Exodus 22:21 Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.
Leviticus 19:33-34 When an alien lives in your land do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
Ezekiel 16:49 Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Mal 3:5 “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.
Jesus and the Apostles made if very clear that the Christian faith is one that emphasizes grace, love, and compassion toward all, even toward those who do not share our faith. The Old Testament contains many, many verses that admonish believers to treat the poor and aliens living in their land with fairness and compassion and to pay laborers a living wage.
It disheartens me that so many people who identify themselves as Evangelical Christians are supporting candidates for president who apparently do not believe the very Scriptures they claim to love.
In the latter part of the first century, Clement of Rome was appointed Bishop of Rome by the Apostle Peter. St. Clement wrote these words in a letter to the church at Corinth:
“When the heathen hear the words of God from our lips, they marvel at them as something beautiful and great. However, when they find out that our deeds are unworthy of the words we speak, they turn from this to blasphemy. They say our faith is a myth and a delusion.”
Those words are just as true today as they were in the first century.
Lord have mercy.
