(RNS) — Working in refugee ministry, as I have for several years, will give you an appreciation for Africans’ short and pithy proverbs. One of my favorites is a Ghanaian saying: “It’s the calm and silent waters that drown a man.”

It is a caution that evangelical Christians could stand to hear amid the roaring river of the culture wars, particularly the current uproar over immigration. While some evangelical churches plant a very visible political flag and make a lot of noise, many refuse to take a stand about anything not “central to the faith.” They are afraid to talk about the things that are happening in society around us for fear of causing conflict in our pews — or perhaps any more conflict than we have already.

And yet evangelical Christians care deeply about immigrants and do so much to support newcomers to our country. Many evangelical churches assist in resettling people, provide for their needs and personally help them get a leg up on the challenging process.

This has always struck me as a paradox. Evangelical Christians, who typically vote for politicians who are anti-immigration, support immigrants and act with incredible generosity toward immigrants themselves. Even as speaking up for immigrants has become costlier than ever because the U.S. government has cut support for resettlement agencies and canceled established agreements, evangelical churches (and many others) have stepped up and kept these agencies and the people they help from facing total disaster. 

How do these two truths fit together?

Some insight into this tension comes in Lifeway’s “2025 Evangelical Views on Immigration Study,” the latest in a series of annual reports by the public opinion arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. The report shows how evangelicals’ perspectives on immigration policy are more nuanced than the national debate allows.

As we’ve seen, Lifeway found that evangelicals support strong and regulated borders but also believe our country has a moral responsibility to receive and support refugees. The key is that they favor support for refugees who qualify within a well-organized system. In other words, their support depends on an immigration system that works. Seeing an immigration system that is flawed, they long to see quality reform.

Evangelicals, in other words, are not anti-immigration; they are anti-chaos and anti-disorder. So while unbridled immigration and violence against members of federal agencies and the National Guard represent chaos and disorder, the solution cannot be chaos and disorder reigning in some of our cities. They object to seeing masked individuals paid by our government dressed for war on our streets, while undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes and, in some cases, citizens, are detained through tactics that are generating immense fear.

According to the Cato Institute, just 5% of those currently detained have been convicted of a violent crime. They are coming after the very people evangelicals have supported, directly or through contributions. They have arrested some who sit next to evangelicals in their own pews.

Evangelicals need to beware of being pulled into the trap of simplistic solutions. We can insist on reforms that restore order without forfeiting the way of Jesus and his call to loving those who are not like us, caring for the orphan, the widow and the stranger. While it might feel good to see something “finally being done” after so many years of government deadlock over immigration, we will find that the current policy has unintended consequences. Our churches need to take their head out of the sand and pursue quality conversations about what we believe and what the Bible says about the world around us.

To the politicians who benefit from evangelical support: Beware of how you read the situation. When evangelicals come to see that the crackdown is not only affecting “criminals” who are “getting what they deserve,” but also is causing pain and suffering for people that they feel a moral obligation to serve, you will find that this support quickly dries up.

There are sensible, comprehensive solutions that already have bipartisan support, including the bipartisan Dignity Act of 2025, co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. María Elvira Salazar of Florida and Veronica Escobar of Texas. This legislation would create a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants who pay a significant fine, as well as reinforcing clear standards for new immigrants.

We now need leaders to emerge in the U.S. Senate to take up the mantle of reform, following up the call of their evangelical constituents to care for our immigrant neighbors. By pursuing the Dignity Act, we could provide smart, clear pathways that enable our immigrant neighbors to live out loud while also ensuring secure, orderly borders. Evangelicals should in turn support the politicians who take this step.

If evangelical Christians who care stay silent, we risk drowning in our quiet waters. 

(The Rev. Jared Wensyel, a priest in the Anglican Church in North America, serves as executive director of Sudan Church Partners, a nonprofit working to support Anglican churches in the midst of Sudan’s ongoing and horrible civil war. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)