Southern Baptist Convention President Preaches Sympathy For Immigrant Children

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention recently spoke on Christians' responsibility to provide compassion and understanding to immigrants, especially minors, crossing into the U.S. from Central America.

The Rev. Ronnie Floyd, leader of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, made his comments during a mass this past weekend, after he and other SBC leaders visited the U.S. border to speak with immigrants, primarily children.

[…] Without any question at all, Jesus Christ is sympathetic with immigrants," Floyd told his congregation. "The immigrant is loved by Jesus Christ. I mean every person on the face of this earth is loved by Jesus Christ. And that's why Christ died for all of the world."

"How we treat other people — all people, all ages of people and all generations of people, regardless of the color of their skin or the language they speak — it tells us a great deal about our personal walk and relationship with Jesus Christ," the SBC president added.

There has recently been an influx of immigrants traveling from Central America to escape violence taking place back home, predominately in countries like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Along with Rrev. Floyd, politicians have also echoed the importance of showing compassion toward immigrant minor children. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on a recent MSNBC episode of "Morning Joe" that immigrants should be treated like the "baby Jesus," who was a "refugee from violence."

"I reference the conference of bishops statement in which they say baby Jesus was a refugee from violence. Let us not turn away these children and send them back into a burning building. That's the bishops, so we have to do this in a way that honors our values but also protects our border and does so in a way that the American people understand more clearly," Pelosi said.