Let us be really honest now: Should we love our country more than our neighbor?

This question I want to address to my friends who call themselves followers of Christ. I consider my self a person who loves my country. I think that I am lucky to have been brought up in Sweden. It is a safe and peaceful place to live in. Whenever Sweden plays soccer or ice hockey I believe my wife (being Russian) even think I am a nationalist J. When it comes to sports and being happy when your national team wins is no big deal and have no real value. But, when your nationalism and patriotism tries to stop people who are running away from war and death then it goes beyond my understanding. Daniel Forslund wrote an article in the Christian newspaper, Dagen (in Swedish) and there he writes that he doesn’t see any opposition between being a Christian and loving your motherland and I agree with him. But, loving your motherland so much that it shuts the door for a person in despair doesn’t rime well with what a follower of Christ should do.

If we are followers of Christ, we have another country we call home; heaven. This is where we first need to show our “patriotism.” We need to follow the laws that belong to that Kingdom. If the rules and values of our earthly country (kingdom) don’t oppose the Kingdom values we can follow them but as soon as they are in opposition, we need to hold on to the Heavenly Kingdom values.

I want to define what the two words, ‘immigrant’ and ‘refugee’ mean:

According to dictionary.reference.com, the word ‘immigrant’ means: a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.

The definition of the word, ‘refugee’ according to the same source is: a person who flees for refuge or safety, especially to a foreign country, as in time of political upheaval, war, etc.

That means that the Syrians, who are running away from ISIS isn't by definition immigrants but refugees. They are not economical immigrants but REFUGEES, trying to come away from dying in a war. 

What would Jesus do “WWJD” if He were here right now?

Jesus says in Matthew 25:35, ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in.”

Here are some Bible references to immigrants and refugees (Genesis 12:1, 10; 19; 23; 46:1-7; 47:1-6 and so on).

Exodus 22:21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”

Ps 146:9a The LORD watches over the foreigner…

I understand when people are worried about Swedish welfare and if we open the doors to receive more refugees we will be poorer as a country. But, what about Turkey, Lebanon and other countries that receive a lot more than we do?

In Leviticus 22:34 God is telling the people of Israel, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

In Isaiah 58:6-11 God says that the fasting He wants to see is to help the oppressed, share our food with the hungry and provide shelter to the poor. If we do this, God will, “your light will rise in darkness, and your night will become like noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in sun-scorched land…”.

As believers, we are first followers of Christ and need to ask ourselves: “What does He want me to do?” Not, “what is good for our country?” or, “what is better for me?”

Last week I spent in a beautiful country that I love very much. On my last day over there, I met with a young family who had lived there 4,5 years. They had fled from a country and tried to seek shelter there. But UN doesn’t consider them to be in need of asylum (they fled because they are Christians from a Muslim country). Now, they live a paperless life without hope of a future. In this country, they can’t work legally and the father needs to work illegal to be able to pay for the rent and for the electricity. They have enough money to eat once a day. This couple has one son and two daughters (13, 8 and 4 years old). They want to come to Sweden because they have heard so good things about this country. But, many people in Sweden, even Christians doesn’t want them to come because they consider them to be a burden for our society.

In Galatians 6 it says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

How do we mirror the life of Christ? I believe when we help those in need. When we don’t close the door to our country for those that seek freedom. When we sacrifice something so that others can live.