The Bible Isn’t Currently Influencing Thinking About Immigration For Most Evangelicals
A recent study sponsored partly by our founding partner World Relief was carried out by Lifeway Research. Self-identified evangelicals and those who qualify as evangelical by belief were surveyed about their attitudes toward immigrants and refugees.
Most people surveyed (23%) said the media influenced their thinking on immigration. The Bible trailed behind at 20%. Only 3% said their local church was influential in this area.
A similar survey was conducted in 2015. Since then, the number of Christians looking to the Bible has increased, but it is still small.
The research found about 1 in 3 Evangelicals cite the Bible as one of their Top 3 influences in this conversation. While that’s a great start, we’d love to see more people engaging the Bible and all it has to say about immigration.
We believe the Bible should be the leading influence on our thinking about immigration.
Christians Want to Learn About Immigration in Their Churches
63% surveyed said they are familiar with what the Bible teaches about how immigrants should be treated. A majority (76%) said they would value hearing a sermon that teaches biblical principles and examples that could be applied to immigration in the U.S.
“Evangelical Christians should be looking to the Bible—not any political party’s platform, media personalities or even a survey of fellow evangelicals—to determine how they respond to the arrival of immigrants to their communities,” said Matthew Soerens of World Relief and the national coordinator of the Evangelical Immigration Table. “But as evangelical leaders seek both to disciple those under their care and to advocate for public policies consistent with biblical principles, this study allows leaders to verify the extent their positions are in line with the views of evangelicals ‘in the pews’ and to know how to better serve them.”
At Women of Welcome, we know we don’t all agree on immigration policies. But we believe we can all agree on how immigrants should be treated, according to what the Bible says and because immigrants are made in the image of God. We believe every Christian should know what the Bible says about immigration and how we can respond.
Have you downloaded our Bible Study “What Does the Bible Say About Immigration?” It’s a terrific resource and is available for free on our website. Want to help your church grow in this area of discipleship? Ask your small group to study along with you. Share it with your Pastor or small group leader!
