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Finding Jesus at the Border
Immigration is an issue of major concern within the Christian community. As Christians, how should we respond to the current crisis?
Interweaving biblical narratives of border crossing and recent stories of immigrants at the US-Mexico border, this accessibly written book invites Christians to reconsider the plight of their neighbors and respond with compassion to the present immigration crisis. Julia Lambert Fogg, a pastor and New Testament scholar who is actively serving immigrant families in Southern California, interprets well-known biblical stories in a fresh way and puts a human face on the immigration debate.
Fogg argues that Christians must step out of their comfort zones and learn to cross social, ethnic, and religious borders--just as Jesus did--to become the body of Christ in the world. She encourages readers to welcome Christ by embracing DREAMers, the undocumented, asylum seekers, and immigrants, and she inspires Christians to advocate for immigrant justice in their communities.
Interweaving biblical narratives of border crossing and recent stories of immigrants at the US-Mexico border, this accessibly written book invites Christians to reconsider the plight of their neighbors and respond with compassion to the present immigration crisis. Julia Lambert Fogg, a pastor and New Testament scholar who is actively serving immigrant families in Southern California, interprets well-known biblical stories in a fresh way and puts a human face on the immigration debate.
Fogg argues that Christians must step out of their comfort zones and learn to cross social, ethnic, and religious borders--just as Jesus did--to become the body of Christ in the world. She encourages readers to welcome Christ by embracing DREAMers, the undocumented, asylum seekers, and immigrants, and she inspires Christians to advocate for immigrant justice in their communities.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
14 people are currently reading
845 people want to read
About the author
Julia Lambert Fogg
1 book4 followersJulia Lambert Fogg (PhD, Emory University) is professor of religion at California Lutheran University. She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), preaches regularly in ELCA churches, and is active among local congregations serving immigrant families in Southern California.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 12, 2020
Despite the fact that there are more people on the move in our world than ever before, there still aren’t a lot of Christians writing about migration out of a deep foundation of faith and theology while also being grounded in our contemporary reality. So, whenever I see a new book on the topic, I get excited. Unfortunately, as I dug into Finding Jesus at the Border my excitement quickly began to fade.
While Fogg’s faith-based treatment of immigrant issues is well-written, it’s structure lacks imagination and it’s biblical interpretation is inconsistent at best and teetering on the edge of heresy at worst. Each chapter begins with the story of an immigrant individual or family, illuminating some of the unique challenges faced by asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants, or mixed-status households. Then the chapter superimposes that immigrant's story on a passage of Scripture. Some comparisons make sense and don’t require a lot of twisting or finagling to make the author’s point, but others are distorted beyond recognition.
The most egregious example of this is in chapter 4 where immigrant women who have endured discrimination and racial slurs are compared to the Syrophonecian woman in Mark 7 and those who discriminate against them are compared to Jesus. In order to explain away Jesus’s use of an ethnic slur and to placate both herself and the immigrant women she is teaching, Fogg seems to imply that Jesus has sinned in this biblical interaction. “After his conversation with her [the Syrophonecian woman], Jesus more fully embodied his divinity.” Millions of Christians around the world would consider this statement heretical. I am one of them. And what is most heartbreaking is that there is no need for Fogg to twist Scripture this way in order to convince Christians to extend compassion to their immigrant neighbors. The Bible teaches this very clearly without us sweeping challenging passages under the proverbial rug.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that many readers will call Fogg out on her poor exegesis because, as many authors on justice topics do, she is preaching to her own choir and the vast majority of her readers will close the back cover of this book with a pat on the back for the good work they are already doing. Overall, Finding Jesus at the Border doesn’t really contribute anything new to the discussion of immigration from a Christian perspective, and whatever new ideas it does present woefully miss the mark.
While Fogg’s faith-based treatment of immigrant issues is well-written, it’s structure lacks imagination and it’s biblical interpretation is inconsistent at best and teetering on the edge of heresy at worst. Each chapter begins with the story of an immigrant individual or family, illuminating some of the unique challenges faced by asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants, or mixed-status households. Then the chapter superimposes that immigrant's story on a passage of Scripture. Some comparisons make sense and don’t require a lot of twisting or finagling to make the author’s point, but others are distorted beyond recognition.
The most egregious example of this is in chapter 4 where immigrant women who have endured discrimination and racial slurs are compared to the Syrophonecian woman in Mark 7 and those who discriminate against them are compared to Jesus. In order to explain away Jesus’s use of an ethnic slur and to placate both herself and the immigrant women she is teaching, Fogg seems to imply that Jesus has sinned in this biblical interaction. “After his conversation with her [the Syrophonecian woman], Jesus more fully embodied his divinity.” Millions of Christians around the world would consider this statement heretical. I am one of them. And what is most heartbreaking is that there is no need for Fogg to twist Scripture this way in order to convince Christians to extend compassion to their immigrant neighbors. The Bible teaches this very clearly without us sweeping challenging passages under the proverbial rug.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that many readers will call Fogg out on her poor exegesis because, as many authors on justice topics do, she is preaching to her own choir and the vast majority of her readers will close the back cover of this book with a pat on the back for the good work they are already doing. Overall, Finding Jesus at the Border doesn’t really contribute anything new to the discussion of immigration from a Christian perspective, and whatever new ideas it does present woefully miss the mark.
May 27, 2020
Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrant Neighbors is an intriguing juxtaposition of story and Bible study. Author Dr. Julia Lambert Fogg is not only a professor of Religion at California Lutheran University with specializations in New Testament and Early Christianity, but also serves as a minister at a Lutheran church. The specific church where she serves offer two distinct services. One is comprised of mostly older English speaking individuals of Scandinavian descent whose grandparents had started the church. The second service is comprised of predominantly Spanish speaking immigrant families. Fogg combines these two perspectives into a marvelous and very readable book.
In each chapter Fogg shares stories from her ministry experiences and frequently shares the story of a specific immigrant. After setting the stage with this current day story, a biblical story is examined through this perspective. Fogg expertly addresses a wide variety of issues that relate to immigration including economics, working conditions, sexual assault, power struggles, and many more. To re-read and consider familiar Bible stories using these same lenses is quite eye-opening. While a reader may not agree with Fogg on every issue, her perspective is important to read and consider due to her first hand experience and academic expertise.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Finding Jesus at the Border from Baker-Brazos Press via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
In each chapter Fogg shares stories from her ministry experiences and frequently shares the story of a specific immigrant. After setting the stage with this current day story, a biblical story is examined through this perspective. Fogg expertly addresses a wide variety of issues that relate to immigration including economics, working conditions, sexual assault, power struggles, and many more. To re-read and consider familiar Bible stories using these same lenses is quite eye-opening. While a reader may not agree with Fogg on every issue, her perspective is important to read and consider due to her first hand experience and academic expertise.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Finding Jesus at the Border from Baker-Brazos Press via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
April 25, 2020
Finding Jesus at the Border is a good book to read if you have no previous understanding of immigration issues or no relationships with immigrants. I think the most valuable chapter was the last one, where Fogg shares a list of organizations and ministries doing good work in advocacy for immigrants.
Overall though, I think I was just a little disappointed. There's good information here and helpful biblical support for viewing immigrants as our neighbors by relating their stories to biblical characters. And yet, I don't think this book really adds anything new to the conversation. Some of the biblical connections are a stretch and the actual immigrant stories being shared, which should've been especially compelling and interesting, just fell flat.
There also isn't a clear condemnation of the broken laws and unjust systems that lead to these immigration issues or the particular politician who has exacerbated the problem... but really, the first thing you should do to support and love your immigrant neighbors is voting for a president who will do the same.
If you want a book that better handles the connections between theology and immigration issues (and from the perspective of an immigrant!), I'd check out The God Who Sees by Karen Gonzalez.
*I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley.
2.5 stars rounded up.
Overall though, I think I was just a little disappointed. There's good information here and helpful biblical support for viewing immigrants as our neighbors by relating their stories to biblical characters. And yet, I don't think this book really adds anything new to the conversation. Some of the biblical connections are a stretch and the actual immigrant stories being shared, which should've been especially compelling and interesting, just fell flat.
There also isn't a clear condemnation of the broken laws and unjust systems that lead to these immigration issues or the particular politician who has exacerbated the problem... but really, the first thing you should do to support and love your immigrant neighbors is voting for a president who will do the same.
If you want a book that better handles the connections between theology and immigration issues (and from the perspective of an immigrant!), I'd check out The God Who Sees by Karen Gonzalez.
*I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley.
2.5 stars rounded up.
January 27, 2021
A 2018 Pew Research survey found that 68% of white evangelical Protestants believe that the United States has no responsibility in accepting refugees. It’s a baffling position, given the repeated instructions in the Old Testament to welcome the foreigner and the insistent commands in the New Testament to practice radical hospitality. Unfortunately, it seems to be the case that 90% of all evangelicals say that Scripture has no impact on their views toward immigration reform. As a white evangelical pastor—one who has been excoriated for welcoming the refugee—the question then turns to how we might make Scripture relevant to these modern-day scenarios. How do we get white evangelical Christians to draw the parallels and develop a humane theology of immigration?
Finding Jesus at the Border is the definitive answer to that question. I don’t think that anyone could honestly read this book, truly grapple with it, and deny any of its conclusions. They may not accept those conclusions, but Julia Lambert Fogg leaves little wiggle room for those seeking to continue in theologies of victory and domination. The issue of immigrant rights requires little contextualization from ancient times to modern ones. There are no exegetical hoops to jump through. So Dr. Fogg lays it all out quite clearly, chapter by chapter, paralleling a personal and contemporaneous experience alongside a Scriptural narrative.
For example, in the book’s second chapter, she turns to Matthew 2 in order to tell us of the refugee experience of Jesus. But first, she introduces us to Santiago. Santiago arrived in the US as a baby—the undocumented child of and undocumented single mother. Maria fled poverty and an abusive marriage and found safe haven in California. It wasn’t until Santiago was fifteen that he found out his legal status. Fogg writes:
If he wasn’t American like all the other kids, what was he? Who was he? He didn’t feel Mexican—he had no memory of Mexico or his Mexican father…In grade school, Santiago has studied the US government as ‘our’ government. He had learned US history as ‘our’ history, ‘our’ democratic experiment, and ‘our’ land of opportunity—but this American identity was no longer his…
Fogg interweaves this story with that of Jesus (fleeing violence) and that of the Exodus (fleeing famine). She portrays Matthew’s story of the Flight to Egypt as a refugee story and shows how Matthew himself paints that story as only the latest in a series of refugee stories: Matthew shows that Jesus walks the same migrant path of God’s people in order to fulfill Israel’s story.
The chapter ends with the words of Santiago himself: I never saw myself this way before. I didn’t know Jesus was like me, that he was an immigrant too. We have to tell people. They think their stories don’t matter. You have to tell them their story is like Jesus’s story.
I recount this chapter in such detail because you need to know experientially and not clinically what the chapter is about. No summary or critique will do it justice. Fogg’s writing is engaging, her storytelling is captivating, her ability to move between story and theology is compelling. She breathes life into the biblical text, giving it context—both ancient and modern—and challenging readers to then act upon what is plainly presented to them.
Later in the book, Fogg writes the story of a husband and wife pastor team facing deportation by ICE. The pastors had arrived in the US over 25 years ago on a legal visa. When they sought to extend the visa, they fell victim to an immigration scam and the person hired to guarantee their legal status took their money and ran. The result of that had been over two decades of litigation that ended in deportation.
My one criticism of the book is an exegetical matter involving her interpretation of Jesus and the SyroPhoenician woman in Mark 7. Fogg seems to conclude that Jesus used an improper cultural idiom by referring to the woman as a "dog." I wish Fogg had been clearer on this point, because saying that Jesus did something wrong is a rather serious accusation. As is, because Fogg isn't clear, I can't quite adjudicate her meaning.
In no uncertain terms, Fogg outlines the inhumanity and unfairness of our immigration policy and the injustice of the for-profit detention centers in which many refugees are held. She absolutely destroys the immigration myths of conservative talking heads and instead presents the facts: refugees are people created in the image of God, many of them Christian and some of them pastors. We must do better.
Finding Jesus at the Border is simultaneously disheartening and uplifting. On one hand, you’re left sickened by the injustice of our institutions is the so-called “nation of immigrants.” On the other, you see the positive work of those like Dr. Fogg and others, as well as the faithfulness of immigrant Christians. Some of my favorite stories came from the middle parts of the book where Fogg spoke from her experiences as a pastor in a bilingual church. As the former pastor of a bilingual congregation, I found myself able to connect and empathize with how her engagement in the community not only influenced her politics but her ecclesia.
Finding Jesus at the Border is a beautiful book that should never have needed to be written. It’s beauty lies in how it speaks truth to power, forces evangelicals to rethink their views on immigration, uplifts the humanity and God-imagedness of the refugee, and shows readers a path forward based in faith and not in fear. A truly incredible book.
Finding Jesus at the Border is the definitive answer to that question. I don’t think that anyone could honestly read this book, truly grapple with it, and deny any of its conclusions. They may not accept those conclusions, but Julia Lambert Fogg leaves little wiggle room for those seeking to continue in theologies of victory and domination. The issue of immigrant rights requires little contextualization from ancient times to modern ones. There are no exegetical hoops to jump through. So Dr. Fogg lays it all out quite clearly, chapter by chapter, paralleling a personal and contemporaneous experience alongside a Scriptural narrative.
For example, in the book’s second chapter, she turns to Matthew 2 in order to tell us of the refugee experience of Jesus. But first, she introduces us to Santiago. Santiago arrived in the US as a baby—the undocumented child of and undocumented single mother. Maria fled poverty and an abusive marriage and found safe haven in California. It wasn’t until Santiago was fifteen that he found out his legal status. Fogg writes:
If he wasn’t American like all the other kids, what was he? Who was he? He didn’t feel Mexican—he had no memory of Mexico or his Mexican father…In grade school, Santiago has studied the US government as ‘our’ government. He had learned US history as ‘our’ history, ‘our’ democratic experiment, and ‘our’ land of opportunity—but this American identity was no longer his…
Fogg interweaves this story with that of Jesus (fleeing violence) and that of the Exodus (fleeing famine). She portrays Matthew’s story of the Flight to Egypt as a refugee story and shows how Matthew himself paints that story as only the latest in a series of refugee stories: Matthew shows that Jesus walks the same migrant path of God’s people in order to fulfill Israel’s story.
The chapter ends with the words of Santiago himself: I never saw myself this way before. I didn’t know Jesus was like me, that he was an immigrant too. We have to tell people. They think their stories don’t matter. You have to tell them their story is like Jesus’s story.
I recount this chapter in such detail because you need to know experientially and not clinically what the chapter is about. No summary or critique will do it justice. Fogg’s writing is engaging, her storytelling is captivating, her ability to move between story and theology is compelling. She breathes life into the biblical text, giving it context—both ancient and modern—and challenging readers to then act upon what is plainly presented to them.
Later in the book, Fogg writes the story of a husband and wife pastor team facing deportation by ICE. The pastors had arrived in the US over 25 years ago on a legal visa. When they sought to extend the visa, they fell victim to an immigration scam and the person hired to guarantee their legal status took their money and ran. The result of that had been over two decades of litigation that ended in deportation.
My one criticism of the book is an exegetical matter involving her interpretation of Jesus and the SyroPhoenician woman in Mark 7. Fogg seems to conclude that Jesus used an improper cultural idiom by referring to the woman as a "dog." I wish Fogg had been clearer on this point, because saying that Jesus did something wrong is a rather serious accusation. As is, because Fogg isn't clear, I can't quite adjudicate her meaning.
In no uncertain terms, Fogg outlines the inhumanity and unfairness of our immigration policy and the injustice of the for-profit detention centers in which many refugees are held. She absolutely destroys the immigration myths of conservative talking heads and instead presents the facts: refugees are people created in the image of God, many of them Christian and some of them pastors. We must do better.
Finding Jesus at the Border is simultaneously disheartening and uplifting. On one hand, you’re left sickened by the injustice of our institutions is the so-called “nation of immigrants.” On the other, you see the positive work of those like Dr. Fogg and others, as well as the faithfulness of immigrant Christians. Some of my favorite stories came from the middle parts of the book where Fogg spoke from her experiences as a pastor in a bilingual church. As the former pastor of a bilingual congregation, I found myself able to connect and empathize with how her engagement in the community not only influenced her politics but her ecclesia.
Finding Jesus at the Border is a beautiful book that should never have needed to be written. It’s beauty lies in how it speaks truth to power, forces evangelicals to rethink their views on immigration, uplifts the humanity and God-imagedness of the refugee, and shows readers a path forward based in faith and not in fear. A truly incredible book.
January 13, 2020
I received a galley copy from NetGalley.
This is such an important book many need to read. The author has given me a new lens through which to see the current immigration situation in our country. This lens involves seeing different Scriptures as examples of immigration and border crossing.
I have a lot to learn and need to steward opportunities to care for the least of these in my community.
This is such an important book many need to read. The author has given me a new lens through which to see the current immigration situation in our country. This lens involves seeing different Scriptures as examples of immigration and border crossing.
I have a lot to learn and need to steward opportunities to care for the least of these in my community.
April 23, 2020
Finding Jesus at the Border: Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrants Neighbors by Julia Lambert Fogg, a pastor and New Testament scholar, is a personal observation of the immigrant situation in the United States. It is a book which seeks to show American Christians what they can do to help our immigrant neighbors. According to Fogg, it is not a book to explain the complicated US immigration law and policy but to help readers to understand how the experience of migration and border crossers reveals God’s work in exciting and transformative ways. Using real immigration stories, Fogg attempts to draw parallels with Jesus’s life and teachings and the immigrant’s stories and attempts to put a human face on the immigration stories and debate. Fogg argues that Christians need to step out of their comfort zones and learn to cross the social, ethnic, and religious borders and encourages them to become advocates in their own communities and be an example of Christ to the DACA dreamers, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants.
Finding Jesus at the Border is not the book I was expecting. I am a little disappointed. I was excited and intrigued to read it, but it quickly faded to disappointment with each chapter. I excited to read stories from immigrants and while there were stories from a few immigrants, it felt very flat. Fogg quickly focuses on the immigration issues and her biblical interpretations are inconsistent, and at times, a stretch. Overall, this book did not add anything new and basically calls for Christians to care for the immigrants as individuals not just a number on the news. While she provides names of organizations to get involved with, Fogg does not provide any contact information for these groups such as websites. I appreciate Ms. Fogg’s passion and concern for the immigrants who are coming to the US simply for a better life and I agree that Christians need to be more involved because children of God are involved; however, I feel she fells short in her goals. I do not recommend Finding Jesus at the Border.
Finding Jesus at the Border:
Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrants Neighbors
is available hardcover, paperback, and eBook
Finding Jesus at the Border is not the book I was expecting. I am a little disappointed. I was excited and intrigued to read it, but it quickly faded to disappointment with each chapter. I excited to read stories from immigrants and while there were stories from a few immigrants, it felt very flat. Fogg quickly focuses on the immigration issues and her biblical interpretations are inconsistent, and at times, a stretch. Overall, this book did not add anything new and basically calls for Christians to care for the immigrants as individuals not just a number on the news. While she provides names of organizations to get involved with, Fogg does not provide any contact information for these groups such as websites. I appreciate Ms. Fogg’s passion and concern for the immigrants who are coming to the US simply for a better life and I agree that Christians need to be more involved because children of God are involved; however, I feel she fells short in her goals. I do not recommend Finding Jesus at the Border.
Finding Jesus at the Border:
Opening Our Hearts to the Stories of Our Immigrants Neighbors
is available hardcover, paperback, and eBook
May 26, 2020
Repeatedly as I was reading this, I kept thinking "This is a book written with integrity". More specifically:
As a teacher I value those who are able to take the work of the academy and make it accessible to the everyday reader. Dr. Fogg does that. As a Christian, I value sincere and rigorous biblical scholarship. By this I mean: taking the time to do the historical and literary work with the texts, and then letting that inform lived and practiced faith. And then, doing that again but in reverse. Dr. Fogg has done that. As a person who is constantly overwhelmed with how to approach the "topic" of immigration, I value a book that writes to those of us who don't already have a perfect grasp on this "issue". Dr. Fogg has considered that. As a chaplain, I appreciate when pastors and religious leaders seek personal and communal formation from God, which, we can see, she has. And as an "American" I respect when others show me the blind spots in my experience as a white citizen. This book did that too. And as a person of many privileges, I value when others with many privileges factor this in to their justice work. This book does that. And finally, as a human, I value any book that demonstrates how to love--and you'll find that here in spades.
Overall, Dr. Fogg is inviting (not shaming) American Christian theologians (and everyone) to start to see people who are immigrants as authoritative faith teachers. She is sharing with readers how she sees Jesus in a population that, often, is not invited to the grown up table for God-talk.
Read this book not to "agree" or "disagree", but to "be opened" as Mark remembers Jesus sharing in a healing.
I think this kind of opening is what this book contributes...and I'm grateful.
As a teacher I value those who are able to take the work of the academy and make it accessible to the everyday reader. Dr. Fogg does that. As a Christian, I value sincere and rigorous biblical scholarship. By this I mean: taking the time to do the historical and literary work with the texts, and then letting that inform lived and practiced faith. And then, doing that again but in reverse. Dr. Fogg has done that. As a person who is constantly overwhelmed with how to approach the "topic" of immigration, I value a book that writes to those of us who don't already have a perfect grasp on this "issue". Dr. Fogg has considered that. As a chaplain, I appreciate when pastors and religious leaders seek personal and communal formation from God, which, we can see, she has. And as an "American" I respect when others show me the blind spots in my experience as a white citizen. This book did that too. And as a person of many privileges, I value when others with many privileges factor this in to their justice work. This book does that. And finally, as a human, I value any book that demonstrates how to love--and you'll find that here in spades.
Overall, Dr. Fogg is inviting (not shaming) American Christian theologians (and everyone) to start to see people who are immigrants as authoritative faith teachers. She is sharing with readers how she sees Jesus in a population that, often, is not invited to the grown up table for God-talk.
Read this book not to "agree" or "disagree", but to "be opened" as Mark remembers Jesus sharing in a healing.
I think this kind of opening is what this book contributes...and I'm grateful.
October 2, 2020
This is a must-read for Christians, and a call to action. Well-written, with descriptions of Jesus as a refugee, and how we must all learn to cross borders to understand and help our fellow human beings. Practical advice for how to get involved.
October 6, 2020
I've been reading this book steadily for the past 2 weeks. Just a chapter at a time, so that I can digest the topics. It is a challenging book because it is making me think about my prior notions about border issues. As a person living in the northeast US, I don't encounter these situations. I appreciate the work of the author to tie current situations to the life of Jesus. Thank you, Julia Lambert Fogg, for thought-provoking work.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews