The Mexican Border Today

ON BOUNDARIES

The gospel breaks down boundaries and brings humanity together as one in Jesus Christ. What does this mean for the  need of secure and defensible borders we all assume to be necessary? We will look at social boundaries, physical boundaries, and national boundaries.

Social Boundaries

Soon after Pentecost  in the New Testament, certain social boundaries began to disintegrate.  The Jerusalem Church leader, James, wrote a letter in which he condemned the special treatment given to people with wealth and influence in society, insisting that within the church fellowship the poorest member was to have equal status.   In his earliest letter, Paul wrote the Galatians declaring that in Christ there is no male, female, Gentile, Jew, slave, nor free, but all had become one. In addition the Jewish church accepted its first Gentile member, an enemy Roman soldier at that, without demanding he learn to speak Aramaic, read Hebrew, or be circumcised.

These changes brought confusion and conflict in the early church, especially in two areas: (1) the role of female members in leadership and (2) social and religious practice that had divided Jew from Gentile- both circumcision and dietary custom. In the epistles we can see how the early church, especially Paul, struggled with these issues and how the Holy Spirit directed the conversation as these new social realities confronted traditional habits. As the yeast of the gospel has spread in the world, there has begun a radical redrawing of social boundaries.  Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 2 describes the reversing of social power relationships as the work of God who brings down the powerful from their thrones and lifts up the lowly.

Physical Boundaries

The incarnation of God on earth gave dignity to the earth and changed people’s attitude towards the earth. The physical world was not any more something to be escaped by going to heaven, but something to be valued and explored. Eternal life in a resurrected body on a physical earth became the ultimate hope. At the same time the fear of offending the gods of nature gently evaporated as Biblical faith expanded. Since the earth was now valued and not despised, as in Greek gnosticism or Hindu nihilism,  the capricious gods of nature no longer needed to be placated,  and scientific experimentation could be pursued with enthusiasm. This resulted in improved means of travel and communication that diminished the influence of natural boundaries keeping people separate. As the Genesis mandate to scatter and fill the world neared completion, the process of reuniting the human race and reversing the confusion of Babel ( Genesis 11) began.

National and Racial Boundaries

Two boundaries that separate people from each today other are racism and nationalism. While the conscience of humanity has at last been awakened to the horror of racism,  nationalism still rules almost unchallenged. Jesus said that when the gospel has reached the hearing of all peoples on earth (Matthew 24:14), then the climax of history would arrive. He also said that when his people become one, then the world will acknowledge his Lordship as the Son of the Father to rule the Father’s world (John 17:20-21).

Today the world is being prepared for our Lord’s return and rule on earth.  All humanly designed boundaries are disintegrating. The official border between Mexico and the United States isn’t really there. It exists only in the minds of those who believe in such things. It is fundamentally and tragically ineffective in keeping out drugs, contraband, spies, and human trafficking. The Chinese now experience the same problem with their borders, which are incapable of keeping our ideas and ideologies they wish to keep away.   This state of affairs is necessary to prepare the world for our Lord’s return. As borders no longer keep out people, products, or ideas, they also can not keep out the news of the gospel, because the world is becoming one. We maintain the the power of Jesus Christ is greater that all the combined evil things borders are intended to keep out, for the same Lord who  commanded the wind and the waves on Galilee is in command today. His voice  shakes  earth and heaven, destroying all the is old and passing away, bringing new life and hope in what is yet to come. (Hebrews 12:26).

The disappearance of national boundaries holds no terror for those who follow Jesus. These boundaries belong to the old order that is passing away (1 John 2:17).Their demise is not something that anyone truly following Jesus should be concerned about except to give aid and comfort to those who suffer and pray for God’s rule to come on earth.

From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)