Christian Position concerning Middle East crisis

FOR ALL PEOPLES:

A CHRISTIAN STATEMENT OF CONCERN AND COMMITMENT (2009)


OUR CONCERN

Many Christians hold to a relatively young school of Bible interpretation that regards the Jews, and the nation of Israel, as the chosen people of God, today as well as in Old Testament times. The restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948 was not only a miracle, it was God’s revealed plan. Israel has a special place in God’s mind today, and has a special role to play in future events leading to the end of history. Thus, it is God’s clear will for the United States to support the government of Israel. Many (not all) evangelicals in the United States throw their support for any government campaign, or political candidate, which promises to support the government of Israel and her military policies and acts. This has led Muslims to perceive that all Christians and the United States are united in a posture of terrorism. Muslims are watching the United States, with the support of many evangelical Christians, attack Muslim countries with pre-emptive strikes. Many of our Muslim friends know that many evangelicals’ support for United States military and diplomatic policy is founded on this form of Bible interpretation.


OUR FAITH

We are evangelical Christians, but this is not how we read our Bibles. We believe that in the Old Testament, God created all people in his image, to reflect his glory (Gen. 1:26-28). Man has sinned, rebelled against God and rejected his authority. But out of grace, God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:1-3, Gen. 17:7); he made a covenant with Moses and the people of Israel (Ex. 19:5-6, Deut. 7:7-10), to belong to him and to have communion with him. God’s will is that his people obey his commandments (Ex. 19:5-6, Deut. 6:4-9), and serve as his witness to the nations. The Gentiles were never intended to be permanently excluded from communion with God (Ephesians 2:11-22);
Israel was called to witness to them, that they too may be the people and possession of the true God (I Peter 2:5-10), come to the Lord and worship him (Isaiah chapters 40-66). Salvation is by grace through faith in the God of grace and righteousness. This was the gospel in the Old Testament (Galatians 3:8) as well as the New. When the Messiah comes, the Old Testament declares, nations will come and seek salvation where the Messiah and God’s people will be glorified. Through Israel, salvation by Christ’s redemption was revealed, accomplished and offered to all nations and tribes.

In the New Testament, Jesus came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the house of Israel. This kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, not a political regime. Jesus did not come to be a political leader or king. Increasingly Jesus taught that the gospel will be preached to all nations, and the ethnic people of Israel will by and large reject him (with exceptions). Jesus is the true ‘Israel’ (the true vine, John 15:1), through whom God’s blessing comes (Gal 3:16),and today, the church of Jesus Christ is the true ‘Israel’, the true people of God. Jews or gentiles, all have become one in Christ (Gal 3:28). They have received the spiritual circumcision (Rom. 2:18-29, Col. 2:10-11). They are the descendants of Abraham (who believe in God and receive his imputation of righteousness (Rom. 4:4, Gen. 15:6) , and the heirs of the promises made to Abraham and his descendants (Galatians chapters 3-4).


OUR HEART FOR ALL PEOPLES

Jews and Muslims, Asians, Africans or Westerners are all created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28). We are all human beings in need of the good news in Jesus Christ. While we believe and preach that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, we do not believe that any one nation has a favored position in God’s plan in history. Jesus has come, to build a spiritual kingdom. God did not chosen any one nation to represent him with military or financial prowess. If in the course of human history God allows any nation to have pre-eminent military, technological or financial power in the world (e.g. Assyria, Bablyon, Greece, Rome, Portugal, Holland, Britain, the United States, USSR, China, etc.), God calls that nation to be humble before him, and be a servant and witness before all other nations. We are stewards of these God-given resources, including military, financial and technological power, to use them wisely and humbly to glorify God and serve our fellow human beings.

The Christian church calls upon people from all tribes, languages, cultures and nations are called to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ with faith and repentance. Governments have the responsibility to ensure peace and tranquility, so that Christians can worship God in peace (I Tim. 2:1-2). The gospel goes out to all people, all of whom were created in the image of God, reflecting the glory of God (Gen. 1:26-28). This includes both Muslims and Jews. This image has been tarnished by sin, and will be restored not by membership in any nation or culture, but by entering into the covenant mediated by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:23-24, Col. 3:10). We look forward to Christians from all culture to bring their glory, their transformed selves and cultures, into heaven one day (Rev. 21:22, 24).


OUR COMMITMENT

Christians down through the centuries have read the Bible in this way. The current American evangelical interest in prophecy and Israel is a young movement, and an aberration from the historic Christian interpretation of the Bible. One does not have to endorse United States support for Israel in order to be a true Christian. While we respect differences in Bible interpretation within the church of Christ, we refuse to allow our religious faith to become the justification for support for military campaigns by any nation. We do not believe that western support for Zionism in the 19th and 20th centuries is in any sense the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. While each nation is charged with God-given responsibilities to defend her people and to administer justice, we do not believe that God has revealed his will to any nation to defend or attack any particular nation. Christians hold different views on war. We do not find pre-emptive attack by one nation on another to be God’s will. Some Christians are pacifists, opposing any war. We are learning, as Christians, to respect one another as fellow Christians, while holding different views on history, governments, and war.

We want our Muslim as well as Jewish friends to understand that, for 20 centuries the vast majority of Christians have not read the Bible in the way in which many American evangelicals read it today. We humbly express to our Muslim friends our respect to them as creatures made in the image of God, and regret any misunderstanding that any Christian or government have caused. We understand the injury that military interventions such as the Crusades have brought on the hearts of many Muslims and other peoples. Many non-western Christians have been victims of imperialism and colonialism, and are not identify their Christian faith with the misdeeds of aggressive nations, in the past or at present. We pray one day that our friends will accurately hear and understand the true message of the Christian Bible, and that this understanding will not be tarnished by memories of misinterpretation of the Bible and the history of western military aggression. Whether our Muslims friends receive the Christian message or not, we affirm the dignity of all human beings as created in God’s image. This includes all nations and cultures. We long for religious freedom in all nations in the world, where all people from all faiths can worship and witness to their faith with respect and dignity, until the end of history.


Dr.Samuel Ling

Jan. 12, 2009