As a member of a Southern Baptist church and a missionary to the Jewish people (further information about me is available in the bio section below) for the last eighteen years, I have several concerns about what was stated in the Baptist Press article, “Much Prayer, Much Power after Synagogue Massacre” as representing the Jewish evangelism movement. I believe it needs to be rectified as it does not represent myself and many others who call themselves Southern Baptists and evangelists to the Jewish people.
There are two areas of primary concern in this article that I will focus on in this post. The first is the nature of what is and what is not the nature of the Jewish evangelism movement within the Southern Baptist Convention. The second is what steps need to be taken after the tragedy in Pittsburgh.
The Executive Director of the Southern Baptist Messianic Fellowship, who I do call a friend but who I also disagree with in this article, stated the following:
“Most SBMF members actively worship and partner with synagogues… You have to understand, we’re evangelical Christians. It’s not always welcome, but we have some people who are actually attending orthodox synagogues, and worshipping with them… Basically we worship the same way. The difference is we’re able to show the Christ… When we say those prayers when we’re in a Jewish synagogue, we’re able to show the connection to Christ. They haven’t seen it yet.”
There are several statements in this article that I take issue in these statements. I am not aware of anyone in the SBMF who worships/partners/attends synagogues in the manner that the executive director describes. If he knows of individuals that do, I would suggest that discussions with individuals take place as this reflects to me a type of “camel methodology” that needs to be addressed. Additionally, we do not worship basically in the same way as there are prayers in the synagogue that I could never say, especially the Amidah.
It should be noted that I am a member of the Dallas Holocaust Museum. I regularly attend Jewish Community Center events and any/all events in the Jewish community that I can. However, I go as a Christian and seek to find ways to present my Christian testimony in a loving and overt way. This overtness has opened the door to “seed-planting” opportunities that never would have happened in any other way. Jewish people appreciate and expect Christians to be honest about their faith in Messiah Jesus. We should do it whenever and however we get the chance and this is the primary vehicle that the ministry that I lead do for Christians and churches – teach you how.
My second concern is what the leader of the Messianic congregation in Pittsburgh stated in the Baptist Press article. He stated, “We can’t do anything more than just do the best we can to tell Jewish people, ‘We love you, we care about you, we’re going to overcome this with you… Love is greater than hate. We’re stronger than hate. … And just try to let Yeshua shine through us. We can’t be overtly evangelistic, especially at a time like this. But we have to be, very much, wise as serpents and gentle as doves.”
I disagree with this argument. In fact, I told the supporters of Tzedakah Ministries that it was more urgent now more than ever that we bring the truth of Jesus the Messiah to a lost Jewish world because they are hurting and searching for answers. You may disagree with me on this issue; however, would we allow any other people group to not hear the message of Jesus just because a tragedy occurred in their world? We cannot for the physical descendants of Jesus either.
Jewish evangelism is the passion of my life. It might not be your passion but we must have a passion for the lost in this day and age. The world is lost. The world is hurting. The world needs Jesus.
Dr. Amy Downey is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University, two-time graduate of SWBTS and a PhD from Liberty. She is a member of Needham Road Baptist in Conroe, Texas, and the president/director of Tzedakah Ministries.
Interesting. I’d be quite surprised if messianic types found a welcome in any synagogue. Not my area though.
William – I don’t have time or space to share about the seed-planting moments I have had because I started my sentence with 3 words – “I’m a Christian…” Transparency is required at all times in my opinion.
By the way – I have asked Dave to send all complaints about this post straight to me. I’m sure there will be some and he shouldn’t have to hear about it.
Amy,
Just one pointof disagreement.
And I think it is just a mis-speak on your part, but I would like to clear it up.
You said:
“We cannot for the physical descendants of Jesus either”
I think you mean those who share in His ethnic make up as opposed to those who are descended from Him physically [childen, grandchildren, etc.]
I was speaking as a genetic whole.
As to those who worship in the synagogue but are Christians, the camel in the tent approach.
I dont like the idea. First because i agree that we should be open as to whose we are. We are of the Lord Jesus.
There is a real difference between worshipping God via Jesus [and thus Christian worship] and worshipping God in any other way.
To be blunt, the “any other way” of worship is not acceptable to God. For it denies the Son. And we read in Mathhew:
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Also 1st John 5:
The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
So while I appreciate the heart of those who seek to witness the Son to the Jewish people, I can not understnd how one coud worship with those who in reality are not worshipping God.
I have gone to a synagogue with a friend but I have refrained at certain moments and at certain times from participating for the reason you described. I went as a Christian so it was understood and it also opened up discussion points later and after.
Amy, you certainly are passionate about your calling. Admirable.
“We can’t be overtly evangelistic, especially at a time like this. But we have to be, very much, wise as serpents and gentle as doves.”
I don’t read this to mean folks are never overtly evangelistic. It is very appropriate to be ‘wise as serpents and gentle as doves’ in certain situations. Sometimes building a bridge is what is needed to get the gospel from point A to point B – a method that is modeled for us by Moses, Jesus, Paul, for example.
Perhaps the folks in the article are doing what you do – ‘seed planting.’ But you do speak with a great deal of zeal and commitment, so maybe you know the article’s quoted people quite well – and their methods.
I’m not sure if by ‘camel methodology’ you mean the M’slim evangelism method? I am not familiar with evangelism to Jews, so maybe you are referring to something else by a similar name?
You said, “By the way – I have asked Dave to send all complaints about this post straight to me. I’m sure there will be some and he shouldn’t have to hear about it.” I think William can take whatever is thrown your way. However, in the case of your post, thoughtful dialogue is an amazing thing is it not?
Suzanne – I am not sure what you meant by your last paragraph. Would you explain?
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say William. I meant Dave.
Of course, Christians cannot pray the same prayers as the Jews, since we cannot pray that God will send the Messiah (as if the Messiah has not already been sent). We cannot pray that our sins will be atoned for on the Day of Atonement. And we cannot ignore Christ in our prayers.
God can only be worshipped “in spirit and in truth.” When Jesus preached and walked among them, those who really worshipped God in spirit and in truth believed, while those who rejected Him had never worshipped in spirit and in truth.
The Camel method, which is easily googled, uses the Quran to teach truths about Christ. Since, in the case of the Jews, it would be the Old Testament rather than the Quran, then what am I missing?
This is a great question! There is a vast difference between Biblical Judaism andRabbinic Judaism. Today’s synagogues practice Rabbinic Judaism.
Please elaborate.
That would require a rather long history lesson. LOL But I will try.
Around AD 90, the surviving Jewish leadership which was the Pharisees gathered in Yavneh under the leadership of Judah the Prince to “recreate” Judaism in a post-Temple/sacrifice world. The rabbinical system was born that focuses on Talmud/Oral Law and not on the Hebrew Scriptures (aka OT).
This is one of the things that Tzedakah tries to equip Christians in understanding. They don’t see Jesus in the OT because it has been closed from them. They are blinded as Romans 10:1-4 describes and they have never been exposed to the Gospel. Hence, why 99% are lost today.
Would add, just for clarity, that the oral law wasn’t *invented* in 90 — it was already around in Jesus’ day, and was a very big deal: the Pharisee/Sadducee split was largely about whether you accepted or rejected the validity of the oral law (also whether you believed in or rejected an afterlife; in each case the Pharisees said yes and the Sadducees said no).
Although, because human affairs are messy, there was *also* another dimension to it: Sadducees were the blue bloods—usually priestly, often possessed of hereditary wealth, and typically moving in sync with the Herodians. They were big into upholding social order, bc they were born at the top of the pyramid and very much wanted to stay there.
By contrast, Pharisees had to fight and scrap for legitimacy, and often they did this by being strongly opposed to the Romans and their Herodian puppet kingdom—always a popular stance.
You are right and wrong about the Oral Law. There is a pre- and post-Yavneh understanding of the Oral Law. We need to understand in what capacity we are discussing the Oral Law. After 90, the Oral Law was anti-Jesus focused but that is a long discussion.
Additionally, the Sadduccees were not necessarily Blue Bloods because the Maccabees had lost their legitimacy in the eyes of the people around 75 BC. I could go into a long historical explanation but that might bore people. And while the Pharisees are somewhat maligned, don’t give them the word scrappy as a badge of honor.
I agree that such a tragedy should not put a damper on overt evangelism. If we were trying to recruit them to some social organization, or even to sell them some new building for their synagogue, then yes, we would want to avoid the awkwardness and insensitivity of bringing up matters that do not compare to the importance of the current tragedy. But since what we are “selling” and recruiting them to is of even more importance than any human tragedy, we ought not to affirm the world’s assessment of its lesser importance by refraining from overt evangelism during such times.
For the record, there is no “beef” here with Baptist Press, which simply reported information in a responsible way. Amy is not questioning Baptist Press’ reporting but the content of the statements made by some in the article.
Thanks for the clarification. If anyone was concerned, please ask me. Dave is a new grandpa and shouldn’t have to deal with complaints.