Following Judah's Lion

Israel - An Evangelical Idol

I believe that God has a plan for the Jewish people in the future. All those who believe in Jesus at the end will be saved, and it appears as though Scripture gives us a hint at such a coming event. And that event just may be a fulfillment of a divine covenant. Until then, the secular nation called "Israel" should be left to God and not become a rallying point for Christians.

We live in a polarized world that views most things in a political and financial light. And here in America the evangelical church has constructed a theology that compromises the gospel of Jesus Christ and is a significant detour from what was taught and believed by the early church. But specifically I want to address the issue of Israel, the secular nation. If you have been a part of an evangelical church for any length of time you probably have heard how believers should support and defend Israel because that is what God desires from us. And because the Scriptures clearly teach that God has an eschatological plan for the Jews, the church has parlayed that into a present day doctrine. But just because the Scriptures give a future glimpse into God’s redemption for the living Jews in the end as they believe in Jesus, that does not mean we should get involved, much less take sides, concerning the support of Israeli causes. Their cause is not ours.
Examine and digest the words of the Apostle Paul and you will find he viewed “Israel” as a people and not as a nation to defend. It was always in the context of ethnicity and Paul’s heart was their redemption, not protecting their national borders. His words toward Israel were never geographic and he never stepped into the remedy for Roman occupation. Paul would never have formed any alliance with unbelieving Jews, and in fact, they hated him.
And since we are against interfaith dinners and alliances, why is this any different? Unsaved Jews in this age are no more lost than the Arabs that hate them. The final covenant eschatology concerning Israel is in God’s hands, but Paul would never have thought that his fellow countrymen had any wisdom since they have not the Spirit. When we rally with such people we inadvertently give them the idea that they are alright with God, or at least we dull the edge of evangelism (interfaith dinners).
An American Jew named Caroline Glick who writes for the Jerusalem Post and is the darling of many evangelical Christians in America wrote these words:

“I have more in common with conservative Christians than I do with Jews as long as they don’t force their religion down my throat.”

And when she says she has more in common with American conservative Christians she reveals how the cross in our lives and lips is no longer a stumbling block to anyone. Unbelieving Jews have no problem with our silent theology as long as we cooperate with them on issues of Israel’s national problems and make the cross a secondary issue. In Paul’s day unbelieving Jews sought to kill him; in our day they love us as long as the cross doesn’t come between us. The cross has become just a tenant of our theology which takes a back seat when nationalism, America’s or Israel’s, is at stake. We have become a saltless and dim bevy of activity that strives for earthly causes while claiming a commission from heaven. Or as R. G. Lee once said,

“A shallow steam of piety that runs a fresher course on Sundays.”

Our championing of the national interests of Israel has weakened, and in some ways, entombed the gospel under a grave of politics, nationalism, and the golden calf called “conservative”. The cross no longer divides anyone since it is not an issue on which discussion ever takes place. As long as someone believes in the morals, national interests, and foreign policy as do we the cross can take a back seat. Let us not be distracted from the divine and the eternal by being entangled with the noble issues that are temporal and passing. There is only one gospel, and there is only one calling. While we join hands with unbelievers of any stripe we do a disservice to them. Anyone who has read my thoughts knows I exhort us to love and show compassion to the vilest and most demonstrative sinners among us, but alliances with unbelievers is a detriment to the cause of Jesus Christ.