr. Akin that this message is getting out and changing churches and communities.
For more information and how you can get involved in this movement, check out evangelicalimmigrationtable.com. Dr. Akin is an EIT signatory where he joins thousands of evangelical Christian leaders across the country who call for a bipartisan solution on immigration that:
- Respects the God-given dignity of every person
- Protects the unity of the immediate family
- Respects the rule of law
- Guarantees secure national borders
- Ensures fairness to taxpayers
- Establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents
I am praying along with Dr. Akin that we can see the church engage with immigrants and refugees with the gospel and Christian love and that we would see a solution to the immigration problems that face our nation in a biblical and holistic way. Clink on the link below for this 16 minute podcast. Make sure that you subscribe to the podcast by clicking the iTunes button in the sidebar. We have dozens more interviews coming with pastors and leaders from around the country! You won’t want to miss them!
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