I saw this image on a friend’s wall. My response was that we are called to do both, and that such an idea should not be so polarizing to Christians. I was then asked to reference the two verses where the Bible talks about this. Below is the response to that. I do not share this here to show up my friend (or else I would have just shared it directly from their wall). I share it because I believe this argument might be helpful for other who find themselves in conversation with someone who holds fast to anti-refugee policy and uses the Bible as a foundation for that argument.

Also, if you find these ideas compelling, consider joining our inclusive and social justice oriented faith community Go Be Church: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gobechurchtalk/

The Response

“Since you asked for the 2 verses that talk about this, I decided to do some research, both in some online searches and my own Bible study software. The idea that we are to care for both refugees as well as homeless veterans comes from how the Bible views two people groups: the stranger (foreigner, alien, sojourner) and the poor (or widow and orphan because based on how marriage was set at the time widows and orphans would have been among the poor).

There are literally dozens and dozens of references on how we are to treat those who dwell in a land that is not their homeland, whether refugee, asylum seeker, immigrant, stranger, foreigner, or whatever you want to call them. Here are a couple sites where you can read just some of those references:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-immigration/

https://www.venture.org/10-scriptures-to-consider-on-this-world-refugee-day/#:~:text=Leviticus%2019%3A34,am%20the%20Lord%20your%20God.%E2%80%9D

https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/what-does-bible-say-about-refugees

As for how we are to treat the poor, the category that homeless veterans would certainly fall under, again there are literally dozens and dozens of these verses that tell us that we are to care for them as well. Here are some of those:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-helping-the-poor/

https://www.worldvision.org/christian-faith-news-stories/what-does-bible-say-about-poverty

https://blog.mohiafrica.org/bible-verses-helping-poor#:~:text=Proverbs%2014%3A31%20Whoever%20oppresses,repay%20him%20for%20his%20deed.

So, the issue isn’t whether one is more important that the other. Biblically, they are both HIGHLY important and really one of the few things that the Bible is actually clear about.

But I want make a special note about helping and welcoming refugees because almost without fail a retort to this idea is, “Yes, but LEGAL immigration.” And you can read the basis for that argument here: https://www.gotquestions.org/illegal-immigration.html

One of the arguments made in that article that I have also heard in pro-closed-border conversation is this: “However, Romans 13:1–7 does not give any permission to violate a law just because it is perceived as unjust. Again, the issue is not the fairness of a law. The only biblical reason to violate a government’s law is if that law violates God’s Word.”

My response to that is that every person who ever pushed for social/legal change in society did so by resisting unjust laws. But even if we take that off the table, I think we can see from the dozens and dozens of references in the Bible about how we are instructed to treat the stranger, the foreigner, the alien, the sojourner, that governmental laws set up specifically to limit the ability for the richest nation on the planet to help those people goes directly against God’s Word. So, I believe that civil disobedience is warranted in these cases.