Posted by JewishIsrael.com
Evangelical
Pastor Robert Stearns’ has a lengthy opinion piece in today’s Jerusalem Post which attributes
Jewish skepticism toward Evangelicals to Jewish fears of proselytizing and
historic anti-Semitism. The reality is far more complex and Stearns’ missionary
agenda was evident at recent events in Jerusalem. JewishIsrael has responded with a letter
to the editor.
Sir,
In his article, “What
really Motivates Evangelicals” (Dec. 8, 2014), Pastor Robert Stearns
attributes Jewish skepticism toward Evangelicals to Jewish fears of
proselytizing and historic anti-Semitism. This is simply not the case.
Evangelical Christianity remains
a classic missionary movement by definition, even without overt proselytizing.
It remains a faith-based, Christ-centered movement, directed at building
theological bridges and breaking down theological walls. Evangelicals draw
people close to Jesus through humanitarian service, charitable contributions
and political lobbying.
At the recent “Day of Prayer for
the Peace of Jerusalem”, an interfaith event sponsored and hosted by Stearns
and his Eagles’ Wings Ministry, Stearns openly asked Jews to witness and
observe Christian worship. Not only that but Israeli messianic missionary
leaders were keynote speakers. One of them, Rick Ridings, has called for a
Jesus revolution among Israeli youth.
So, too, Stearns’ Christ-centered
missionary agenda was evident at the recent ICEJ Feast of The Tabernacles, when
Stearns preached directly to 300 IDF soldiers about the Jewishness of Jesus.
Pastor Stearns concludes by
claiming that “sometimes people just want to be your friend”. This is a
simplistic and misleading view of a complex faith-based relationship involving
religion, politics and money. Friendly overtures by evangelicals towards Israel
require accountability, red lines, guidelines and a respect for differences
between Jews and gentiles, especially within the Jewish homeland
Shulamit Leibler
Public Relations Director
2 comments:
What hurts is that there are so many Jews who are vulnerable to this 'love feast' missionizing. There was a time (throughout the globe) where even the most unaffiliated and unknowledgable Jew would automatically be turned off by any missionary. Now, it appears, we have the modern version of the crusades, the loving bloodless kind. Blame much of this to a number of reasons, but foremost - to the educational system in Israel, which the government, decided that Jewish education including history, some basic Torah and what Israel means to the Jew, etc., was to be expunged totally from its curriculum. Thereby, a new generation of G-Dless youth where they can be sold any bill of goods, r'l. Most important of all, is 'v'shinantom l'vanecha ....
Ellen thank you so much for all this valuable work.
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