A shorter version of this post can be found at The Witness BCC.
The Slaughter || LIVE Spoken Word Performance at @AriseCity (AriseCity.com)
To: The Land of Lady Liberty
Love: A Horrified Citizen
Here’s my new spoken word piece that I performed live at the Arise City Summit a couple weeks ago. It’s titled “The Slaughter” and it touches on the horrific practices of family separation at the hands of the government, from biblical times to right now at our southern border.
By addressing the zero tolerance in this way, I especially want Christians to realize that innocent children have and are getting caught in the crossfire of government-sanctioned evil cloaked in religious affection and nationalistic interest.
God’s Care for The Marginalized
The Bible emphasizes our holy and redeeming God meeting people in the margins of society. The Son of God incarnated into the margins (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:46). He became poor (2 Cor. 8:9) and proclaimed the gospel “to the poor” (Luke 4:18). He drew near the very people that society and the religious elite disdained.
In our prosperous land of a million comforts and commodities, it can be difficult for us to identify with the marginalized people God so profoundly met throughout redemptive history. Admittedly, my privilege as a middle class, American citizen has often blinded me to the depth of God’s care for the Bible’s triad of the vulnerable: the orphan, the widow, and the immigrant (Lev. 19:33-34; Ps. 146:9; Jer. 7:6; Zech. 7:10; James 1:27).
Thanks to my church and the Arise City Summit, God has been reshaping my heart away from sinful apathy and toward compassion.
Immigrants: Our Own Family
Our prosperity and privilege can make it difficult for us to learn from and have compassion for God’s image bearers in the margins of our society. Many of these image bearers are fleeing their homelands because of persecution, violence, and poverty. They endure countless injustices on their way here, including rape, beatings, and robbery to name a few.
As sojourners, they embody an important aspect of our identity as Christians (1 Pet. 2:11). We have much to learn from them, even as we have much biblical cause to advocate for and serve them (Deut. 10:17-19; Prov. 31:8-9; Matt. 25:35; Heb. 13:2).
Many of them are our brothers and sisters in Christ. They are pastors, they are deacons, they are laymen who refuse to engage in the violence of the local gangs that try to recruit them. We will share Heaven with them. Our blood-bought bond with them supersedes any political or national affiliation.
The Final Judgement
The zero tolerance policy has ruthlessly separated families, orphaning around 3,000 children. Despite President Trump’s executive order to stop separating families at the border, most families are still not reunited and new families are instead being detained together in unacceptable conditions.
We will give an account to Christ concerning the wellbeing of immigrants in our land (Is. 58; James 2:14-17; 2 Cor. 5:10). In no uncertain terms, Jesus tells us that our care for strangers (i.e. immigrants), or lack thereof, will reveal whether or not we were ever truly his (Matt. 25:31-46).
Fear of the stranger is costly—for them and for us because they are our “own flesh” (Is. 58:7). We are they.
My Prayer
My prayer is that this spoken word performance would stir your heart toward Christ-wrought compassion and action.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can actively love migrants, immigrants, and refugees in our country, I’ve listed out a few suggestions below. If you know of more ways we can serve these separated and/or detained families, please comment below.
The LORD “loves the sojourner,” and so should we (Deut. 10:18-19).
How to Help: Learn, Lament, Lead
While at the Arise City Summit, I heard Chris Brooks say that we should try to follow this pattern when addressing injustices in our society: learn, lament, lead. With that in mind, here are some of my suggestions for helping families at our border.
LEARN
Explainer on the Zero Tolerance Policy (Houston Chronicle)
Zero Tolerance Policy Separating Families (MSNBC)
Unaccompanied: Alone in America (Video)
Secret Audio of Migrant Children Separated from Parents at Border (Axios)
Confusion at Border on How to Process Migrant Families (Houston Chronicle)
Christians at Border Separated from Children (Christianity Today)
Immigrants Rights (ACLU)
You Can’t Be Pro-Life and Against Immigrant Children (NY Times)
Family Separation Policy is Evil (TGC)
People Dying Because of Trump’s Immigration Policy (Vox)
Open Letter to Focus on the Family Re: Family Separation (Now She Rises Blog)
Cheaper, More Effective Alternatives to Family Detention (CATO)
“My Son is Not the Same” Firsthand Accounts of Separated Families (PBS)
Trump Administration in Chaotic Scramble to Reunify Families (NY Times)
LAMENT
Meditate on & Pray: Psalm 10, Psalm 94, Matthew 25:31-46
A Guide to Praying & Fasting for Separated Immigrant Families (Fast for Familias)
Challenge Yourself Verses / Prayer Guide (Evangelical Immigration Table)
“The Slaughter” Spoken Word Performance (A Lament)
LEAD
- Call your representatives. Follow these steps from World Relief.
2. Sign up for an action toolkit by RAICES
3. If you’re in Tampa, sign up for follow up steps here - Donate to a trustworthy organization doing advocacy and legal work for these families: World Relief, RAICES, Americans for Immigrant Justice, & other organizations
- Sign Petitions to end family separation and family detainment, and to pursue family reunification: #NotWithoutMyChild Petition, World Relief Protect Families Petition, Action Network
- Attend local rallies/protests (the latest one was on June 30th for #FamiliesBelongTogether which was organized on Act.MoveOn.org)
- Attend The Justice Institute on Immigration in Washington D.C. this September.
- Register to vote: Florida
- Remember to take care of your own mental health as you engage this issue with these practical tips.
