Heaven, Hell, and Immigration Policy
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Sitting at a red light the other day, I saw this bumper sticker on the car in front of me:
I immediately texted a few friends to get their reaction. The consensus was: “That’s ridiculous, hardly worth responding to.” So why get all worked up and quibble with a quip?
While I understand the impulse to shrug it off (gotta choose your battles these days), I can’t help but lament the fact that dozens of people see that bumper sticker every day, then drive off with a distorted picture of God’s Word, his heart, and his people.
The core of my concern is twofold:
1) Its theological inaccuracy
2) Its apologetic carelessness.
I’ll explain each in turn.
First, here’s a little context about where this bumper sticker comes from, and the motive behind the message…
Bumper sticker origins
As far as I can tell, the story begins in February 2019 when Reggy McDaniel, owner of Mac’s Fresh Market (a small grocery chain in the south), published this message on the front page of his weekly ad…
At face value, I assumed the bumper sticker was primarily intended as a political statement, but according to McDaniel, he actually intended to use a controversial political topic to spark conversation about Jesus:
That’s my meaning of the whole thing… Are people prepared to go to heaven or are they not? I thought it was a perfect time because everybody is talking about the border, some people want it, some don’t ... I’m very aware it’s political. If I used a political situation to elevate Jesus Christ, then I’m guilty of it.
Shortly after the Mac’s kerfuffle, Apostolic Faith Church in Arkansas posted a similar message on their streetside marquee…
Another media firestorm ignited, and in response to accusations that the sign was racist, a church member clarified in a Facebook post that the intended meaning was spiritual, not political:
You are misreading our sign. There are strict rules for heaven. We must walk in God's grace and obey his rules in order to enter in. However, hell is open for anyone who won’t. Our church LOVES all the people in the world. This was not put up to offend. It was put up as a warning. Jesus is coming soon and we must be ready for his coming.
Similarly, a pastor at the church said:
First, let me start by saying that in no way was this sign intended to be a racial or a political statement. The meaning behind our sign is to inform people that regardless of what some may tell them, heaven is not going to be as easy to make as people think it is… Revelations 21 talks about the walls and gates of heaven, meaning the only way in is through the gate… The sign was in no way political or racially motivated, it was all biblically motivated.
While it’s helpful to know the context and intended emphasis of this message (which subsequently was printed as a bumper sticker by opportunists looking to make some mula off the hullabaloo), its theological sloppiness must be addressed.
Let’s take the bumper sticker line by line and see how each one stands up to biblical theology.
#1: Does heaven have a strict immigration policy?
One defender of McDaniel’s grocery store ad wrote on Facebook:
The gates and wall of heaven are the blood of Jesus Christ. No one enters there illegally, except according to His Law, by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord. A wall along our southern border should bear the same, barring those who would illegally enter our country, and allowing all who would enter legally according to the law of the land.
The basic argument is: just as God requires people to believe in Christ in order to live in heaven, America should require aspiring citizens to enter on our terms, not illegally.
Here we see the inevitable shift in emphasis, from the message’s initial “spiritual” meaning to something political. If McDaniel is the original author, he was naive to think an evangelistic message couched in controversial verbiage would do anything but explode. His transmission was guaranteed to get drowned out by the frenetic frequencies of modern politics.
Nonetheless, let’s begin at a point of agreement: heaven does have requirements.
Scripture is clear that only those who believe in Jesus receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16, 1 John 5:10-12). Jesus himself addressed the exclusivity of heaven:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt. 7:13-14)
Sadly, most who hear of God’s love turn away from it. As we share the gospel, urgency and authenticity should characterize our method and message, for Jesus has explained how dire the stakes truly are.
Now for my disagreements.
Comparing heaven to America’s border is a fool’s errand. They say even the best analogies break down if pressed. This one collapses before it's even built.
America is not heaven一not by a long shot. America is a nation-state. Heaven is where God will consummate his kingdom, which will be comprised of people from all nations.
They say even the best analogies break down if pressed. This one collapses before it's even built.
While there are blessings and benefits in America, the land of the free and home of the brave aches for the cosmic renewal that only God can bring: to be free of sickness, greed, exploitation, natural disasters, hatred, and every other form of sin (Rom. 8:20-22, Rev. 21:4-5). We are steeped in depravity, and dependent on God’s grace, as much as any other nation.
While there are faint echoes of similarity between heaven and immigration to America一entrance into a place, selective access to that place, and an authority who determines and enforces the terms of entrance一the sociopolitical context of the U.S. is a far cry from the final home of God’s people, where he will dwell among us (Rev. 21:3).
#2: Does heaven have a wall?
Several defenders of this bumper sticker cite the “gates” and “walls” of heaven mentioned in Revelation 21. If heaven has fortress-like features, they reason, this parallels America’s need for walls along its southern border.
But is this understanding of heaven一as an impenetrable compound built to withstand infiltrators一biblical? Not remotely!
First, it may be helpful to distinguish between the two modes of heaven: as it is now and how it will be in the end.
Heaven Now: The “Intermediate State”
Theologians sometimes refer to heaven now, in its present mode, as “the intermediate state.”
The intermediate state is where believers go now when they die. Jesus describes it as “paradise” in Luke 23:43, so we know it’s wonderful, but it’s not our final dwelling place.
Heaven In The Future: The “New Heavens and the New Earth”
Our final destination is the new heavens and the new earth, described stunningly in Revelation 21. We won’t experience it until Jesus returns. Though we lack physical bodies in the intermediate state, in the new heavens and the new earth we receive glorified bodies that never decay (1 Thess. 4:13-18, 1 Cor. 15:35-58).
One central feature of the new heavens and the new earth is the New Jerusalem, a garden-city with gates and walls.
Aha, some might say, there’s the proof! Heaven’s final state has gates and walls, just like America’s borders. Heaven’s gates and walls keep the bad guys out, and maintain order, right? Wrong!
Strikingly, Revelation 21:25 explains that heaven’s gates are always open, “On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.”
And in 21:27: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful.”
Joshua Butler unpacks the significance of these verses: “The city’s open gates speak to its peace, security, and protection. It never has to worry about invasion. It is not protected by military might but rather by the indwelling presence of God.”
In America, though we debate the best way to protect our borders, some law and order is needed to keep our nation safe.
But in heaven, no gates are needed to keep evil out. The doors are wide open一a sign of God’s unchallengeable protection and power.
So to claim that America’s border wall somehow reflects the layout of heaven is ridiculous. Its walls and gates are about God’s glory, not protection from outsiders. Its unlocked status reflects God’s total victory over evil and the safety he secures for his people.
#3: Does hell have open borders?
Next we turn to the idea that hell has “open borders,” which seems to be shorthand for: “it’s easy to enter hell.” Again, there is some truth to this (see Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 about the small gate and narrow road).
While hell may be, in a sense, easier to enter, it is much more accurate to describe hell as a place with fortified gates and inescapable walls, which is ironically how this bumper sticker portrays heaven! But heaven’s citizens enjoy freedom to come and go as they please in the New Jerusalem一it’s hell’s residents that are hemmed in, as Butler explains:
God contains the destructive power of evil so that it may not infringe upon the peace of his new creation. Hell is a boundary that says to evil: “You may come this far, and no further.” It restrains sin’s dark intentions for God’s redeemed world. It is a container for evil.
Hell is a boundary of mercy… the Spirit of God, like a Great Physician, wraps the tourniquet on the wound we refuse to let him heal, protecting both the kingdom and the rebel from the insatiable growth of the sickness inside.
Though scripture is ambiguous about all the details of hell, it’s clearly a place of containment, not freedom (Luke 16:19-31, Rev. 20:10-15).
The portrayal of heaven as a border-guarded nation and hell as a borderless free-for-all, which the bumper sticker promotes, contradicts what scripture teaches.
Hell’s residents are hemmed in.
Even if the phrase “open borders” is only meant as a metaphor about the ease of entering hell, there are more responsible ways to make this point, which leads me to the final consideration: Is this bumper sticker an effective means of evangelism?
Apologetically Careless
#1 - Get your kingdoms straight.
My first critique is how this bumper conflates American politics and Christianity. Our faith does direct our political views, because the gospel fuels all aspects of life (including how we vote), but politics quickly become an idol. Zealous for the “cause” of God, we unwittingly worship political figures as God. We use the kingdom of heaven to build our own kingdom on earth.
So many professing Christians are converting to “political religions” that compete with their allegiance to Christ. We need a vision that can explain the idolatrous forces at work. We must show how politics is more religious than we might think (and Christianity arguably more “political” than we think, though in a different way than many assume), and provide practical guidance for Christians cultivating a public presence that’s faithful, wise, and glorifying to the King of kings.
As Christians, what is the consistent emphasis of our evangelism一how the Bible backs our political party or preferred policy, or Christ? Mingle the two if you want, but know that one message will take the backseat, and in our volatile political climate, it will likely be Jesus who fades from view.
#2 - Don’t undermine God’s heart for the nations.
One glaring problem with this bumper sticker is its likelihood to polarize, with some chuckling an “atta boy” and others recoiling at perceived racism. Rather than demolishing your evangelistic witness by lighting a political fuse, why not step outside the noise of our moment and point people to God’s heart for the nations, which is far more powerful than the current discourse anyway?
From beginning to end, scripture highlights God’s heart to redeem people from every nation. In Genesis 12, God's selectivity (choosing one man: Abraham, and one nation: Israel) is a vehicle to save all people (“through you all nations of the earth will be blessed”).
At the end of the biblical story, Revelation pictures heaven as a place where the Abrahamic promise is gloriously realized, as kings from all nations pour into the New Jerusalem to worship God.
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it… The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. (Rev. 21:24, 26)
The openheartedness of God, seen in his ongoing mission to redeem every tribe, tongue, and nation, should remain front and center in our witness. The irony of claiming “heaven has a strict immigration policy,” is that the whole story of scripture is about Christ uniting all people, so they can dwell with God forever.
Why obscure that breathtaking vision with a wisecrack about border policy?
#3 - Follow Paul’s apologetic example in Colossians 4:2-6
My last concern is that this bumper sticker fails the biblical test of what constitutes winsomeness.
Ah, there’s a contested word in evangelical circles today! Instead of rehashing the debate about whether or not winsome = woke, let’s simply run the message of this bumper sticker through Paul’s evangelistic strategy mentioned in Colossians 4:2-6.
Is this bumper sticker a result of prayer, watchfulness, and thankfulness? (4:3)
Does it proclaim the gospel clearly? (4:4)
Is it wise toward outsiders, aka non-Christians? (4:5)
Does it make the most of every opportunity? (4:5)
Does it model grace-filled conversation, seasoned with salt? (4:6)
For me, this bumper sticker falls pitifully short of Paul’s evangelistic model.
Some may retort, “Share the gospel by whatever means necessary. All methods are good methods.” Then why does Paul specify how to share the gospel in this passage?
Another pushback: “The incendiary nature of this message is its effectiveness. We’re trying to jolt people一to win them, not woo them.”
The heart of God, seen in his ongoing mission to redeem every tribe, tongue, and nation, should remain front and center in our witness.
Fair enough, but I say, if you’re going to warn them about spiritual realities, do so in a way that enables conversation. The evangelistic courage required to put a bumper sticker on your car is dwarfed by the courage required to actually knock on your neighbor’s door to share Christ.
I hope most Christians think deeply before slapping this one on their vehicle. If you do, as much as I’ll be tempted to honk at you or give you a thumbs down, I promise to refrain.
