There is a wonderful event about to take place in America. An Evangelical Christian minister has taken upon himself to organize support for Israel on a national level. His name is Pastor John Hagee whom I have written about before. But as much as I praised his efforts in the past, they are nothing compared to the kind of effort and commitment he is making now. According to a JTA article he is organizing a 2000 man lobbying effort to congress on behalf of Israel. And it is expected to attract Israel-loving Christians from around the country.
Any time I write anything positive about Evangelical Christians it inevitably evokes a knee jerk response from skeptics, and I don’t expect anything different this time. The claim is always the same. His real agenda is to convert Jews to Christianity. And I am even sure that he is happy about any Jew who converts. Skeptics simply do not trust him or anyone else from that circle. And it’s understandable. Evangelicals have a bad track record. They once “lived, ate, and breathed” conversion of Jews.
But that was then. It was their way of validating themselves. It truly is different now. I base this upon my own observations and those of my good friend Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of “The Fellowship of Christians and Jews” who deals with them constantly. Yes, there is still “residue” from that era doing it. Witness the mass mailing of proselytizing materials to the communities of Lakewood and Brooklyn. But this is not Pastor Hagee or any of the other mainstream Evangelical groups. For the most part Evnagelicals have changed their tactics and have all but abandoned proselytizing as a mainstream endeavor.
Pastor Hagee is not unaware of this past and is trying to deal with it. Rather than taking umbrage at the strident comments of those who publicly and loudly question his true motives, he is trying to convince anyone who will listen that his motives are pure and do not involve conversion of Jews. But to skeptics like ADL’s Abe Foxman and Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, director of Jews for Judaism… Hagee’s words fall on deaf ears. They are convinced beyond all doubt that people like Rev Hagee are ultimately out to “get us”.
But cooler heads among us are coming around to view this trend among Evangelical preachers as legitimate… a view that I have had for years. And this event is just another step in that direction. Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is a man who is not easily fooled. He is convinced of Pastor Hagee’s sincereity. As he put it. “We don’t have to be skeptical about everything, sometimes good things do happen.”
Although skepticism persists on the part of some, at this point in time it is based on little more than paranoia. Although I agree that we always have to vigilant, there is no reason to not accept what Pastor Hagee and others like him are doing with anything other than appreciation and gratitude.
Pastor Hagee has stated some amazing things, among them (from the JTA article): (He) instructs Christians to “remember the debt of gratitude the Christian community owes to the Jewish community. The Jewish people do not need Christianity to explain their existence or their origin. But Christians cannot explain their existence without Judaism.”
Even though he is affiliated with Messianic Jews who have records of proselytizing, one can’t blame him for that than anymore than one can blame Jews for enthusiastically accepting Christian converts. And as Pastor Hagge has said, “If rabbis would put more emphasis on putting Jewish kids into Jewish schools, young Jews would never want to become Christians” . Who among us would disagree with that? Can you really blame anyone for feeling pride that members of other faiths have “seen the light” and converted to theirs?
In short it behooves us all to value the contributions of those who can influence Americans… and even world… to support Israel. Pastor Hagee commands respect from many thousands of Christians. His televangelist Church has 19,000 members. We should not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Pastor Hagee is a "true believer". But even though those beliefs are anathema to Judaism, his actions speak far more loudly than his beliefs. I for one salute him for his efforts.
