I LOVE EVANGELICALS

 

 

I must first admit that I identify as an “evangelical,” mainly because I too embrace the fundamentals of the Word of God as they do. Yes, I love evangelicals, warts and all, as my own imperfect family. I gladly accept my many imperfections, why then shouldn’t I accept theirs! Besides, God certainly accepts us, especially when we confess our needs to Him. He awaits such times when He can surround us with His love and comfort us. He even scraped the bottom-of-the-barrel to take us into His embrace (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

 

Many of us come from highly broken backgrounds of mental illness, emotional chaos, drug abuse, criminality, and sexual dysfunctionality, and we have found a home in Jesus, who is everything to us, the answer to all of our needs. We still carry many of our scars as a potent reminder from where we have come and where we must go for sustenance on our journey of love and faithfulness. Although it is difficult, we are even instructed to forgive those who painfully malign us, according to the pattern of our Lord who had prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” even as He was being crucified (Lk 23:34).

 

We too are being broadly vilified and persecuted by those who do not know what they are doing. This is why it is so refreshing to read a non-evangelical put things into proper perspective. David Harsanyi (a Jew) has written:

 

·       I assume that they wouldn't be very good Christians if they weren't spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is, from what I gather, one of the central premises of the enterprise. To be honest, I'm often surprised at how shy Christians are at this task.

 

As a heathen, though, I am flattered by the attention. And as a person in possession of free will, I am also unconcerned. Never once have I found such efforts to be "anti-Semitic." The very universality of the endeavor tells me it is not. I simply assume that my friends are troubled that I have forsaken salvation. Maybe they're right. I'll find out soon enough.

 

Fortunately, I do not live in the Holy Roman Empire or medieval Portugal or a shtetl in the Pale. The notion that Jews should be offended by Christians approaching us with theological ideas is un-American. Trust me, Jews are not helpless in the face of arguments. And Christians do not have the power to compel us to believe. Unlike progressives -- who try to force nuns to fund abortions or Evangelicals to participate in same-sex weddings -- no Christian has ever endeavored to coerce me to perform any of their rites. https://townhall.com/columnists/davidharsanyi/2020/11/20/convert-me-if-you-can-n2580411

 

Why do must people feel so threatened by us, even to the point of disdain? Why have most Christians abandoned such conversations about the issue most critical to our lives? Of what are they afraid? I won’t try to answer these questions, but I think that Harsanyi has pointed out some flagrant double-standards, particularly regarding anti-Semitism:

 

·       Apologists for Ilhan Omar, for Hamas, for the Holocaust-denying Iranian terror regime that targets Jews around the world whether they are Israelis or not -- those who dishonestly single out the Jewish state as a cancerous presence on the world while ignoring others -- are, at best, functionally anti-Semitic. "Anti-Zionism," not belief in the Trinity, is the predominant justification for violence against Jews around the world.

 

Harsanyi courageously contradicts the steady stream of misinformation:

 

·       For more than a century now, attacks on Jews have predominantly emanated from secular fascists and leftists, Arab nationalists, and Islamists -- not Christians spreading the good word. It is in secular France, where gruesome murders of Jews are now an annual event, that men can't wear yarmulkes in public. And, rest assured, it is not because of Mormon missionaries. An American Jew is far more likely to encounter anti-Semitism on progressive campuses than anywhere else in this country. If an Evangelical Christian approaches you while saying, "God is Good!" the only thing you are likely to lose is your time.

 

You might not like us. There is even a growing chorus of voices in the Church, who now have embraced the misinformation and have rejected evangelicals and evangelism, as Jesus had even prophesied (Matthew 10:21-22).

 

Put yourself in our shoes for a moment. Imagine that you have a cure for cancer. Wouldn’t it then become your responsibility to offer this cure to any cancer victim, even when they have committed themselves to another path of recovery and are unwilling to consider that they might be on the wrong path? Of course!

 

We are convinced that we have a cure – a Savior who loves, forgives, and will never let us go from His embrace, despite our repeated moral failings. Of course, we hope that you will accept us, but we know that if you don’t, we do not despair, for we know our Savior.