–– David de Bruyn

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Recently, a contestant in the Miss South Africa pageant withdrew because of widespread hostility to her parentage. Chidimma Adetshina, who was born in Johannesburg began receiving widespread criticism and hostility because her father is Nigerian and her mother is Mozambican.

Hostility to foreign African workers and migrants has long been a South African problem. Widespread unemployment has made South Africans resentful of the millions of Africans who have made South Africa their home, often beginning businesses or occupying paid positions. So-called xenophobia (fear of foreigners) is often touted as a problem in South Africa. 

How should Christians view those who leave their nation and settle elsewhere?

There are four biblical reasons for leaving a nation. 

1. Fleeing An Oppressive Government (Acts 8:1) In Acts 8, you have persecution breaking out, and believers fleeing for their lives. Their action is not condemned, it is simply recorded. And, as we find out, the scattering of the believers led to the Gospel being preached wherever they went. Church history supplies us with many examples of believers who fled persecution. The followers of John Hus, fled persecution and ended up on Nicolaus von Zinzendorf’s land, because they were fleeing, and launched the Moravian missionary movement. The Inquisition caused whole populations to migrate and flee Spain, and Portugal, leaving the Protestant movement almost non-existent in those countries. You might remember from school history that the French Huguenots fled France and settled in South Africa, America and Holland. Believers of the ages have known that unless God directs them otherwise in conscience, there is a time to flee persecution, to save their own lives, and to preserve a Gospel witness to others. 
2. Fleeing Economic Hardship Or Disaster

As early as the book of Genesis, we have examples of believers leaving Canaan due to a severe famine and going to a land where there was plenty. While there were times they were instructed to stay in the land, there were other times, such as when Jacob was told to go down and settle in Goshen, that God permitted believers to flee because of economic disaster. Later, a famine in Israel caused Elimelech, the husband of Naomi to go into the land of Moab. 

In times of famine in Israel, some believers stayed, and some fled. When the believers in Jerusalem were going through poverty, some probably left, but some clearly stayed

This means the opportunity to find work, provide faithfully, and give their families food, shelter, and reasonable comfort was hindered.

3. Fleeing Political Revolution (Matthew 24:2, 14-16)

It is a fact of history recorded by Eusebius that the Christian Jews fled Jerusalem four years before the final disaster in 70 A.D. The reason for this is that Christ had warned them of the coming disaster, and had told them to flee. 

On the other hand, believers have sometimes remained in countries when the Nazis took over, when the Communists took over, and when military coups in Africa and South America took over. 

Revolution is always frowned upon in Scripture, and getting out of harm’s way before the bloodshed occurs is not condemned. 

4. Fleeing Genocide, War or Lawlessness

Similar to political revolution, believers have permission to preserve life by fleeing in the face of the imminent threat of death. The book of Esther shows the legitimacy of protecting oneself against a targeted genocide.  Jeremiah warned Judah to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, and Jesus warned believers to get out of Jerusalem before its Roman siege. 

Broader lawlessness and social decay are more difficult to judge. There are tipping points where the fragile cords that bind the social order together can come undone, causing the collapse of policing, justice, and the penal system, as well as a rise in vigilantism, gangs, and corruption. 

These four reasons supply a legitimate cause to flee, but not an obligation to do so. 

How should Christians treat foreigners from another nation living in their country?

1. Unless immigration law contradicts biblical principles, we should obey the laws that restrict entry or residence in another country.
2. Believers should obey the law of the country they are in. If a believer is illegally residing in South Africa, he should take active steps to rectify that situation. This may involve seeking legal residence through whatever means are available to him, be it legal counsel or other social services, or it may necessitate leaving South Africa until such a time as immigration can legally take place.
3. The church’s role is not to police immigration, nor to adopt immigration as a political position. It may provide counsel to believers struggling with this, or assist believers to obey the law (financially or otherwise).  
4. Immigration is an evangelistic opportunity: where the nations come to us. Rather than being fixated on the economic and social problems that illegal immigration brings, Christians should be aware that immigration is missions without having to travel. 
5. God told Israel to treat foreigners as if they were at home (Lev 19:33-34). Hospitality towards foreigners living lawfully among us is expected of the Christian (Heb 13:1). Living in a nation with different customs, foods, manners, accents, and languages is a difficult experience. It is painful to be ‘the outsider’ perpetually. Christians should seek to make lawful immigrants feel at home, and particularly fellow believers.