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Resolution on impacting lostness among immigrants
BSC Communications
October 09, 2015
3 MIN READ TIME

Resolution on impacting lostness among immigrants

Resolution on impacting lostness among immigrants
BSC Communications
October 09, 2015

WHEREAS, the Kingdom of God includes people from every tribe, tongue, nation, and language (Revelation 7:9); and

WHEREAS, the Church is commanded in the Scriptures to extend hospitality, which literally means the love of strangers (Romans 12:13, Hebrew 13:2) and to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27), including those of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, the God who made each human person in his image (Genesis 1:27) and who desires for each person to come to repentance and salvation through a relationship with Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:9); and

WHEREAS, the arrival of immigrants to our community presents a divine opportunity to participate in the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) within our own state, including reaching out to entirely unreached people groups residing among us; and

WHEREAS, many of the immigrants who arrive within our State are already strong believers, who breathe new life into our local churches and our convention; and

WHEREAS, the suffering experienced among immigrant members of our fellowship is to be of concern to all, because when one part of the body suffers, all suffer with it (1 Corinthians 12:26); and

WHEREAS, the Scriptures make clear that God has established the governing authorities to do good and maintain justice (Romans 13:1-7) and we are called to respect and honor the law; and

WHEREAS, among those undocumented immigrants are many Christians, who desperately want to be reconciled to the law, while also being able to stay with and provide for their families; and

WHEREAS, our country’s current immigration system has not been consistently enforced in a way that honors and respects the law for many decades, during which time millions of immigrants have entered the United States unlawfully or overstayed a visa, such that North Carolina is now home to an estimated 400,000 immigrants who are present in violation of U.S. law and whose employers are also in violation of law; and

WHEREAS, a growing share of our neighbors within the State of North Carolina—more than 7% of the total population as of 2010—are immigrants, up from less than 2% of the State’s population in 1990; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that local churches should seek to encourage distinctly biblical responses to the realities of immigration, framing our individual and corporate response to the immigrants among us as a matter of Christian discipleship that should be informed, first and foremost, by the principles of Scripture, and be it further

RESOLVED, that local churches should pursue opportunities to tangibly meet the needs of immigrants within their community as a demonstration of the love of Christ and in order to build relationships so as to more effectively be able to proclaim the hope of the gospel, and be it further

RESOLVED, that while North Carolina Baptists may not all agree on specific public policy responses, we are united in our call to extend love and compassion to those who are vulnerable and to reach all people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and be it finally

RESOLVED, that the messengers of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina on November 2-3, 2015, call on our churches to demonstrate the love of Jesus and to proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to all people, regardless of country of origin, language, and that we oppose any form of bigotry, mistreatment, or exploitation of any person made in the image of God.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Messengers to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s annual meeting Nov. 2-3 will vote on this resolution.)