The Church Cannot Play Favorites

I am probably going to be stepping into something that is going to stir ire among some of my brothers and sisters in Jesus, but I am compelled.

This past weekend Israel launched an attack in the Gaza Strip that killed 23 people including two children. Their reasoning was to prevent a terrorist attack similar to an attack last August that killed 8 Israeli’s. Two rockets where then launched into southern Israel in retaliation to the attack.

And only the Palestinians were reprimanded by The UN and the USA. Why?

Yes, Israel is an ally in the Middle East but so are several other countries there. Why are the actions of Israel generally overlooked? Israel for years has been committing human rights violations against the Palestinian people. But it has been largely ignored.

Enter the church. Most Evangelical/Fundamentalist churches in America have supported Israel and justified the Israeli government’s treatment of other humans. We claim that one Bible verse commands us to do that, and we pressure the US government to fall in line. Effectively, distorting the Gospel of Grace in the eyes of many Middle Eastern peoples.

We are called to love unconditionally, all people. We are called to claim allegiance to God in Jesus only and the advancement of his Kingdom of Peace on earth, as it is in Heaven. Our allegiance is not to America, the flag, American patriotism or even to Israel and it’s sometimes inhumane treatment of other people.

The Bible states that God is no respecter of persons, he does not elevate one group of people over another, He causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. We are to reflect that to the world.

We are doing a terrible job.

2 thoughts on “The Church Cannot Play Favorites”

I am with you here. I am as Pro-Israel as the next evangelical, but we can be so tunnel-visioned sometimes.

God didn’t even support Israel in the OT when they were unjust—whenever the poor went hungry, the widows and the orphans remained in need while those who were well off lived in ivory towers—God sent a prophet like Amos or Joel or Isaiah to warn them of judgment and then let them be carted off into exile.
Perhaps we need to stop trying to manipulate world events so Christ can return soon or keep our blessing (because those who support Israel are blessed) and try to be more like God and hold Israel to the standard of their own faith. According to their Scripture, they are to treat the stranger among them with hospitality and grace.