David Crabb over at Desiring God Ministries has written a great article titled “Building His Church in a Refugee Crisis.” He addresses the tension in our political landscape right now:

In the wake of terror attacks in Paris and Beirut, the response from Americans — even among Christians — has been as strong as it is divided. While many have called for Americans to follow their nobler impulses and respond in compassion, courage, and love by welcoming refugees, many others (including now a majority of the country’s state governors) have voiced their strong disapproval for accepting any refugees, citing significant security concerns.

Many are asking, What does the vetting process look like for incoming refugees? Can we accept only Christian refugees but turn away Muslims? How do we bring together a desire to show compassion with the responsibility to keep our country safe?

In other words, the key question seems to be this: In light of terror attacks worldwide, is bringing 10,000 refugees from the Middle East really a safe decision?

What is the church to do? I wrote about this in a previous post asking, “How will the church respond to the world’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II?”

We certainly cannot turn our backs on drowning children. But there isn’t an easy fix to this crisis by any means. I’ve heard some leaders cry “Let them all in… every last one of them,” while others hail, “Don’t let one in… keep them far, far away from us.” I don’t know if either of these extremes is the answer, but one thing I do know is: I don’t hear many Christians asking the RIGHT questions. We don’t have all the answers, but we can at least be asking the right kind of questions. Great leadership asks great questions. Namely, what does the Bible say about this issue and what would Jesus do?

One of the striking differences between the New Testament church and the church in our western culture today is this: That early church was ready to DIE any moment if they knew it meant Christ’s glory. The church of our day is willing to LIVE for Jesus if it means their personal safety. One had Christ’s glory as it’s chief aim, the latter has personal comforts as it’s chief aim. We cling too tightly to our own comforts of security rather than living the missional adventure with Jesus in all of His glory. We are missing something—forfeiting something that is of much greater worth when our aim is merely to be safe from the world’s troubles. Then we wonder why our children grow up and leave the church altogether because they find nothing substantive about our faith. They only see a voting block! But that’s for another sermon.

Christian: The worst thing that can happen in your life is not that you would die a martyr’s death, but that you would forfeit God’s glory in your lifetime by clinging to this world. Please let that sink in for a moment. Take a deep breath. And you will find yourself fearing less.

What I find very refreshing about David Crabb’s post is that finally, it seems, some Christians are beginning to ask the RIGHT questions. Not questions that emanate out of personal comforts, but that which flows from lives seeking His glory. I want to point out three of them that Crabb asked and I think every single Bible believing Christian in the west should ask themselves these questions:

1. What if, while America was asking questions about safety and risk management, Christians were asking, What is God doing? “Is it safe?” sounds like a question a government would ask. And it should ask; a government should seek to protect its people. But Christians ask, “What is God up to?” Imagine what might happen if every Christian starting focusing more on what God was up to rather than spending the bulk of their thoughts on what will make them “feel” more safe.
   
   
2. How would we view Muslims if we were steeped in God’s words so that we were thinking his thoughts after him? My 14-year old daughter and I had to put this into practice in Berlin last summer when we were inadvertently introduced to a community of Muslims and spent a couple of days with them during our mission trip to Germany. (And by the way, they didn’t try to kill us!)
   
   
3. What would be our perspective on the refugee crisis if the Bible, and not our favorite news channel, was guiding our thoughts and directing our behavior? “One of the things that hinders Christian witness most is simply that the primary voice speaking in our heads, influencing our thoughts, and determining our behavior is not the Bible, but media pundits.” Imagine a church world where believers got their direction, boldness, spiritual enlightenment, anointing, power, and marching orders from the Bible (Holy Spirit) instead of culture, politics, or media pundits. I got a feeling we’d be making more progress in gospel transformation if that were the case.

Crabb gives us three great thoughts to apply to our daily lives: 1) Don’t react in fear, but with courage. 2) Think God’s thoughts after him. 3) Pray that Christ would build his church. This is our business as Christians. The Bible is not a book about safety and risk management!

God is building his church — through this refugee crisis — and the very hellishness of ISIS will not prevail against it.

Thank you David Crabb for reminding Christians that the Bible is our ultimate authority! We would do well to get back to asking questions that emanate from the Holy Scriptures. Let governments continue to scrap it out over what is “safe,” but let the church take on the issue of Christ’s glory. This is evident in Paul’s missional resolve: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24 NIV). Notice Paul’s aim wasn’t a long and safe life, but an eternally significant life full of God’s purpose: Finishing what God put Him here to do.

What if that became the aim of every believer in the west? The world?

Related article: What Will The Church Do With the Refugee Crisis?

Shapers: Leadership That Restores Hope, Rebuilds Lives (leadership lessons from Nehemiah with great parallels to the refugee crisis of our times).