Appendix E
How to Witness to the Jews
Originally the gospel was commissioned to go to the
"...Jew first and also for the Greek" (Rom. 1:16, cf. Acts 1:8). By
her actions, today's church, whether inadvertently or not, has reversed this
command to read, "to the Greek first and, if at all, the Jew last." So
to begin with, in order to reach the Jews, we must recognize the present
priority of taking the gospel to the Sons of Israel. This should not take too
much persuasion when we consider the debt we owe to the Jewish nation. As Paul
documents:
Theirs is the adoption as sons;
theirs the divine glory [the Shechinah], the covenants, the receiving of the
law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from
them is traced the human ancestry of Messiah, who is God over all, forever
praised! Amen" (Rom. 9:4-5 NIV).
Love, Love, Love
The greatest Christian virtue is
love (1 Cor. 13:13). If we are heavyweight champions doctrinally, but lack a
loving spirit, we are "nothing" in God's sight. "Love suffers
long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself...(1 Cor.
13:4). It's incumbent on all who profess allegiance to Jesus to manifest God's
love to all. One should expect negative responses especially from religions that
are particularly hostile to Christianity. We should especially anticipate
negative reactions from Jews who have suffered ill treatment from false
Christians. We have a lot of bad press to undo by loving actions.
So don't force yourself on
anyone. If you offer a Jewish person a tract and he rejects it, saying, "I
don't want that trash," don't allow yourself to be provoked. Respond
sincerely with, "God bless you, have a nice day." By responding this
way you sow seeds of love that can melt resistance in even the stoniest heart.
He will be more likely to take a tract or be engaged in dialogue if approached
again by someone else. If you respond with some negative epitaph, you will only
confirm his belief that Christianity is hypocritical.
Be Prepared
The Jewish Christians of the
first century were known for their bold, public proclamation of the gospel.
Because they had the truth and were prepared to defend it from the Scriptures,
they welcomed the opportunity to meet the anti-missionaries in public debate.
The Christians "...vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving
from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah" (Acts 18:28; cf. 19:1-6;
Matt. 22).
In order to insure the same
boldness and success, it is mandatory that we be well-versed in Scriptural
argumentation. Failure to do so will lead to your being refuted by your
opponents which, as we noted in the preface of this book, can prove fatal to the
faith of immature Christians. So preparation is the key. Get all the information
you can from books like this one, tracts, and your own personal study of the
Scriptures.
If you find yourself in over your
head with a skilled anti-missionary whose arguments you can't answer, do not
panic. Also, do not be pressured into giving a feeble, off-the-top-of your-head
response, which may put your credibility in question. Simply record their
argument and promise to get back to them with a reply. If the anti-missionary is
a sincere truth seeker, he will welcome and commend your attitude.
Approach
Knowledge is of no value, unless
we can share it in a loving, diplomatic way. Learn to ask non-threatening
questions that open people up for further dialogue. In my door-to-door work, I
often break the ice by asking: "We are going through the neighborhood
asking people about their religious beliefs. Do you have time to answer a few
questions?" If the answer is "no," I offer them some tracts. If
the answer is "yes," I usually ask what faith they ascribe to (in the
neighborhood I preach in, about 50 percent of the people are Jewish). If they
say "I am Jewish,” I ask whether they are a practicing Jew. If yes, I
ask, "Are you Orthodox, Reformed or Conservative?" Then I ask whether
they believe in the coming of a personal Messiah. (Reformed and Conservative
Jews usually do not believe in the coming of a personal Messiah, but rather a
Messianic age where peace prevails.) Then I ask the big question, "What do
you know about Jesus' claim of being the Messiah? or "Why do you reject
Jesus' claim of being the Messiah?" Asking questions like these
accomplishes at least three things: One, they help the other person see that you
are willing to let them speak. Two, it shows them that you respect them as a
person. Three, it smoothly opens the door for you to preach. For example, if in
answer to the question, "Why do you reject Jesus' claim of being the
Messiah?" they say, "Because He did not bring world peace," you
can answer their objection directly by introducing the concept of the suffering
Messiah from Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.
Tact
Many Messianic Jews advise the avoidance of certain offensive words like "Christ," "Christian," and "church" when evangelizing. Instead, they use "Messiah," "disciple" and "congregation," respectively. Some anti-missionaries say that this practice is deceitful. But this charge is not justified. It is a common practice to avoid offensive terminology when working with any group. If most Jews knew the distinction between true and false Christians, this practice would be wholly unnecessary. If I introduce myself as someone who goes to "Christ's church," I might immediately be equated with the "Christian" Crusaders of the past, or the Nazi "Christians" who killed their relatives in the Holocaust. If we can disassociate ourselves from Christian impostors by merely saying, "I believe Yeshua is the Messiah," instead of, "I believe Jesus is the Christ;" what wrong have we committed?