Why Christians Should Welcome Syrian Refugees

Would Jesus take in refugees? Perhaps it is more helpful to flip that question: would you take Jesus in as a refugee? The relevance of that question lies in the fact that Jesus was a refugee, as he and his family were forced to flee to Egypt to escape violence. Jesus tells us that whatever we do for the least of these—the poor, the vulnerable, the abandoned, the persecuted—we do to Christ himself. When we remember the absence of generosity and hospitality that led Jesus to be born in the most humble of circumstances and we recall that Jesus was a refugee, the Christian’s responsibilities should be crystal clear: welcome the stranger, give shelter to those fleeing violence.