Christian Embasssy Jerusalem
As far as Christian responses to the modern state of Israel, I know that the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem is far from correct. I visited the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and got a presentation from one of their volunteers. What he told us astonished me. For one thing, the Christian Embassy is allowed to operate in Israel under and agreement with the Israeli government that they will not share their faith with Jews! Is it not our primary mission as Christians to share our faith with others? Didn’t Jesus instruct us to “go into the world and preach the Gospel”? I would argue that any agreement that compels a Christian to neglect the Great Commission is one that should be avoided at all costs.
In response to the dangerous influence that the Christian Embassy and other Christian Zionist organizations are, the Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism (ISCZ) was founded. The following paragraph is part of a letter from the General Secretary of the Middle East Coucil of Churches and summarizes that stance of the ISCZ in regards to Christian Zionism:
As such, they represent the consistent tendency to force the Zionist model of theocratic and ethnocentric nationalism on the Middle East … (rejecting) … the movement of Christian unity and inter-religious understanding which is promoted by the (indigenous) churches in the region. The Christian Zionist programme, with its elevation of modern political Zionism, provides the Christian with a world view where the gospel is identifi ed with the ideology of success and militarism. It places its emphasis on events leading up to the end of history rather than living Christ’s love and justice today.