Alex Clare-Young reflects on welcoming the stranger.
We want to be a part of creating a society that welcomes the stranger. Throughout the narrative of Christian scripture, the call to welcome the stranger is clear.
In Leviticus, we are taught that native and stranger should be treated alike under the law. This treatment of strangers is rooted in the liberating migration out of fear, slavery and oppression. In the Gospel according to Matthew, we are told that welcoming strangers is welcoming Jesus. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we are instructed that Jesus’s call to treat the stranger as a neighbour and to love our neighbours as ourselves is the nexus of Christian law. In the letter to the Hebrews, we are reminded that strangers welcomed can be angels.
And so the biblical narrative around strangers is rooted in the experiences of liberation that should drive us to work together for the liberation of all people. A clear call to equality, regardless of national origin, is mandated through biblical law in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Gospels and the letters. And scripture goes even further, arguing that we should understand strangers as neighbours, as Jesus, as angels.
It was in the reality of this biblical context that I watched the Prime Minister’s press conference on Monday and read the white paper entitled ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’. It is in my hope that Christians can continue to live out our calling to welcome the stranger today that I am reflecting here on the Prime Minister’s comments and the white paper itself.
Sir Keir expressed the concern that, without strong regulation of diversity, we risk ‘becoming an island of strangers’. This concern is at odds with our calling to welcome the stranger as a neighbour, as a member of the body of Christ, as a potential angel. In the context of our calling, becoming strangers is not to be feared but, rather, embraced.
Chapter six of the white paper addresses the topic of integration, with a focus on English language and culture. I recognise that supporting migrants to thrive in a new context is essential. I wonder what it might be like if we flipped an Anglo-centric narrative on its head to suggest that our call to welcome the stranger is a call to reintegrate ourselves in the context of diversity.
Let me explain what I mean:
The biblical narrative around strangers is rooted in the experiences of liberation that should drive us to work together for the liberation of all people. I wonder what it might be like if we entered into dialogue with strangers, using technology to enable each to share in our own native tongues. Might we be liberated from the limits of our own languages, cultures and understandings?
A clear call to equality, regardless of national origin, is mandated through biblical law in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Gospels and the letters. I wonder what it might be like if we held ourselves accountable to the same heightened standards our immigration system expects of strangers. Might we realise that ‘integration’ into any one culture or system is a deeply flawed ideal?
And scripture goes even further, arguing that we should understand strangers as neighbours, as Jesus, as angels. Those who live in the UK already benefit from the Christ-likeness of strangers in the ways in which they enrich, and often save, our lives. What might it be like if we flipped the narrative to recognise that our call is to be the stranger? To enrich the lives of those newly entering the uk? Perhaps, even, to save their lives?
More than 20 senior faith leaders from across the UK’s Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities have united to sign an open letter, urging the Prime Minister to rethink the Government’s recent rhetoric around migration. Read the letter here.