Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Christian Events Supporting Israel

I wrote earlier about how Romans 11 asks Gentile followers of Yeshua to present Yeshua as a Jewish messiah, in a manner that encourages Jewish unbelievers to appreciate how much God has done for them. This does not mean Gentile believers need to act like Messianic Jews, but it does mean they need to realize and openly discuss how they are replacing Yeshua's "face" with a Hellenistic or Pagan one.

On May 18th, an event supporting Israel is happening in Eugene, hosted by a Christian organization. I am planning on attending, and wonder what it will be like.

At the last one of these I attended, the featured speaker even discussed Romans 11 but completely failed to see the application I just mentioned. Instead, the event had features that would strongly discourage an unbelieving Jew from attending:
  • economic activity on a Shabbat
  • church sanctuary as the lecture hall
  • no recognition of the presenters seeing any remaining Jewish identity besides lineage and land
  • discussion of donations of money, but not goods, to help poor Israelis
  • lack of Jewish worship on a Shabbat
  • teaching that claims Gentile believers are as much "Israel" as Jewish people
If a Jewish unbeliever did attend, they would leave with the impression that Christians worship a different "God" than the Jews worship. The work of Romans 11 cannot be fulfilled by merely supportting Israel.