I have joined with millions of Americans and literally millions more people across the world who have watched, prayed and rejoiced with the 12 soccer players and one coach freed from the cave in Thailand.  It has been remarkable to watch the footage and see the heroic rescue taking place.  On June 23 the soccer team was exploring a cave with their soccer coach when a flash flood occurred trapping the team over 2 miles away from rescue.  For the past few days I’ve watch and prayed for the young boys, the coach, and the rescue team.  On Monday morning, I woke to the incredible news that all 12 boys and coach were saved.  I praised God from whom all blessings flow.  As I’ve considered this amazing story, I was reminded of a couple of lessons for the church.

1. Life Matters

I don’t know these boys.  I have absolutely no connection to them except they have been created by the same creator who created me. Therefore, their lives have intrinsic and immense value.  They have  been created in the image of God, just like me.  Their lives matter; their lives matter a lot.  As a Christian, I am reminded over and over life matters.  That is why we are here.  From the womb to the tomb life matters and all life matters.  Whether they are a fetus in a mother’s womb, an illegal at the border, a prisoner on death row, the president of your neighborhood bank or 12 young boys and a coach from Thailand.  Life matters.  Can I ask you a simple question?  When was the last time you prayed for your neighbor the way you prayed for these 13 lives?  When was the last time God broke your heart over a lost friend in dire need of rescue the way God broke your heart for these 13?  When was the last time your rejoiced with the news that a person you just met came to know Christ and was rescued from death into life? We prayed, worried, and rejoiced with 13 lives we didn’t know, as well we should have.  But should we pray, worry and rejoice with our neighbor, with our family, friends, and coworkers?  Since life matters, we must allow compassion and grace to fill our hearts and impact our treatment of others.  Romans 2:4 reminds us “that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.”  How would the church grow if our first reaction is always kindness, grace, and compassion?  I think I would love to pastor a church like that.

2. Every Great Rescue Needs an Even Better Plan!

The 13 were alone.  Scared.  They were facing certain death. Unbeknownst to them, there was a plan in the works to bring rescue to them.  The need was great, but the plan was even greater.  Our need is great, but God’s plan of rescue is even greater.  The Bible says we too need rescued. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  The wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23).  The entirety of scripture is a story of rescue and redemption. It begins in the Garden.  In Genesis 3:15, God , gives His declaration of war against Satan.  Satan may have turned one man who created a sinful spiral of death and destruction, but God would send one who would create an abundant life of hope and joy.  The Old Testament is the story of God preparing His people for the Messiah and Satan doing everything he can to extinguish the possibility of the Messiah.  Satan almost succeeded.  For instance, in the story of Noah, God’s people numbered one.  Noah was the only righteous man left but the righteousness of this one man saved himself, his family, and the world.   Noah is a type of Christ.  Likewise, in Jesus, the righteousness of one man saved the world.  Throughout the Old Testament, God continues to have a faithful remnant who remain true to His name and who long for the coming of the Messiah.  Rescue came many years after the Garden in the form of God, Himself.  God put skin on and rescued you and me through His death.  The wages of sin is death but instead of you dying, Jesus, the Messiah, died in our place.  In a nutshell, that is the Gospel.  That is God’s wonderful plan of rescue.

3. We love a good rescue story

From Thor to Iron Man and Batman to Wonder Woman, we all love a good super hero and we are absolutely obsessed with a daring story of rescue.  We love to root for the underdog and we thrive on the excitement of an underdog in the grips of certain death waiting on their rescuer.  At the perfect time, the Avengers crack upon the scene and rescue the underdog and all is set right with the world again.  We are fanatical with stories of rescue, just check the box office for proof.
Remember our story, we need rescue.  At the perfect time, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, on a mission of rescue (Galatians 4:4; John 3:16) and through Jesus, we who were objects of God’s wrath were reconciled to God and became children of God (Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 John 3:1).  Make no mistake, we were rescued out of God’s rich mercy and His great love so we can become rescuers. And now we have the mission and ministry of reconciliation.  When you talk to a person about Jesus, let them know He is the Superhero.  People love a story of rescue – Give them the greatest rescue story of all.  Use yourself as a main character and tell them how Jesus rescued you and He can rescue them too.  It’s all by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Not sure where to start?  Why not start but developing your story?  Know who you are and what God has done for you through Jesus Christ.  Get excited about your rescue story and share it with others in the form of an exciting adventure of rescue.  Who in your circle of influence is in need of rescue?  Who do you know is far from God?  Begin there.  Find time to tell them how God rescued you through Jesus Christ.  Let them see your excitement.  Ask them if they’ve ever seen an Avenger movie and tell them your God is an amazing superhero.  Begin to pray for them by name, invite them to church, and tell them your story.

We are living in a most interesting time.  I think it’s fair to say we are more divided today than we have ever been. As I write this, the Immigration Policy is being debated in Congress and families are being separated from their families.  “According to internal Department of Homeland Security data, from April 19 to May 31 there have been 1,995 children taken from their parents at the border. That’s an average of roughly 48 kids per day separated from their families” (see article at www.erlc.com). Honestly, that simply breaks my heart.   I wanted to take just a moment to put my thoughts down on paper and offer my suggestion to you.  First, let me stress I do not have answers to the immigration conundrum.  I  know the policy must be practical, affordable, and contain a pathway to legal status.  It must also be a policy that keeps American’s safe.  We must protect our borders from those who desire to hurt America and Americans. Finally, any answer to the immigration issue must also assure family stability and unity.  Currently, our system is broken and the events on the border of Mexico simply highlights the brokenness of our system.  While I’m not trying to answer the immigration issue, I am writing to remind Christians in America of a few things.

Before starting, I do have a unique perspective.  For eleven years, I lived in Dodge City, Kansas. In those years, I saw the good, bad, and ugly of both legal and illegal immigration.  I have had the joy of baptizing children of parents who are in the nation illegally.  I have had the headache of trying to walk through the impossible process of citizenship with pastor friends from Mexico.  I’ve struggled with the language gap in Dodge City and I’ve worked through some of the hurdles of living in a city made up of many immigrants. Overall, I found the great majority of immigrants coming to work and live in Dodge City hard-working, God-fearing, and family loving individuals.

Therefore, I write this from a place of empathy and sympathy for those who are on the border and trying to better their lives in America.  Furthermore, I write this from the perspective of a Pro-life, Republican, follower of Jesus Christ.  As a follower of Christ, I am reminded of a few things that shape my values:

1. As a Christian, I am to seek the Kingdom of God first; The United States of American is not the Kingdom of God.
2. I am a citizen of God’s Kingdom first and an American second.
3. I am a foreigner and stranger in this world; I am only passing through. I do think there’s a special irony in this when we realize as Christians we are all aliens.
4. God has offered me amazing grace that I must extend to all people rather they are American or not.
5. I know very godly people who love Jesus as much as I do who are affiliated with the Democrat party. Your salvation is secured through the blood of Jesus Christ and not secured by your party affiliation.
6. As a Pro-life proponent, I believe strongly in the value of life in the womb, the value of life on a deathbed, and the value of life at the border of Mexico. We must value all life.
7. My loyalty is to God and His Kingdom first, my love is extended to all, and I must live explicitly tied to the Gospel of Christ which extend grace to all. Christians, we can not allow the world to love the refuges more than the Church loves them.
8. My loyalty is to the family of God even before it is to my own personal family. The family of God extends way past the borders of The United States. I literally have brothers and sisters in Christ coming to America.

We must respond in grace and love not hate and fear.

I am so troubled as I read Facebook and Twitter responses.  I often read what Christians write and I’m grieved to the core.  We are responding in anything but love.  No matter how you feel about the immigration issue, we are commanded by God to love others.  This love contains empathy.  Imagine what it must be like to be at the border, wanting nothing more than improving your life, and your children are taken away.  Shouldn’t that thought break a Christian to their core?

Put a face to the immigration crisis

Make the immigration issue personal.  Imagine your adult children on the border and your grandchildren being taken away.  Feel the pain.  Imagine the fear.  Take a moment as you read this to hurt for the people who are at the border; people created in the image of God.  Understand, that many of the people who are at the border are our brothers and sisters in Christ or people who need to hear the Gospel. God is literally bringing the nations to us.  Isn’t there a better way?  Can’t we as Americans do better?

Respond like Jesus.

It’s such a simple truth.  When we are confronted with a difficult choice, we always chose the way of Christ.  Matthew 25 reminds us that when we treat a “stranger” with compassion, it’s as if we are doing it to Jesus, Himself.  I believe deeply that God is grieved with our current policy of separating families at the border.

This is a very difficult issue.  We need Jesus. Here are a few action points for each of us:

1. Pray for our Congress and our President. Pray that God will intervene, and our nation can come up with a strong bipartisan solution to the immigration crisis.
2. Be devoted to the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Put His Kingdom above your loyalty and love of America. Love the immigrant with a Christ-like love.
3. Be loving and kind to all people. Be motivated by love.  You will give an account on the way you treat all people.
4. Ask God that His wisdom will prevail.
5. Listen more and speak less. Can I tell you a very simple secret?  You don’t have to answer every person on your Facebook news feed.  Often, silence is a good and godly response.
6. Don’t try and justify our actions by saying it’s been going on for years. Instead of trying to justify, be broken.  If it’s been going on for 6 months, separating families is a bad policy. If it’s been going on for 10 years, it’s still a bad policy.

I’m not sure of the answers to this pressing question, but I do know what I’m seeing on the border and the separation of families is not right and I believe absolutely not pleasing to our heavenly Father. I also believe much of the words and actions of American Christians are not pleasing to the Father as well.

As I close, take a look at a resolution made at last week’s Southern Baptist Convention.  Messengers voted on a good resolution on immigration. I think it is very timely and good.  You can see it here: http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/2288/resolution-5–on-immigration.

By the way, I love living in the United States. I believe it’s the greatest nation in the world.  That is the reason so many want to come and live here.   I am very proud to be an American.  I’m hopeful and prayerful our legislature will come up with a good and viable solution.  One that is both protective to Americans and kind to our immigrants.  In the process, don’t forget who you are.  You are citizens of the Kingdom.  Act like children of God.  Always, respond in love and grace.  I guess my only real point is overly simple: Love your neighbor as yourself.  Who’s your neighbor?  Not only is your neighbor those who live next door to you, but your neighbor also includes all of those people on the border of Mexico.