I have heard it said that there are three kinds of people in this world: those who do evil, those who fight evil, and those who do nothing.
WHICH ONE AM I? WHICH ONE ARE YOU?
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."-- Albert Einstein
People are imperfect, and since The Church is made up of people, The Church is imperfect too. Yes, Christians are supposed to be different from the world – after all we DO have the power of The Holy Spirit to enable us to live and love supernaturally. However, we are “sinners saved by Grace” and sanctification IS a process…therefore, The Church – historically speaking – has some “skeletons in her closet.”
One of them is that the history of the Church has been steeped with Anti-Semitism and violence against the Jews. How so you may ask? Just one courageous look at the actions of “Christians” - generation after generation - towards the Jewish people and sadly we see anti-Semitism and superstitious hatred as justification for:
- Slanderous and hostile statements against the Jewish people by many of our Church Fathers, including: Origen in 185 AD, Gregory of Nyssa (335 – 395 AD), John Chrysostom (4th century), and even Martin Luther in his book “Concerning the Jews and Their Lies.”
- The many Pogroms (i.e., a violent massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group, usually aimed at Jews) throughout Christian Russian & European nations.
- The Crusades where historians tell not only of the indiscriminate slaughter of Jewish men, women, and children, but also of the 6,000 Jews who had fled to the synagogue for safety in 1099, only to be locked inside and burned alive by “Christian” Crusaders who sang hymns about the Cross of Jesus.
- Forced conversions, expulsions, and torture of the Jews during The Inquisition in the 13th Century and the Spanish Inquisition in 1478.
- The “Blood Libel” Myth, which began in England around 1144, accusing Jews of
murdering Christian children at Passover to use their blood for Passover Matzoh.
- The Jews were blamed for “The Black Death”- the endemic bubonic plague in the 14th Century that wiped out 1/4 of Europe’s population.
- The Holocaust (late 1930’s - 1945) in Germany & other European nations, where 6,000,000 Jewish men, women and children or 1/3 of Europe’s Jewish population ,were slaughtered in so-called “Christian” European nations.
As part of the Church, we CAN and we MUST rectify this horrific pattern of our Christian past. Like a modern - day Abraham, Daniel, or Moses, we can take responsibility for the wrongdoings of our Christian ancestors by repenting of those sins in prayer and by actively interceding for the Jewish people, reflecting to them the true love & character of Jesus Christ.
“Repentance is the first word of salvation (Acts 2:38), the first word of every revival (II Chron.7:14 –“turn”), and the last word of Jesus to the dysfunctional churches of Revelation 2 and 3. Repentance is counter- intuitive. We naturally resist it. However, it is the only thing that releases the supernatural energy of heaven which opens a channel of forgiveness, restoration, renewal and healing.”(Pastor Fred Beveridge)
We can experience that blessing from God in spite of the past. Join Christians of every denomination, race, and age, in over 175 nations on October 6th - as we reflect Jesus, The Intercessor, and make right the wrong things done against the Jews in His Name. Become part of The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem today!
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