A Stranger

considering
STRANGERS
An American Christian’s Theological
Examination of Illegal Immigration

 re y re ynoso 

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The material in this book is oriiginal to the author
but free to be distributed.
©coppyright 2009 Rey Reynoso
StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb ii-iii
Table Of Contents
Introduction ...................................................................................... 4
I. Theological Underpinnings for Consideration
2. What Is A Person?................................................................12
3. Embracing The Human Conscience .........................20
3. The Future and the Dawning Reality ....................30
4. Christian Idealism and the Reality of Sin .........36
II. Practical Outworking for Application
5. A Thought Model ...............................................................44
6. Immigration, Christians and the Law ...................52
7. Reasons for Civil Disobedience .................................60
8. Democracy and the Christian Ruler .....................76
III. Moving Forward
9. Closing Thoughts ..............................................................86
10 Recommended Reading ....................................................94
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 Then she gave birth to a son,

Introduction and he named him Gershom, for he said,

Immigration’s Tough Questions “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

Exodus 2:22

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 W
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
ith Obama’s Health Care Re-
form being discussed, special
interest groups have started call-
ing for Immigration Reform that
would coincide with a public health plan. Noting
the finances involved, other interest groups state
that this isn’t fair to Americans and have called
for stricter Immigration rules. This has reignited
old political questions while introducing American
Christians to an ethical quagmire.
Maybe if Immigration reform was a black and
white criminal issue, things might be easier for
Christians; but immigration is a civil matter with
only potential criminal concerns—and those in re-
spect to national security.
Post 9/11, Americans know that being soft in
one area may mean some serious repercussions in
another; and yet American Christians don’t want
to repeat the embarrassing mistakes of yesteryear
where discrimination against specific aliens became
a matter of public policy.
Even if we didn’t talk about National Security
in regards to terrorism, we have a very real national
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BY REY REYNOSO
health concern in regards to vaccination. Ameri-
cans might be up to code, as it were, but immi-
grants wouldn’t have had those early life benefits.
This cuts two ways: not only can we see a comeback
of controlled diseases, but the outbreak would hit
the immigrant population the hardest. Thousands
upon thousands of people suffering unnecessarily
in the midst of a basically healthy modern society
reflects poorly on that society.
Thankfully, hospitals try to help. In 2007,
American Hospitals spent $34 Billion on bad debt
and charity cases; a number not expected to change
partially due to aliens not having preventative health
care and primarily using Emergency Rooms. As of
2006, there was an estimated 12 million illegal aliens
living in the United States; that number is expected
to grow and the health industry will continue to feel
the weight.
But even in the midst of all that, Aliens con-
tribute $7 Billion a year to Social Security; a system
which they cannot participate in. Giving the aliens
Amnesty would fix this but then we’d have the So-
cial Security system, already busting at the seams,
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
pushed beyond the snapping point and being un-
able to provide for the elderly.
The issue that Aliens get paid more in Amer-
ica than they would have in their country is small
comfort when the income might be much lower
than native borns. It’s even less comforting when
this strata of society can get pulled into all sorts
of abusive practices (be it prostitution, indentured
servant hood, being robbed of their days wages,
and so on).
American Christians struggle with all this and
are left wondering: how can we deal with it? What
is expected of them and what is their responsibil-
ity? Are there any Scriptural principles that can be
gleaned by which American Christians can think
through these things? What should Christians be
doing right now? They’re tough questions to strug-
gle with and answer; I think we should try, though.
So I, a Christian—and thus an alien according
to Scripture—yet a native-born American citizen
and the grateful son of Hispanic immigrants, have
spent some time struggling with these questions
and is no offering this work to you for your own
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BY REY REYNOSO
examination and help.
The book is divided into two major sections,
even though they are inextricably tied.
The first major section is primarily focused on
certain theological notes that impact the greater
overall issue—it is the thinking that might under-
gird later ideas and their practical outworking.
The second major section is focused primarily
on developing an approach for dealing with the il-
legal immigration issue. You will note that this sec-
tion is just as theological as the first, but at that
point it will take for granted certain points that had
to be established earlier on.
In all, the work is my own with my own errors
although there is a list of resources and reading
material in the index that, although are not mine,
were helpful (especially with the numbers).
Soli Deo gloria.
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 Theological
Underpinnings
A Short Study on the Importance
of Humans, Their Responsibility
Under God and the Reality of
their Accountability

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 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our

likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea

Chapter 1 and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over

The Importance of Personhood all the earth, and over all the creatures that move

along the ground.”

Genesis 1:26

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 H
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
ow would you define a person?
You ask people that question and
you might notice that personhood
looks a lot like themselves. That
doesn’t surprise me since there’s some basis of
truth undergirding that presupposition, but I have
to wonder about the priorities that come to the fore
when defining personhood.
Maybe personhood is defined on account of
the ability to think. But is a person any less a per-
son because they’re mentally handicapped and un-
able to think? Are you, for instance, less a person if
someone comes along and notes that you are inca-
pable of thinking the way they do?
Or maybe, others would say, a person is defined
by the biophysical: like the ability to run, have sex
and process food. But is a person any less a person
because they can’t use their legs, penis or digestive
system? Can we peel a human’s biophysical layers
away and hit a point where we can say “okay, this is
no longer a person”?
In a world that is increasingly focused on solely
the biophysical, the lines of personhood are drawn
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BY REY REYNOSO
by those in charge of the pencils. Personhood is
ascribed and removed with impunity, and always
includes the persons doing the defining (how very
lucky for them). “Of course,” says the person out-
side of the womb “the person in her womb is not
a person”. “Of course,” says the person who needs
the bed “the person in that hospital bed isn’t a per-
son.” Auschwitz’s innkeepers applaud.
No, personhood has been established beyond
finite whim; it’s just been ignored.
God decided to make humans as a reflection
of Him: personhood defined by a creative (he made
us), social (he interacted with us), generous (he
wasn’t obligated to make us), omniscient (he knew
everything about us), omni-benevolent (he loved
us) and infinite (he transcends us) Master (he made
us to be with Him). As sovereign by fact (since ev-
erything is contingent on Him creating) he then
willfully (his care at work) hands over co-regency
to his Children. The first people were Persons, in a
community, rightly under God, ruling rightly over
(God’s) creation while discovering every facet of
(God’s) creation and exemplifying the reflection
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
of the person (their master, The Lord God) who
made them.
Every person is made in God’s image making
every act against fellow image-bearers exponential-
ly potent. You’re not only ending a life; you’re de-
stroying a reflection of God who made you. You’re
not only destroying a reflection of God; you’re stat-
ing that you are the final arbiter (a right that be-
longs solely to God) of anyone’s right to bear that
reflection at all.
This is true in every aspect of life. Sex is not
solely because parts fit and its fun; rather it depicts
God in such a way that necessitated opposites
working cooperatively. Art is not merely a lucky ad-
ditive that lends color; rather it is a reflection of a
God who creates under the purview of God who
grants aesthetics. Music is not merely a happy acci-
dent of sound; we’ve been equipped with the vocal
chords and sense of sound to communally blend
in our adoration as he provides the very basis for
music. Community is not merely people being knit
together; it is the image of God corporately gath-
ered under the Lordship of God.
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BY REY REYNOSO
There is not one stage of a Person’s life, not
one aspect of a Person’s being, that should be ab-
rogated to the unimportant, reduced to its own
importance, or be compartmentalized as separate
from all others. They are all irreducibly humans-
in-God’s-image and properly expressed only when
under God.
There is a reason why Christ came as a man,
obedient to God, and not a dog or a Martian obe-
dient to self. He came reflecting the image of God
perfectly, what man was supposed to look like, and
then allowing rebellious image bearers to do what
they saw fit with him; we hated him, we took him
and we pinned him on a tree to be laughed at as he
died, obedient to His Master until the end.
We define the Personhood any which way be-
cause we hate what the image keeps telling us: we’re
doing wrong by ourselves and by God. What we
think about God is reflected in the way we treat
his image. So we compartmentalize, we trim down,
we finagle, we ignore, we redefine until hopefully
(yet ironically hopelessly) we’re left condemning
ourselves.
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS

No, we shouldn’t try to define Personhood

(who is or isn’t a Person); we should be thanking
God for being Persons in His image already. Every
human, at every stage of existence, bears this hon-
or whether he likes it or not.
One would be forced to wonder what this has
to do with the issue of immigration, legal or not.
It’s not as if the immigration debate is focused on
redefining aliens as non-persons.
Of course not.
The point is that when we consider our own
situation here in America, we should also note the
situation of the alien as a person in the image of
God. That may not fix the issue, but it should in-
form us on how we are to tread on the topic.

Verses that undergird my thinking:

Gen 1-6, 9:6; Isa 40; Rom 1, 8; 1 Cor 11; 2 Cor 4:4;

Eph 4; Col 1; Heb 1; James 3.

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 I will maintain my righteousness and

Chapter 2 never let go of it; my conscience will

Embracing Human Conscience not reproach me as long as I live.

Job 27:6

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 C
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
onscience is important, everyone
agrees, but we’re not sure about how
important. Those sticky internal mo-
tivations are confusing and put us in
an epistemological tailspin. If this was an episode
of Star Trek, would both be part of the Federa-
tion but grumbling about their internal motivations
from different sides of the room.
Modernists downplay the internal. Seeking to
elevate rationality and reason, they would totally fall
in line with the Vulcans. The internal doesn’t mat-
ter; what matters is the mind; what matters is how
we figure things out: the conscience is subjective
and therefore untrustworthy. The objective is only
that which we can reason and verify.
Postmodernists, not minding rationality but
saying that it is all a matter of perspective, seem
to be more like the Klingons (Romulans would’ve
been better but they’re not Federation). Klingons
have a complex system which makes sense to them
but not much to anyone else; and they don’t mind
that. Postmoderns, like Klingons, see the internal
as personally important but don’t see how your in-
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BY REY REYNOSO
ternal is important to them. Rationality is great as
long as you acknowledge that all you’re reasoning
with is from a specific point of view resulting in no
objective truth. The internal is subjective and we
can only trust that; we can’t trust anything outside
of that.
They both are speaking their own language but
they’re both downplaying the importance of the in-
ternal. The Vulcans suppress the internal; the Klin-
gons say only their internal is important. Both treat
the internal as a non-objective reality.
Vulcan and Klingon Christians don’t help
things. Vulcan Christians take the internal and cat-
egorize it all under Jeremiah 17:9: “The Heart is
desperately wicked!” and thus everything inside is
totally subjective and untrustworthy. Klingon Chris-
tians point out that no one can know the mind of
God1 ; that each one stands before their master2 ;
therefore judge not so you are not judged3 .
But Scripture, taking the entirety of a human
person as important, speaks otherwise. For exam-
1 Rom 11:31
2 Rom 14:4
3 Mat 7:7
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
ple, the context of Jeremiah 17:9 is that we can’t
figure out the heart of a deceitful person followed
by verse 10 that God can figure it out. The context
of Rom 11:31 is that although God’s knowledge is
deep (because Paul had just spilled ink in Romans 9
– 11 describing its depths) it goes even deeper than
we thought; not to say that we can’t understand any
part of God’s mind. Romans 14:4 is in the context
of the importance of the conscience as an objec-
tive reality which is a basis of future judgment and
Matthew 7:7 is in the context of the internal judger
being used as a prosecution witness.
Scripture consistently bears this theme. The
eyes of the first people are opened and they know
good and evil (inside) because they committed it.
God tells Cain to control his rising anger so that
sin doesn’t overpower Him and result in wicked-
ness4. This coincides with Christ’s words that it is
not merely what comes in that defiles a man, but
what comes out5.
Vulcan Christians might pipe up and say “And
4 Gen3, 4
5 Matt 15:11; Mk 7:20
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BY REY REYNOSO
that’s why the internal is untrustworthy!” but Scrip-
ture would deny that claim. It is because the person
knowingly acts on the internal that they find their
harshest condemnation. Paul would point out that
people internally know God (Rom 1:19) but they
refuse to honor Him as God or give thanks (Rom
1:21) as they profess to be wise and cast their minds
to its darkest recesses (Rom 1:22-23).
Likewise, the people who act according to their
conscience on the side of God find that they’re
doing the same thing (Rom 2:1) because they’re
being stubborn in their refusal to repent (Rom 2:5).
Paul would go so far to say that Gentiles, who keep
the law without ever having had the written law, are
proving that they have God’s law written on their
hearts (Rom 2:15) and their conscience bearing wit-
ness while their thoughts accuse or defend them on
the day of God’s judgment (Rom 2:16).
The internal accuses of sin6 and thus one
shouldn’t act without the conscience approving7
and yet one should realize that God can judge
6 Gen 42:21; 2Sa 24:10; Mt 27:3; Ac 2:37
7 Job 27:6; Ac 24:16; Ro 9:1; 14:22
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
people in the present by attacking the internal. So
He gives people over to the lusts of their hearts to
impurity (Rom 1:24) or their consciences wind up
seared (1 Tim 5:1-3—not in the sense of branded,
but more in the sense of calloused like burnt scar
tissue) it is God effectively saying “Have it your
way.” From then on, the silence of God should be
both deafening and frightening (Heb 12:8).
Yes, the internal isn’t a perfect guide on its
own—for that matter, neither is reason or Law.
Paul would state that before the revelation of the
risen Christ, he had a clear conscience in respect
to his own religiosity (Acts 26:9) and yet, after be-
ing illuminated by God his conscience remained
clear in his new decision (Acts 23:1) but pricked in
regard to his previous decisions (1 Tim 1:13) when
he acted in ignorance and unbelief. The writer to
the Hebrews would state that the blood of Christ
(Heb 10:2-10) must purify the conscience (Heb
9:14) which is evil (Heb 10:22).
This conscience, once properly oriented with
the objective reality of the crucified Christ, goes
from a unit that can be suppressed, broken or
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BY REY REYNOSO
scarred, to a unit that works in conjunction with
the Spirit of God (Rom 9:1) and effectively part of
revealed faith8 which resonates in the consciences
of other people9. This internal is so important that
it should string together a Christian’s actions in
everything they do so that there is a grave concern
for not offending the consciences10 and minds of
others11.
So in the end, it is not a matter of being a
proper Vulcan (figuring out which internal process-
es are allowable as part of the reasoning process12)
or being a proper Klingon (taking the internal
and saying that there’s a part of it that is possibly
objective but we don’t quite know which it is). We’re
to be humans who come to terms with being fully
human; and that means embracing that God has
8 1Ti 1:19; 3:9
9 2Co 4:2; 5:11
10 Ro 14:21; 1Co 10:28-32
11 1 Pet 3:15
12 Modernists sometimes want an objective proof
of the conscience. Maybe showing which principles
of Conscience prove its God Given nature—sort of
like proving the speed of light. I would suggest that
although the internal is an objective reality, that
it is a transcendent reality that functions but we
can’t go around properly proving until a person is
presented as conscience-less. It would be like trying
to prove the existence of other minds.
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS

given us both our minds and our inward approval

mechanisms.
Of course the question of what this has to do
with immigration will rise even if the chapter makes
the connection fairly evident. This issue is more
than a political issue—it is fraught with the reality
of, in the case of Christians, freed consciences that
are acting underneath the Lordship of Christ.
We have to be careful with how we address
people on any side of this issue.

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 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is
Chapter 3
The Eschatological Significance holy and righteous and good.

of Romans 7 Romans 7:12

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 R
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
omans 7 has a long, messy history
of interpretative clashes. Some inter-
preters say that although the Believer
struggles with Sin nature in the pres-
ent, Romans 7 isn’t addressing the issue at all. An-
other view says that the Believer has no sin nature
and the struggle is with habits. Yet another view dic-
tates that the entire experience in Romans 7 is pre-
conversion: dealing with the struggles of a person
that is coming to enlightenment and finally conver-
sion. Another view likes to split the chapter in two
so that the first half deals with pre-conversion and
the following section deals with a post-conversion
hypothetical without the empowering of the Holy
Spirit; essentially a rhetorical hypothetical to estab-
lish Paul’s point.
Now, I didn’t want to bother addressing all
those interpretative elements but I did want to ad-
dress this one theological note that could permeate
pretty much all the views (though I guess it can pose
problems to the hypothetical sans-Spirit view).
All the positions are using a form of tunnel
vision that theologically focuses in on this chapter’s
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BY REY REYNOSO
struggle to the exclusion of what came before and
what is coming after. Romans 8’s theology soars
to the eschatological (future/end-times/last-day)
heights of a renewed creation, of a humanity con-
formed in the image of Christ, of God in all three
persons altogether on the side of the believer. It
does this after having long established the theologi-
cal necessity of wrath, of justification, of peace,
and of entrance into a proper sanctifying salva-
tion.
In other words, it’s all going Somewhere.
The eschatological ramifications of this salva-
tion are tied up throughout the Gospel: from the
death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to the bringing in of the Gentiles with the Jews,
and the overloading of grace on the side of Christ
over Adam, and the cutting off of Sin’s Power—it
rings through each of the chapters. Paul doesn’t go
through the nature of tribulations resulting in hope
for the mere purpose of saying our character will
get better in a couple of weeks; it all has a goal tied
into the impending Future….the Eschaton.
The Last Days began at the resurrection from
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
the dead, were further evidenced by the outpouring
spirit, and further evidenced by a community that
is the Temple of God, and further evidenced by
individuals that are the Temple of God.
This is the real struggle of a person who has
noted all of those eschatological facets in the pres-
ent and realizing that they are now standing at the
edge of that future. This theological ramification
winds up having application in just about every in-
terpretation: an unbeliever about to be saved real-
izing God has inaugurated the Last Days; a be-
liever looking at the nature of the Law pointing to
Christ who is the Promised Messiah; a believer not-
ing his or her own life in the shadow of the cross
and empty tomb heralding the promise of Daniel
12; and a believer looking at the brightness of the
coming Dawn by the down-payment of the Holy
Spirit.
In all cases the individual, standing at the edge
of the Eschaton, finds him or herself saying “who
shall deliver me from this ruination? I thank God,
it is Jesus Christ our Lord!”
So, what does this have to do with the topic of
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BY REY REYNOSO
illegal immigration? Well, in short (without getting
into supporting one eschatological schema over
another) it is all going somewhere. There will be a
time where Christ will return and set things right.
There’s different ways this might look like, but
all in all it means that God will be in charge in a
perfect future. We live today with the expectation
of that coming future but we don’t live today with
the horror of relying on our fixes (or programs,
or policies, whatever) to ensure that the future is
better.
That’s God’s job, not ours. Ours is the job that
comes with being a person living in the Now with
the expectation of a real future Then. We might
not be able to iron out everything with immigra-
tion, or health, or national policy; but we don’t live
with the expectation that we’re supposed to.
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 for all have sinned and
Chapter 4
Christian Idealism and fall short of the glory of God

the Reality of Sin Romans 3:23

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 I
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
like to look at situation and, no matter how
rough, consider what would be ideal. I think
that’s important. In circles with friends or
family I have convincingly argued for The
Ideal and then stood there as someone asks “That’s
awesome; how do we get there?” only to shake my
head and respond “I honestly don’t know.”
Now the fact is that I do know that the
impending ideal of a dawning future reality will
establish a system that we, of our own power, can’t
possibly implement. But people don’t get that so I
want to talk about why that’s important.
Sin, like the words naughty or bastard, is a
fallen word, bereft of her previous glory, power and
horror. When used it invokes images of chocolate,
forbidden (and really fun) sex, or scandal—while
the notion of the abject depravity of sin remains
immaculately untouched; virginal in comparison.
A definition of sin begins to be found in the
falling short of doing good: the person who knows
to do good and doesn’t is sinning (James 4:17); the
person who acts apart from conscience and faith
in God is sinning (Rom 14:23); being unrighteous,
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not-upright, is sin (1 John 5:17). It only starts with
the falling short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23)
But it progress from there. Sin is what happens
when personal desire acts (Jas 1:15 it is contrived
in the mind and intent (Gen 8:21); it spews out of
the heart (Matt 15:19); it is evidenced in action
(Rom 1); it is ultimately defiling (Prov 30:12) and
an outright rebellion against God (Psalm 50-51).
And lest we think that sin is about Them
and surely not about Us (Me and all Christians
included) we discover that no person, except Christ
(2Co 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1Jo 3:5) is without sin
(1Ki 8:46; Ec 7:20); all are under the system of sin
(Gal 3:22); all people are shaped in sin (Ps 51:5); all
people are born in sin (Ge 5:3; Job 15:14; 25:4; Ps
51:5); no man can cleanse himself from sin (Job
9:30,31; Pr 20:9; Jer 2:22); and no man can atone
for sin (Mic 6:7). We. Are. Sinners.
It is part of reality until God decides to realize
that dawning future (1 Cor 15). We can’t, of our
own, do anything to get rid of it. Want to know
if sin is still around? Check the graveyard because
that is the ultimate end of all sin (Gen 2:17, Eze
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
18:4, Ro 6:23). Sin is here until God says enough.
Now the reason I draw that tight circle is
to show that no matter what program we peo-
ple implement, no matter what governmental
solution that we come up with, no matter what
level of education we enforce, no matter what
religions we absolve (or create), no matter how
much resources (money, food, information, help,
staff) we throw at any given problem the biggest
problem is that sinful people (that’s me, that’s you,
that’s them) are involved. All we do is under the
system of sin. Sure we do good (Acts 10 for an
example) and it is really good; but if we hold up our
goods before God we find that we just aren’t up to
snuff; he does infinitely better.
This isn’t to say that we’re to give up but it is
to say that as flawed and rebellious creatures we
will mess things up and, often, skewing things in
our favor (our God isn’t stuff; it’s Us). Democracy
sounds great in theory but sinful people will screw
it up; Socialism sounds effective in principle but
sinful people will mess that up too; Nationalism
isn’t that bad until sinful people get involved: we
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are our own worst enemies.
So I move forward with hope, and expecta-
tion based on my conscience, but doing so with
the knowledge that we will mess things up; but that
brings me back to the Gospel. The fact is that we
have messed things up but God has taken it upon
Himself to renew all things.
The hope and goal of any given situation isn’t
these policies or laws or way of running govern-
ment: these hopes are ultimately temporary and
flawed. My hope is in Christ and the Gospel of
God, which ensures a final victory over sin, but
currently I am working with the knowledge that
God has me (us) where He wants me to be.
And that’s infinitely important.
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 PRACTICAL
Outworkings
An Examination of the Biblical
Principles to Establish a Working
Vision of the Immigration Issue

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 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,

the man who gains understanding,

Chapter 5 for she is more profitable than silver
An Immigration Thought Model
and yields better returns than gold

Proverbs 3:12-14

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 C
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
hristians love Scriptural commands;
it makes things easy. We weigh in on
an issue by citing a verse (or five) and
we’re done—ding! Next problem?
So it is with immigration. We surf through our
New Testament and then pause, sighing thankfully
that there is a verse that seems to deal with illegal
aliens, or at least strangers: “The stranger that you
invited inside, fed, and clothed his nudity…it was
me, Jesus. When you rejected that stranger and left
him imprisoned; you rejected me, Jesus1.”
Well, we blush; it’s not as good as an explicit
command. The passage is totally about interaction
at the personal level and it doesn’t offer anything
in the way of “thou shall”—especially not on the
national level.
Ignoring the other book-worthy problems,
I think there’s a proper goal in finding what
Scripture says in regard to immigration. Surely,
not for the purpose of finding a new law (wrong-
headed, that), but for the purpose of discovering
operating principles.
1 Matt. 25:35, 38, 43.
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 46-47
BY REY REYNOSO
For that, we need to construct a thought
model.
A thought model is a device that allows us
to examine ideas. First you build the thing based
on what you know, and then you see what makes
it work. When you understand how it works you
might be able to understand your driving force in
another area. The material for our thought model
will come primarily from the Old Testament
First, what couldn’t immigrants in Israel do?
These are actually unsurprising. They couldn’t be
kings2 (duh); they couldn’t take the Passover3 (un-
less they became part of the Covenant community
and thus nationals4); they couldn’t blaspheme (but
neither could a native born national5); they couldn’t
eat blood (and neither could the native born na-
tional6); and they were free from certain restrictions
in the Jewish Law (like in Deut. 14:21 where they
could eat an animal that dies on its own; something
the Jews couldn’t do) though not all of them (like
2 Deut. 17:15
3 Ex. 12:45
4 Ex. 12:48, 49; Num. 9:14; 15:14, 15
5 Lev. 24:16
6 Lev. 17:10
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
they had to keep the Sabbath7 and they were barred
from eating the “holy food”8)
Next, we’d have to look at what Jews could do
with aliens which they couldn’t do with their fellow
nationals. Jews couldn’t exact interest on a loan to
their kinsmen; the restriction was waived in regard
to aliens9. Jewish slaves would be released during
the year of Jubilee; an alien slave was permanent
property10.
Now, to look at the foreigner’s benefits in Is-
rael. They were to be loved11 and not hated12 even
when those aliens came from their worst enemies.
They were afforded equal protection (with the Jew)
by the cities of refuge13 and at one point they even
had rights to Israel’s inheritance14. They weren’t to
be mistreated; people were to be kind to them15;
not to be wronged; not to be oppressed; justice on
their part was not to be perverted; and they were
7 Ex. 20:10; 23:12
8 Lev. 22:10, 12, 25
9 Deut. 15:3; 23:20
10 Lev. 25:44, 45
11 Deut. 10:18, 19.
12 Deut. 23:7
13 Num. 35:15; Josh. 20:9
14 Ezek. 47:22, 23
15 Lev. 19:33, 34. Deuteronomy 23:7
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 48-49
BY REY REYNOSO
to be treated with fairness and justice16. Indeed,
one benefit was derived as a consequence to Israel
being cursed for disobedience—foreigners would
increase in the Land and overpower the Israelites
(Deut 28:43–44)!
With our thought-model in place, we can now
try to examine the operating principles.
Certain things jump to the fore. The foreign-
er was important to God, even in the context of
slavery. Most of these efforts were focused on en-
suring that the foreigner was afforded protection,
help, kindness, mercy and justice. We notice that
the point of welcoming the foreign national was to
eventually integrate him into the theocratic nation
with the hope of making them fellow nationals and
thus partakers in the national benefits. Of course,
this would mean that they would then bear respon-
sibility in an Israelite tax burden, but they would
effectively be Israelites.
Stepping back from it, we can say that the Is-
raelite situation was very different from our own.
16 Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:33, 34; Deut. 1:16; 10:19; 24:14, 17;
27:19; Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Ezek. 22:29; Mal. 3:5
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
After all, they were a theocratic nation awaiting the
culmination of the promises of God; America is
democratic awaiting no such thing.
And yet, we see this spirit of kindness to our
fellow men inherent in such documents like the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitu-
tion. This spirit of kindness is explicated in our
thought-model reflecting a care for the foreigner
that is concerned for his or her oppression, rights,
justice and situation. This surely derives, not on ac-
count of the person being a foreigner but, on ac-
count of the foreigner being a human person made
in the image of God.
Applying it to our own situation, Christians
should be especially concerned for the oppression,
victimization and the lack of rights towards the for-
eigner. Christians should be concerned with their
own fellow nationals as well, true, but they should
care with more than material concerns. It is in the
treatment of strangers, the unknown and unloved,
where the true heart of a person, indeed a nation,
is most clearly seen.
Christ’s words in the New Testament wind up
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 50-51
BY REY REYNOSO
shedding even more light on our thought-model.
Christ didn’t come as the king of heaven, open-
ly declaring his lineage and divinity; he came as a
humble servant and as a stranger. If it were other-
wise, the rulers during his day wouldn’t have cruci-
fied him; but they did crucify him and thus exposed
their blackened hearts for what they were (1 Cor
2:8).
Enter the alien/stranger. Christ stands in his
place awaiting mercy, righteousness, justice and
kindness. Every person reflects the image of God
(Gen 1:26) so treating that image poorly speaks, ul-
timately, about our attitude toward God. Love peo-
ple, especially those strangers, because it is when
you love the apparent unlovable that you reflect the
love of God.
As a national policy in a democratic society this
would be difficult to pass as law (and even more
difficult to enforce) but I think it does help me un-
derstand how a Christian is to look at the immigra-
tion issue—looking at the people through Scriptur-
al principles; not solely the apparent problem.
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 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every

authority instituted among men: whether to the

Chapter 6 king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors,

Christians, Immigration,
who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong
and the Law
and to commend those who do right

1 Peter 2:13-14

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 M
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
y thought model sort of works.
It allows me to see the driving
principles that ran through Is-
rael’s treatment of immigrants
while yielding some information about how those
principles might be applied today; but it keeps
catching on one snag. America’s problem isn’t im-
migration—it’s illegal immigration.
Because of that, I must reflect on human laws,
authority and a Christian’s responsibility.
First, note how God held people account-
able for other people. In Gen 9:6 (and earlier),
mankind had to punish killers. In Gen. 41:25–57,
Pharaoh was informed by God about what was go-
ing to happen in the land so that Joseph could care
for the people and Egypt would prosper—Pharaoh
was essentially a vehicle for God’s care of the
people. This makes sense, since God (much later)
depicted Nebuchadnezzar (his King and servant
Dan. 2:37, 38 and Jer. 27:6) as a glorious tree that
provided shade, fruit and shelter (Dan 4:9-17). Pha-
raoh 2.0 was made king by God specifically for the
purpose of reflecting God’s power (Exo 6; Rom
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 54-55
BY REY REYNOSO
9). Saul (a doofus of a man) is the people’s choice
award winner, yet he was appointed by God and is
called anointed (1 Sam. 9:15–17; 10:1). David, an
adulterer and a murderer whose sins sometimes af-
fects the entire nation, is also God’s anointed (1
Sam. 16:1, 7, 13; 2 Sam. 7:13–16; Psa. 89:19–37;
Acts 13:22) and is called the Son of God (Psalm
2).Paul, who had suffered at the hands of ruling
authorities, would have the cheek to tell us that
rulers are actually ministers and servants of God
(Rom 13:1,4,6). The Old Testament is pretty open
in viewing God as appointing Kings (1 Kin. 14:14;
16:1–4; 1 Chr. 28:4, 5; 29:25; Psa. 22:28; Prov. 8:15,
16; Dan. 2:20, 21, 37; 5:20–24) and the New Testa-
ment follows suit (Rom 13).
Second, note how eople also have to obey
the ruling authorities—even the evil ones—be-
cause disobeying authorities would be to disobey
God. Compare the two incidents in Numbers
(Num. 12, 16) where God’s authority was chal-
lenged by attacking God’s chosen vessels of au-
thority. Ecclesiastes 8 illuminates wisdom as a man
keeps the king’s command. Our Lord tells us to pay
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
our taxes (Matt 22:17-21; Luke 20:25) in obedience.
The author to the Hebrews says that the believers
are to obey those who rule over them (Heb 13:17).
Paul would tell believers to pray for their rulers, and
submit to them, so that they can have a quiet and
tranquil life (1 Tim 2:1-2; Titus 3:1). His example
is fairly evident when he retracts his condemnation
of the then ruling High Priest on the grounds that
he didn’t know he was High Priest (Acts 23:1-5)
but then fairly confusing when he throws the whole
proceeding into chaos. Peter says to submit to hu-
man authorities as a testimony to unbelievers (1 Pe-
ter 2:13-15) and then actually goes so far to say that
a mark of haters of God is that they are despisers
of authority (2 Pet. 2:10)!
Civl Disobedience
And yet, even in the necessity for civil obedi-
ence, Scripture makes it clear that there are prin-
ciples that override a ruler’s authority. A direct
command from the Lord can override obedience
to civil rule as these rich migrants who visited the
Lord discovered (Mat 2:8, 12). Fear for God seems
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 56-57
BY REY REYNOSO
to be a factor as in the case of the Jewish Mid-
wives, when told to slaughter the Jewish male ba-
bies, feared God more than they feared Pharaoh:
their decision (with subsequent disobedience and
lie) was viewed favorably by God (Exo 1:15-21).
Refusing to break God’s as Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah refused to follow the political decision to
bow down to an image; God justified them before
the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3).
Christ often broke the commands of the rul-
ing authorities (Mat 15, 16, 21, and plenty more in
the Gospels) for the express purpose of showing
their callousness, hypocrisy, and their façade of ho-
liness—but I’m not sure that is a calling for believ-
ers. And yet, when filled with the Holy Spirit, Ste-
phen refuses to shut up when the authorities were
angry at him (Acts 7). Indeed, Peter and John go so
far to say, in the face of their ruling authorities, that
they must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29—a
case which some might chalk up to having a heav-
enly command beforehand).
But civil disobedience seems to be used in oth-
er surprising cases as well. Paul, after being beaten
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS BY REY REYNOSO

publically, then privately released, refuses to leave Daniel 1 or Daniel 6? On what grounds does some-
the prison until the magistrates publically exoner- one like Paul submit himself to a beating and bring
ate him (Acts 16:37). His legal rights were violated up his rights; or submit to a beating and prison and
and he made sure to make a fuss about it but in so then enforce his rights?
doing he protested by sitting in prison. In another The evidence here needs further examina-
situation, civil disobedience was used to derail the tion. I have to look at the driving influence for civil
injustice of a secret murder where Paul escapes disobedience.
from prison by means of basket (2 Co 11:32-33).
Well, all of this is fairly complex.
The initial principles that I can draw from it all
is that God is in charge, that authorities are placed
there for a reason that is ultimately for our good,
that these authorities are held accountable for their
decisions, and sometimes their actions put the peo-
ple of God in direct opposition.
And yet this overview really doesn’t yield the
complete basis for disobeying the civil authority. It
would be easy if it were only when commanded;
but Scripture is rife with examples of disobedience
without commands. I mean, Daniel 1-6 is pretty
much example by example of civil disobedience
without command and exemplified in different
forms—on what grounds does someone react as
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 Peter and the other apostles replied:
Chapter 7 “We must obey God rather than men!
Reasons for Civil Disobedience
Acts 5:29

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 I
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
raised some surprising issues of civil dis-
obedience which were: (1) Paul’s refusal to
obey the Philippian magistrates (Acts 16:37);
(2) Paul escaping arrest at Damascus (Acts
9:23-25; 2 Cor 11: 32, 33). I didn’t mention another
surprising case and that is (3) Esther (Esther 4:13-
16; 5:1).
I’m A Roman Citizen (RE:1)
In Acts 16, a mature letter-writing Paul, is seen
on his second missionary. His act of civil disobedi-
ence seems, at first blush, petty: the magistrates had
him and Silas beaten and arrested; now Paul de-
mands that the magistrates personally release them
because they’re Roman citizens.
Luke doesn’t record Paul speaking up during
his public beating or arrest. We see them singing
hymns, praying and eventually telling the Jailer that
they hadn’t escaped before preaching the Gospel.
No mention of the Roman rights issue at the jailer’s
house or at their return to prison. The first mention
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 62-63
BY REY REYNOSO
of Paul’s citizenship rights1 to the officials, accord-
ing to Luke, is when they’re about to released (Rom
9:35-37).
Paul may have had several reasons to speak now.
He might not have had a chance to speak when he
was naked and beaten. He might have wanted to
ensure that respect to the law was restored—at the
very least in the public eye, but likely in the eyes of
the magistrates. He might have wanted to show that
they couldn’t about casting off the laws of the land
by rejecting the law s that exists.
Those seem unlikely though. It wouldn’t ex-
plain why Paul didn’t shout it early on. It could be
just as possible that Paul brings up the matter here
because the injustice is more than casting off the
law of the land; it is the callous disregard of any
justice whatsoever. These guys did this, not in re-
jection of the higher authorities, but without any
1 Citizens were equipped with certain rights: the
right to appeal to Caesar (from any local court)
and the right not to face torture, scourging, long
imprisonment, or death without legal due process
(which included the right to appeal to a higher
court). You ignore those rights, you’re not merely
messing with a citizen, and you’re messing with law
and government.
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
consideration of any authorities but their own an-
gry impulses. This is more than the injustice to citi-
zens, it is an injustice that was being propagated as
a normal course of action without even bothering
to find out if it was in their power to do such a
thing: humanity run rabid.
I also think several other stories within this
section are important in understanding the depth
of what’s going on. You have two stories going on
in Acts 16 which culminate with civilian activity un-
der the law of the land.
Story arc one is sparked by the possessed for-
tune telling slave girl who was a source of income
for her masters. Ignoring her spiritual condition,
her masters saw her only as a source of income to
support their lifestyle. Once her power is attacked,
chaos ensues: the masters attack Paul and Silas,
they bring them to the authorities, the magistrates
immediately execute a decision without trial and
throw the two preachers into jail.
Story arc two is sparked with the two preach-
ers, working under the power of God, growing
tired of the slave girl’s proclamations and remov-
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 64-65
BY REY REYNOSO
ing the spirit of divination. They’re beaten and im-
prisoned and remain in prison until an earthquake
hits. The jailer, expecting everyone to have escaped,
is about to off himself when Paul and Silas prove
that all the prisoners are still there. Instead of chaos
ensuing, these guys proved orderly to the point of
welcoming a new person to the Kingdom of God.
So much so that they go clean up, have a meal, and
then go back to the prison to await the morning.
The two stories stand next to each other offer-
ing a striking parallel; one reflecting how the minis-
ters of The Only Powerful God handle themselves
in society and with the Gospel; the other reflect-
ing how those under the power of darkness handle
themselves in society when their idols are attacked.
Luke essentially is saying “Do you see? Chris-
tianity has no reason to buck the laws of the land;
we know who wins in the end so we don’t have to.
When we buck it’s to show that you have rejected
your own system for the sake of whatever power
has taken control of you all.”
So this first case of civil disobedience reflects
that Christians should be reflecting the power of
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
God over and above the kingdom of men and actu-
ally underscoring the importance of those rules—
even when the rule makers have cast off the rules
for the sake of their own idols. It might require
a form of civil disobedience (refusal to leave the
prison without public acknowledgment of wrong-
doing) but it is not anarchist in its activities; rather
it is whatever social system at its best.
I’m Outa’ Here (RE:2)
We might be tempted to chalk up Paul’s basket
escape to lack of knowledge. Paul is a new be-
liever2; the followers, the main motivators of the
escape, don’t have well distributed teachings of Je-
sus. We might even try to write the passage off as
descriptive, not prescriptive, with the main point
being that Saul, the hunter of Christian fugitives,
wound up running away as a Christian fugitive.
That contrast remaining true, there are some
definite points of departure from an off-hand
disqualification of the passage in regards to civil
2 That is, if we go with a date before his 3 year
disappearance referred to in Gal 3:17-18
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 66-67
BY REY REYNOSO
disobedience.
Saul, a trained rabbi (at the feet of famed Ga-
maliel), should have had a theology of civil respon-
sibility already in place; Christianity wouldn’t have
changed it, it would have refined it underneath the
headship of the risen Lord. This is why Paul can
come to belief and then, fairly quickly, preach the
word. Heck, the followers themselves should have
had a theology of civil responsibility on account of
the Disciple’s hard learned schooling during Jesus’
time on earth3.
The Jews had gotten involved with the local au-
thorities under governer Aretas IV, the vassal king,
and they wanted to capture and kill Paul. The in-
tent here was murder under the veneer of authority
with no mention of legal charges being brought up.
This was cowboy law and Paul and gang wouldn’t
deal with it—they escaped.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Paul es-
capes from cowboy law.
Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, decides
it best to have Paul stand trial in the Jewish prov-
3 John 18:36; Luke 22:36; John 16:2; Mk 12:17
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
ince, under the chair of the Procurator, where there
was a definite plan to kill the man. I’m not sure
that Festus knew about the plot (since his problem
with the whole appeal thing was that it was a matter
of Jewish religion and a dead man that Paul pro-
fessed to be alive—Acts 25:19-20), but Paul took
the chance to remain within the Roman system and
employed the Appeal to Caesar escaping the death
penalty by Jewish hands.
Paul, speaking to Roman Jews, explains that
his reason for appealing to Caesar had little to do
with bringing an accusation against his kinsmen but
everything about bearing witness about the Hope
of Israel. This allows him to speak to these Ro-
man Jews with a freedom he couldn’t before. Heck,
Roman Officials didn’t think it was a matter worth
appealing but Paul used it anyway and the law al-
lowed it.
Going back to the earlier escape then, I don’t
know that we can make any solid conclusions. Paul
rescues his kinsmen from performing further aw-
ful violence (like they had done with Stephen) and
does that by rescuing his own life twice: once by
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 68-69
BY REY REYNOSO
escaping the law and the other time by using the
law. And yet, he blatantly uses the situation to pro-
pel the Gospel.
The King and I (RE:3)
Esther’s situation was dire. Not only was Mor-
decai asking her to appeal to the King—a fact that
could result in death if the King didn’t initiate the
meeting4—he was asking her to do this during a
politically dubious time for Esther: she hasn’t been
summoned to come to the king for thirty days (Es-
ther 4:11). She knows what could happen to her if
the King doesn’t approve, but after being given a
message by Mordecai, she courageously capitulates
and says she is off to break the law.
What’s interesting about the situation here is
that law-breaking was not being justified as the
4 Heroditus does make mention that a meeting
could be initiated via letter and, later on in the
book (Esther 6:4) we see that Mordecai is awaiting
audience in the outer court, without a kingly sum-
mons. Esther is very specific about the regulations
regarding the visit to the king. It could be that this
is an interview in the inner court, or maybe some
other young lady has gained the King’s favor—but
either way, Esther knows to come barging into the
inner court could result in death unless the King
holds out the golden scepter.
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
lesser evil. If there was a moment when the Jews
could have some justified civil disobedience, you
would think it would be this time—and yet Mor-
decai, wearing sackcloth and weeping, stops short
of the King’s gate because it was against the law to
do that beyond that point (Esther 4:2). Indeed, the
Jews would weep in every province, but there’s no
strikes, no appeals; just a sad resigned expectation.
Mordecai makes a point of highlighting sev-
eral truths: the Jews were on the verge of a great
culling; Esther might not escape the wrath anyway;
deliverance and relief would arise for the Jews,
with or without Esther’s help; individuals don’t
know God’s plans for them as individuals. He was
confident in the promises of God (that he would
protect his people as a group) but was open to the
idea that the reason Queen Esther was in the posi-
tion she was in was specifically so that she could do
something about it. That might not be true but is
it better to ignore the position God has placed one
in and expect sure deliverance elsewhere or to take
a stand and maybe become that vehicle for God’s
plans?
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BY REY REYNOSO
Mordecai did not appeal to Esther on the
grounds of the wrongs being committed, or her
own moral duty to uphold what is right; rather on
the grounds of personal conviction as being a ve-
hicle for God’s goodness and mercy in whatever
situation one is in. He pointed out her vocation and
her conscience.
This argument is actually helpful to all the pre-
vious examples of civil disobedience. Paul could
have remained in Damascus and suffered much (as
the Lord had promised) or he could have ignored
the plot to seize him, and allow himself to be low-
ered from the city walls in a basket. Paul could have
gone to the Jewish court or he could have appealed
to Caesar and allow the message to carry on in dif-
ferent channels5. Esther could have remained quiet
and allowed deliverance to arise from another chan-
nel or she could try to stand up and be the means
for God’s deliverance among her people.
5 Indeed the whole situation with Agabus the
Prophet and the Four Daughters of Phillip seems
to give Paul a real option: go to Jerusalem and you
will be arrested or escape now and you will not be
arrested. And yet, the whole point, for Paul, is to go
off and (in this situation) be arrested (Acts 21)
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
This tells me that the grounds for civil disobe-
dience are not merely because of the greater moral
good (since God is working all things to good,
whether we like it or not) but because an individual
might personally realize that they might be the ve-
hicle for God’s working good in any given situa-
tion. In other words, the situation in which they
have been called compels them to act accordingly.
Putting the Pieces Together
Admittedly that sounds odd. People might
hear “I disobey government because God told me
so” but that’s not what I’m saying at all. All the ex-
amples I listed above were situations where people
acted in a certain way with the expectation of God
working through the situation but personally wish-
ing to say something that speaks into the situation.
The person is personally convicted to act a certain
way and does so, not as an anarchist who shirks
the laws (note the first story above) but as a sober-
minded individual who understands where God
stands in relation to everything.
This is where time, space, situations, the God
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 72-73
BY REY REYNOSO
given conscience which has been properly realigned,
and the Spirit of God are all working in concert for
a purpose. I speak more about the principle of con-
science elsewhere, but here it would be important
to say that all of these things are seriously being
used by God—even the evil situation (like the mag-
istrates, or the Jews planning to murder, or Ahasu-
erus allowing a law to pass that results in senseless
violence) for good. This does not negate personal
involvement; rather it mandates it.
Even in the midst of a very bad social situa-
tion, like slavery, Paul could send back a slave (now
a believer) to his master saying “treat him like a
brother”; and elsewhere write that it is better, as a
slave, to become free—but everyone is to work for
God in the situation in which they were called and
that sometimes will mean remaining a slave.
As for the immigrants, they should obey the
laws of the land but for some of the individuals it
might be that God has placed them in that specific
situation to disobey the laws of the land for some
purpose that is evident in their situation. For the
law enforcers, God has placed them in a situation
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS

where they must enforce the laws of the land but

if they find that enforcing the law is doing some-
thing which stands as a revolt against God, they
may have to not enforce the law. And citizens, who
have no real role in enforcing the law (like report-
ing people), may have to report people when they
note that they are in a position to do something
for God (if the idol of money is demanding illegal
alien sacrifices, for example).
And yet in all these situations, there should be
a real concern for both the law of the land and the
respect of persons. Christians aren’t to be thrown
into the rabid rage of those under the power of
darkness, but with illumined minds they should se-
riously struggle with the situation and realize the
various shades which permeate the entire thing.
Shutting down illegal immigration or opening the
doors wide might both be wrong.
In the end of this chapter, I don’t have any sol-
id conclusions though I am convinced about our
personal involvement with the thing being integral.
More so when God’s calling finds us as part of a
democratic society where we’re (sort of) the rulers.
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 Was any man called when he was already circum-

cised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has

anyone been called in uncircumcision? (R)He is not

Chapter 8 to be circumcised.
Christians Rulers and
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
their Responsibility
nothing, but what matters is (T)the keeping of the

commandments of God.

1 Corinthians 7:18-19

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 I
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
will not examine forms of democracy. I
won’t explain the nature of the constitu-
tional republic (which protects the individu-
als) and how it operates via a representative
democracy. I’m not even going to touch on the nu-
ances of power balance (technically) ensures that
no group in the United States has absolute control.
If you want an exact overview of United States
democracy, you can read through these documents
online (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html)
I will say that a representative democracy im-
bues its people with certain powers that make them
ultimately responsible for much of what goes on
within our countries policies. Sure, a majority rule
with constitutional protections of individuals is the
modus operandi, but the powers of the people are
vast. Lincoln rightly called the United States a gov-
ernment of the people, by the people, and for the
people.
The people don’t personally write the laws, but
they do vote for the people who will write those
laws. State constitutions, approved by the people,
are structured in such a way that certain legislation
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 78-79
BY REY REYNOSO
has to be run past the people before it becomes law.
Individual citizens don’t declare war, but they do
vote for the President, the Senators and the Con-
gressman that would decide those actions accord-
ingly.
This unlocks a Pandora’s box of Biblical prin-
ciples that usually apply to rulers but now extend to
the people of a democratic society.
Drawing from our old thought model, we wind
up gathering these helpful ideas about rulers and
finding their application in the US. God stands be-
hind the authorities that exist, and that would mean
he stands behind a democratic republic—including
its members (Rom 13). Prayer should be made for
the elected leaders as well as the voters going out
to vote (1 Tim. 2:1, 2). Rulers (and so the people of
a democratic society) should be impartial in their
decisions (note how this even applies in a jury of
peers— Ex. 23:3-7). Any rule should reflect the
fact that God has set up the authority—else wise it
is a repudiation of the one who has established the
kingdom. Even the wisdom for kings and proper
rule becomes applicable to the people (Prov. 24:23-
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
26 25:2; 28:16).
All this underscores the responsibility of citi-
zens within a democratic society but it especially
cranks up the Christian’s burden.
The Christian can’t sit back and point to his or
her need to obey the authorities (or not); ultimately,
the American Christian is part of that governmen-
tal authority. If they vote, they use their political
power as a co-ruler; if they don’t vote, they are
abrogating their decisions to someone else while
remaining rulers. As citizens, they are automati-
cally co-rulers, and they should be concerned for
the laws of the land as well as the mistreatment of
those who are not currently protected by the po-
litical umbrella. Christians should be appropriately
concerned for the citizens as well as the name of
the country which they are rulers over because as
part of a representative society it reflects, in some
part, on their own sovereignty.
Of course, majority decides, but if the major-
ity’s decision is evil, the margin should reflect that
the Christian rulers opposed the move toward evil.
Moreso, the response by the Christian should focus
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 80-81
BY REY REYNOSO
on realigning the embraced evil.
Anyone reading this series will understand that
these things might not only apply to immigration;
it might apply to the unborn, the elderly and mi-
norities just as well. In the case of Immigration
though, I think that Christians shouldn’t be solely
approving all illegal aliens nor barring them from
the country but rather trying to figure out the best
means to get the illegal to act with respect to our
laws but with an understanding of their situation
and seeking their improvement.
This should mean that illegal aliens are person-
ally cared for and motivated to report their status to
follow a proper track of residency. If the laws are
overly harsh, the Christian rulers should be con-
cerned about rectifying the laws so that they are
not cruel—the things that reflect poorly on the so-
ciety, reflect poorly on its people. If the laws don’t
properly address concerns across the board, then
the Christian rulers should be considering how
to make the rules better but always with an eye to
compassion coupled with justice. They are not to
be ruled by anarchy, but governed by what is ethi-
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS

cal, what best represents God, what gives proper

respect to persons, and what is not a revolt against
conscience.
When majority overrules and embraces an out-
right evil by running toward an idol, then I think it
might call for some benign form of civil disobedi-
ence, such as in Acts 16 or in Exodus 1. For exam-
ple, in Nazi Germany, the citizens representing the
true Germany should have been performing civil
disobedience in protecting human life and defend-
ing the oppressed; they shouldn’t have been sup-
porting the Germany that had embraced the idol
of super-nationalism.
The question that American Christians have to
answer is if society has embraced an idol on whose
altar the illegal alien (or the elderly American citi-
zen, or the silent young, et. Al) must be sacrificed.
If that is the case, the Christian is required to point
out that idol, but to do so sanely and without being
carried away by sheer passion. The Christian has to
be a Josiah witha Pauline mine a Daniel-like flexibil-
ity and an Esther-like thinking with situations.

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 III
Moving Forward
Closing thoughts and
some recommended reading for
your consideration

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 One man considers one day more sacred than an-
Chapter 9 other; another man considers every day alike. Each
Closing thoughts
one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Romans 14:5

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 I
A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
’ve arrived at the point of this book where
I’m expected to systematize all I’ve covered
and come up with immigration reform in
America. I’ve looked at the subject about
every which way: I’ve examined the problems; I’ve
worked through a thought model based on the Old
Testament; I’ve looked at reasons for civil disobe-
dience; the reality of Christians under rulers and
the further reality of Christians as rulers; I’ve ex-
plained the importance of conscience; and finally I
looked at the reality of living in a world where sin
still reigns—so a solution is expected, right?
Don’t hold your breath.
Ideally (within the realm of my intended pur-
pose of this book; we can always conceive of
something even better. For example, I can conceive
of a way that every immigrant gets a twinkie but
can make it better with two twinkies, and so on)
there shouldn’t be a problem of illegal immigration
at all. It would be great if people from other coun-
tries could come to America to better their own
situation and America would comply in fulfilling
that dream. As part of this openness, Americans
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 88-89
BY REY REYNOSO
would have a process by which aliens can come in,
be given work with a proper salary that fulfilled ar-
eas that people aren’t currently jumping on board
with (and still addresses the skill set of the Aliens)
while offering them government sponsored health
benefits which they partially pay for with some sort
of tax. As part of their involvement in the country,
they would also be steeped in an integration pro-
gram where they are taught the lingua franca, some
basics about economics (banking, smart shopping,
coupons, etc), supplied some sort of housing with
cultural support, with the end goal being that they
become citizens. As citizens they would be af-
forded a basic public education (that would include
college, if they want to go there) and hopefully be-
come a productive part of American society. All of
that would be ideal.
Realistically all of that wouldn’t be possible
in a fallen world. Cultural support neighborhoods
might look more like the ethnic barrios we have
now. Realistically, I think that America should
have a public health plan that offsets the costs of
emergency room visits by illegal aliens via offering
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
a public health plan for all aliens and people who
can’t afford health insurance. In this way, the un-
documented aliens would still hit the hospitals but
the costs have been curbed by addressing all the
other people who also hit the hospitals instead of
doctors or clinics. I think there should be some sort
of background check process for undocumented
aliens to see if these folk are criminals before try-
ing to integrate them in society. I think that com-
panies should have a citizen integration program
that allows them to hire undocumented workers
to perform what they need doing at a wage-to-skill
equivalent pay grade but with a program that simi-
larly looks at making these folk Americans.
Christians though should think realistically
about all this since I don’t think that the problem
of illegal immigration will be properly addressed
at the governmental level without hurting loads of
people. I think that a lot of this sort of thinking
should come from American Christians.
So, I think that it is up to the Christian’s con-
science if he will hire the illegal alien or not, but
if he does hire one (against the state’s laws), he
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 90-91
BY REY REYNOSO
better be paying the person how he would pay an
American, be concerned for the alien’s health, and
be concerned about getting the alien to become
documented.
The American Christian should be seeking to
integrate this person while respecting their culture,
constantly reflecting the Gospel imperative with
the balm of loving one’s neighbor—even these dis-
tant neighbors. A Christian in a different situation,
who sees that there’s someone hiring undocument-
ed workers and mistreating them, should be simi-
larly concerned for them and (I say this carefully)
report the person who is mistreating the aliens. I
don’t think this reporting should be done blindly
though. I think that the Christian should first speak
to the aliens (and their managers), get to know
them, speak to them about the importance of get-
ting documented and of getting away from the mis-
treatment. It may be that the situation will be dealt
with by the employer himself. It might not.
The point is that American Christians should
be concerned about this in the national level, be
willing to act on their conviction, and concerned
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 A STRANGER CONSIDERING STRANGERS
enough to seek to properly reflect how the nation
looks like under the Lordship of Christ. There’s a
fair amount of nationalism in my statement but it
is a nationalism that is Christ centered—that seeks
the betterment of others and the best representa-
tion of itself in the now only insofar as it hinges its
existence on the resurrected Christ. Of course the
nation will not achieve this on its own because it is
not Christian, so each Christian will have to deal
with each illegal immigration situation personally
and in the place that they have been found.
This post has concessions , concerns and quali-
fications; but it’s all fraught with the problems of
looking through a dirty window. We’re mired in sin
so any solution won’t be pat and proper.
In other words, this is a tough spot. At this side
of eternity Christians will have to choose between
choices in the grey that are very much sullied with
of sin. Sometimes Christians will have to choose
between supporting a war and allowing attacks on
citizens; sometimes Christians will have to choose
between denying an alien citizenship and denying
the government the right to send the alien home.
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StrangersConsideringStrangers.indb 92-93
BY REY REYNOSO
As for me, I started this whole thing thinking I
wouldn’t have any suggestions of what we should
be doing and at the other side of it; I have sug-
gestions and the kernel of a conviction forming. I
think the importance of the image of God should
inform a lot of our thinking on this issue; and
yet I also think that the importance of individual
conscience and vocation is something not to be
shrugged aside with blanket statements (be it about
the image of God or about the mandate to obey
governments or whatever).
As we continue dealing with this situation, it is
my prayer that Christians continue examining the
depths of it: honestly, without fear, and expecting
to change or solidify based on the Word of God
and the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
I’m not sure if this book has accomplished
that. There are definitely more words that should
be spoken. Perhaps your words will add to collec-
tive thinking on this subject.
S.D.G.
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 Where there is no guidance the people fall,But in
Index abundance of counselors there is victory.
Recommended Readings
Proverbs 11:14

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 Books Surveys

Tienda, M., & Mitchell, F. (2006). Multiple origins, un- http://www.jpands.org/vol10no1/cosman.pdf

certain destinies: Hispanics and the American future.
http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?dockey=
Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. c9fef57852dc066cfe16a4cb816838a4

Free online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog. http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

php?record_id=5779
http://www.aha.org/aha/content/2008/pdf/08-un-
Smith, J. P., & Edmonston, B. (1997). The new Americans: compensated-care.pdf
Economic, demographic, and fiscal effects of immi-
gration. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Laws

Free Online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog. http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jun/1/127033.html

php?record_id=11314

Groups and Sites

News Articles
http://www.fairus.org/
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/
business/05immigration.html http://www.nclr.org/

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/local- http://www.borderstories.org/
news/2003265139_imprices19.html
http://www.ccis-ucsd.org/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12581798/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-
21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2005/07/25/AR2005072501605.html

http://www.cnsnews.com/PUBLIC/content/article.
aspx?RsrcID=46021

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 VERSE SAMPLING BY TOPIC: To be loved: Deut. 10:18, 19. Not abhorred: Deut. 23:7

Israel and the Stranger Will achieve more and more in the land among
them: Deuteronomy 28:43–44.
Justice for the Alien: Ex. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:33, 34; Deut.
1:16; 10:19; 24:14, 17; 27:19; Jer. 7:6; 22:3; Ezek. 22:29; Mal. 3:5 Kindness required says Jesus: Matt. 25:35, 38, 43.

Religious privileges extended: Ex. 12:48, 49; Num. 9:14;

15:14, 15
Christians and the law of the land:
Jews Authorized to take interest loans from: Deut.
15:3; 23:20 Romans 13

Authorized to make slaves: Lev. 25:44, 45 Titus 3:1

Not allowed to be Kings: Deut. 17:15 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Forbidden to take Passover: Ex. 12:45 Hebrews 13:17

Partial exemption from Law: Deut. 14:21 1 Peter 2:13

Many aliens in land during David and Solomon’s Citizenship: Matt. 22:17–21 Luke 20:25. Rom. 13:1–7; Tit.
time: 2 Sam. 22:45, 46; 2 Chr. 2:17; 15:9. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13–17

Had rights: Num. 35:15; Josh. 20:9; Ezek. 47:22, 23 Paul enforces rights Acts 16:37

Eating things offered in sacrifice: Ex. 29:33; Lev. 22:10,

12, 25
Conscience and submitting to authorities
Blaspheming Not Allowed: Lev. 24:16
Acts 5:29
Eating blood Not Allowed: Lev. 17:10
Romans 13:5
Obey Sabbath: Ex. 20:10; 23:12
Romans 14
Might offer oblations: Lev. 17:8; 22:18, 19
1 Cor 8 – 10
Kindness required: Lev. 19:33, 34. Deuteronomy 23:7
1 Peter 3 (particularly 16-21)

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