I’m observing quite a bit of conflict, including sharp disagreements among sincere Christians, stemming from events in the Middle East. Here are my thoughts. They don’t fall neatly into any one camp, but I don’t mind.
1. The church has not replaced Israel. The church is the continuation of Israel. We Gentiles are the ingrafted branches, by faith, into the same tree. Surely we have fondness for Abraham, one of the spiritual fathers with whom God has blessed us all.
2. There aren’t two paths to salvation, Jewish and Gentile. There is only one way, and Christ is that Way. There is no other way.
3. Some of the promises God made to Israel find their fulfillment in the church. Other promises were made to ethnic Israel. This is not a contradiction, but a matter of God revealing the good news of His kingdom at different times and in different places. But it’s all the telling of one story, and that story leads to none other than Jesus Christ.
4. The “end times” described in Scripture were not given to us to frighten us. Nor were they given to puff us up with pride because “we’ve got it all figured out.” We don’t. There is mystery in the ways of God, and that’s as it should be. He is God, and we are not. What we can understand about eschatology was given to make us bold and confident in Christ, our gracious Messiah, even in a day of relentless distress.
5. Regardless of our particular theological camp, we ought not live as if we’re destined to escape suffering here on earth. We should expect to suffer. No teaching of “rapture” should work in us any mindset other than the passionate desire to remain faithful to the end.
6. When it comes to these great doctrines, we can agree to disagree about some of the finer points. We all have blind spots, and we all unknowingly operate under false assumptions. The reality of eternity calls us to humility. This much we know for sure: the Lord is coming again!
7. To love God is to love God’s people, and to love those who are not yet God’s people. Christ wept over Jerusalem. Christ wept at the grave of Lazarus. On the eve of His sacrificial death for you and for me, Christ wept in the garden. He weeps over human sin and suffering, and His weeping crosses every ethnic boundary. May we weep whenever God’s image-bearers are slaughtered or oppressed, be they Jewish or Gentile, and may we pray for Christ’s own peace – His gorgeous and glorious “shalom” – to reign in every heart.
Pastor Charles
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