THE CURRENT DEBATE about workers who cross United States borders illegally, cries out for solutions that transcend human nationality. While people argue whether aliens who have broken the law deserve the benefits of US citizenship, education, and healthcare, it is helpful to realize that the Bible offers a higher, unifying concept that is basic to a resolution that will prove just and satisfying.

In certain respects, Biblical times were not unlike our own. Residents of the United States today, like Roman citizens in antiquity, enjoy rights and significant opportunities for which outsiders often yearn. Rome was the military superpower of Jesus' day, and it exerted economic and cultural influence just about everywhere; so, Roman citizenship was unquestionably important. For example, on one occasion the Apostle Paul's Roman citizenship protected him from a violent death (see Acts 23:10, 27). Against this political and cultural backdrop, Jesus taught about another country—the kingdom of God—often through the use of parables. To him, the kingdom was not some far-off realm of imagination, but a presence at work in the midst of everyday life. He declared, "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).

Then and now, those who acknowledge God's authority in their lives recognize themselves as citizens of that kingdom. But what about those who don't? Like the son in one of Jesus' most famous parables, who refused his father's invitation to join in celebrating his brother's safe return, some people exclude themselves from enjoying the sense of God's presence (see Luke 15:11–32). Pride and fear turn such people away, even at the very moment God's welcoming arms enfold them.

The fact is, the kingdom's doors are open to everyone. Christian Science teaches that we all live in the presence of God. He never meant us to be isolated from Him, compartmentalized from each other, or indifferent to the natural world around us. As evidence, consider the Biblical account of creation in Genesis 1. It describes God assessing the outcome of each day of creation as "good." But when every element of the created order is in place, working together harmoniously, then and only then does God pronounce the result "very good" (Gen. 1:31). God thereby establishes a network of connections among all of His children.

Because God has created us, and we are His children, we are brothers and sisters together in the kingdom. Our true identity is spiritual. We reflect God, Spirit, and so we are far more than we appear to be humanly—far stronger, far purer, far more confident and complete. He loves us all because absolute, unconditional love is His nature. As we reflect and express that love, we quite naturally love each other.

In one sense, we are all aliens in this world—individuals with another, higher citizenship, seeking to drop a human view of ourselves as unworthy, sinful, separated from God, and in so doing claiming our true identity as His children, forever at one with Him. Yet to God, there are no aliens, no outsiders. There is only His universal family, joined together as "very good."

Citizenship in the kingdom of God is not a prerogative of strong intellect or aristocracy or exceptional piety. Rather, it is defined by service to others. Even those of different backgrounds, like the Samaritan who showed such compassion toward a stranger lying wounded on the roadside between Jerusalem and Jericho, are welcomed into its community (see Luke 10:25–37).

To focus on Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God is to break down barriers that set people at odds with one another. This is what challenges arrogance and resentment, and abolishes stereotypes that arouse suspicion or elevate one group above another. It draws upon an inexhaustible, spiritual source of goodness that can never be depleted. It operates through the authority of the God who is divine Love. The kingdom of God is the place all of God's children share and enjoy.

Because the kingdom of God is spiritually universal—not physically localized, but infinite—nobody has to go anywhere to gain access to divine resources. The path to these resources is already within the hearts of those who turn to Him, right where they are. God is able to lead them to provision, direction, and protection.

We can help ourselves and others find a solution to problems such as immigration when we acknowledge the kingdom of God in our midst. True, it is a radically spiritual perspective, which some people may not seem ready to accept yet. But in the end, it is the only perspective that will heal and bless all of His children.