A Light to the Gentiles

It is often taught in Christian churches that Paul was the one who expanded the Christian movement beyond Judaism and to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). While there is definitely some truth to this, it fails to recognize something really important that we find in the Old Testament.

From the call of Abraham to the words of the prophets, God has always had a heart for the Gentiles. An election-based theology unfamiliar with the Old Testament might claim that only the Jewish people were elected for salvation, and everyone else on earth before Jesus was doomed. However, when you look carefully at what God says in the Scriptures, you see that the call for all to be saved was present from the very beginning.

When God called Abraham to be a people set apart for Him, He said they would be a "blessing to all the nations" (Genesis 12:3). They were blessed to be a blessing to others, so that all would come to know Him as God.

When the people of Israel left Egypt, there were others who left with them who were not of Israel (see Exodus 12:38). God made allowances in the law of Moses for those who wanted to convert and be a part of their community (ie. Exodus 12:48).

Gentiles Rahab, Ruth, and Naaman were used by God and came to faith in Him. There are even Gentile women in the lineage of Christ, as outlined by Matthew.

In Isaiah 49:6, God says through the prophet, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." To the end of the earth means to all people! 

This is a key part of why God repeats His command throughout the Old Testament to care for the foreigner. When you have a foreigner among you, in particular one from a non-Christian nation, what an amazing opportunity to share what it means to live for God! When that foreigner communicates with family or travels back home, he can take that (hopefully) positive impression and possibly new faith with him and end up evangelizing his whole community, just like the Samaritan woman from the well.

By treating foreigners with the same care and justice of the God-fearing community, the truth and grace of God's love is demonstrated. God's heart for all people is on full display, especially His heart for the marginalized and vulnerable.

The people of God were called to be a beacon on a hill. A light in the darkness. A model of what it meant to follow God and why that was preferable to the ways of others. Unfortunately, they failed many times. And we can hardly judge them for that, considering we, as the Church, have also failed many, many times.

Following Jesus should be more than wearing a crucifix or attending church on Sundays. It should be something that changes our whole life. The way we think, the way we talk, the way we act, the way we love. People should look at us and see Jesus.

Clearly, that is only possible if we’re actually spending time with Jesus. In the same way that couples who have been together for a long time begin to pick up each other’s habits and phrases, spending time with Jesus means we begin to pick up His character and be more like Him. It’s not about working harder. It’s about focusing our attention and our energy on what really matters. On who really matters. 

If we were truly dwelling with Christ, we would know that the same commands to love the foreigner from the Old Testament and the words of Jesus to love one another and to love our neighbor and care for those who are less fortunate from the New apply to us today. They apply to how we respond to immigrants and refugees in our communities and in our country.

Immigrants and refugees are the foreigners among us. They are the strangers in our midst. They are our neighbors. There’s not a lot of wiggle room in what the Bible says about how we should treat them.

I have been encouraged as of late as more and more churches and denominations are standing up for immigrants and demanding better from our government. Our immigrant neighbors are hurting. They’re scared. Many of them have been assaulted, harassed, and/or separated from family. Some have even been killed. Others have been sent to their deaths or to unsafe places where they face all kinds of horrors.  Currently, billions of dollars are being spent across the country to buy warehouses to store immigrants in while awaiting deportation or a flight to a foreign country they don't even know to be treated no one knows how.

The world is watching what our "Christian" nation is doing. Unbelievers in our own country are watching what Christians are saying and how churches are responding. Are we going to stand up for love? Are we going to stand up for our neighbors? 

God told us to care for foreigners and to be a light to all nations.

Do not let that light be extinguished.

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