Why Evangelize
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Should We Evangelize?
Should Christians Evangelize Jews?
Many Christian theologians today, as well as many different and disparate Christian denominations, question the need to share the gospel with Jewish people. In fact, many consider attempts to do this as being insensitive and judgmental. Indicative of this is a quote from Eric Gritsch in a publication of the Lutheran Council in the USA, distributed by the ELCA. In it Gritsch states: [T]here really is no need for any Christian mission to the Jews. They are and remain the people of God, even if they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Why this is so only God knows. Christians should concentrate their missionary activities on those who do not yet belong to the people of God, and they should court them with a holistic witness in word and deed rather than with polemical argument and cultural legislation.
The long history of Christian anti-Semitism calls for repentance, not triumphalist claims of spiritual superiority.
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A Brief History
Reminder: The First Followers of Jesus Were Jewish
The first followers of Jesus were indeed Jewish. They went to the synagogue first and concluded from the Scriptures that the Messiah had come as promised in the Law and the Prophets. It was the norm to be involved first in Jewish culture and then to follow the Jewish Messiah. It was outside the norm for a gentile to follow Jesus.
The missiological hot-button of the day was "Can a gentile follow Jesus without first becoming Jewish?"
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Mah Kerah (What Happened)?
Our Past Affects Our Present
Most Christian clergy have studied church history without ever being introduced to this shameful aspect of the church‘s story. The Jews, however, do know about it. They know about the anti-Jewish polemics of certain church fathers; about the forced baptisms, especially of children; about the church council decree that sanctioned the removal of such children from their parents; about a papal edict encouraging raids on Jewish synagogues by the faithful; about the expulsion of all Jews from a country like Spain; about Luther‘s hate language directed against Jews when they did not convert according to his timetable; about the prohibition against Jews living in Calvin‘s Geneva; the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem set ablaze with Jewish folk trapped inside while Crusaders outside sang, Christ we adore Thee.
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What Does the Church Think?
So What is the Church’s Stand on Jewish Evangelism Today?
It depends on to whom you are talking. Let‘s take layman John Q Smith, for example. He was born into a Lutheran family, brought for baptism as an infant, went to VBS as a child, then to confirmation class starting at age 11. Following his confirmation, he attends with his family until he heads off to college, where he is contacted by a Lutheran campus pastor and joins up for an occasional meal and service. He does not want to rock the boat, and so he never speaks openly of his faith unless someone asks; and today, no one is really asking. He is back to church for his wedding and again when his firstborn arrives, and so the cycle continues. Yes, he knows someone Jewish through school and business. But never is there a thought that he should, would, or even could speak to that person about eternal damnation due to sin and hope through faith in Jesus. That is the pastor‘s job. They have the training...etc.
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Are There Two Covenants?
Download this TopicDownload Joseph Gudel's AnalysisAre There Two Ways to God: One Jewish and One Gentile?
Numerous questions exist today in the field of comparative religions and missiology. This is especially true when it comes to discussions concerning Christianity and Judaism. Many question the need to share the gospel with Jewish people. In fact, many consider attempts to do this as being insensitive and judgmental.
Indicative of this is a quote from Eric Gritsch in a publication of the Lutheran Council in the USA, distributed by the ELCA. In it Gritsch states: There really is no need for any Christian mission to the Jews. They are and remain the people of God, even if they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
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Is the Church Now Israel?
Has the Church Replaced Israel?
There is an old saying, “Ask three Jewish people a question on one issue and you will get five opinions!” This one question brings much heat and sometimes little light because of historic positions, attitudes and sadly, anti-Semitism.
Israel
Perhaps to untangle this question it would be best to go back a bit in history. Israel, the people, are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve tribes.
Israel is not defined by religious practices (i.e. today that would be Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Judaism) but by the covenant God established: Genesis 12:1-3 and Jeremiah 31:35-37.
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We Are at War
Reminder: We Are in a War
Not for oil or money or territory, but for souls. Millions of Jewish people and billions of gentiles born in sin are facing a Christ-less eternity. If we continue the status quo of less than one adult convert per church per year, are we fulfilling our mandate to reach the world? Are we taking God at His Word by going to the Jew first or even at all? Or are we lulled into arguing among ourselves over this or that issue which has absolutely no eternal value at all? The enemy of our souls has succeeded in dividing Christians over issues of no eternal import. We must resist the enemy and proclaim the Gospel!
Excerpted from A Case for Romans 1:16...Again! by Steve Cohen
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Isn't Dialogue Enough?
No, Dialogue Alone is Not Enough
Since the Holocaust, many have shifted from Jewish missions by substituting Dialogue. Dialogue can never replace the biblical mandate to go and make disciples as some have in this post-Holocaust era..
In 1973, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), through an omnibus resolution, established a Task Force on Witnessing to Jewish People. Dr. Erv Kolb, then Secretary for the Board for Evangelism, was the point person. He assembled a team of well-intentioned pastors and lay leaders. They produced a Workbook on Jewish Evangelism for congregational use. One of the appendices included a horrible caricature of Mr. Stereotypical Jew—a man with a large hooked nose.
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A Better Strategy
A Better Strategy: Use the Original Strategy!
Mission strategists hold that some people groups can be reached by piggybacking the Gospel on a medical mission, an agricultural mission, an educational mission, or Bible translation.
Not so when it comes to reaching the Jewish people today. Jewish medical professionals lead in advances; Jewish people are literate; the Scriptures were given in their language, Hebrew. There can be no piggybacking. We must be lovingly direct!
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The only strategy, if it can be called that, is to give God‘s Word a hearing that His Spirit might convict of sin and work faith in unregenerate hearts.
Excerpted from A Case for Romans 1:16...Again! by Steve Cohen
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A Personal Conclusion
Urgency is Paramount
Our present day ecclesiology has muted and subjugated our mission zeal. I believe we must urgently refocus the stewardship of the saved to care for the lost through prayer, witness, and personal involvement. In 1973, one gentile reached me, a Jew. Now this Jew is urging the church to get back to the Bible and reach those who are lost before it is too late. There are great opportunities available with God‘s help!
We pray for His blessing on this important work. He has said that He would bless those who bless the Jewish people (Gn 12:3), and there is no greater blessing than the blessing of the Gospel. Never before have we needed so desperately God‘s blessing on our work. As has so often been the case, the answer may well be with how we respond to God‘s call to reach the Jewish people.
I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for this is God’s power for salvation for all who believe, To the Jew first...
Excerpted from A Case for Romans 1:16...Again! by Steve Cohen
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My Heart's Desire
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved. – Romans 10:1
Paul's Burning Question in Romans 9–11
Paul wrote Romans 9–11 to answer this question:
If Israel is God's chosen people, and if he gave to them the sonship and the glory and the covenants (9:4), and yet by and large they have rejected the Messiah and are cut off from Christ (9:3), then has not the word of God fallen? And if the surety of God's word to Israel has fallen, how does it stand with us who hope in the promise that those whom he called he will also glorify?
This was a burning question for Paul. All his hope as a Christian, all the purpose of his apostleship, hung on this question: has God's word to Israel fallen? Have all the glorious purposes of God for this people aborted because of their unbelief?