Perspectief 2017-36

2017-36 JT Chapter 2: Lutheran responses 29 Reageer Mille r. 99 P rohibiting the very option of migration, when this is necessary for people to protect and provide for themselves and their families, to fulfil their God-given potential, denies Christ’s redemptive work that was meant to bring freedom of pursuing one’s vocation. Forced migration, then, from a Lutheran perspective, is a matter of Status Confessionis (a term proposed by Luther), meaning that it cannot be impeded or met with “silence, compliance and indifference” lest it “become apostasy” 99 . Rooted in the soteriological foundation developed above, a Christian approach to migrants, particularly refugees, should take two forms: a positive one, namely assistance, and a negative one, resistance 100 . Christians must start with assistance, as “the places where resistance is needed often emerge as our freedom to respond positively is limited by the barriers of systemic injustice” 101 . When it comes to Christian migrants, locals’ attitudes to newcomers should be rooted “less in charity than in our essential unity in Christ” 102 . For refugee resettlement in general, Christians are called to put into place structures that are conducive to the refugees’ following of their vocation. Assistance in the form of emergency aid such as shelter and food, and help in finding housing, education and employment enables refugees to fulfil their potential whilst simultaneously increasing awareness amongst Christians of the plights of fellow human beings. 103 Whereas charity implies aid from a privileged person or group to an unprivileged one, assistance means walking next to another person and humbly supporting him in following his vocation. Besides providing assistance, Christians are also called to resist structures of sin that deter refugees from freely responding to God’s call. The catch in this resistance is that it sometimes requires peaceful disobedience to civil law, for example when providing shelter for people without documentation in countries where this is illegal. Miller advises Christians to prayerfully discern whether civil disobedience is called for in a given situation, 99 Miller (2013) Beyond Hospitality §12. 100 ibid. 13. 101 ibid. 11. 102 ibid. 14. 103 ibid. 15.