BAPTIST PRESS NEWS, Mon., Aug 21
Lack of NAE stance
on Israel-Hezbollah clash
is 'grave disappointment,'
Baptist says
Aug 17, 2006
By Art Toalston
Baptist Press
Jim Sibley DALLAS (BP)--
A Baptist advocate for Jewish evangelism has
protested the National Association of Evangelicals’ refusal to take a
stand in support of Israel in defending itself from an estimated 4,000
rocket attacks by Hezbollah Muslim guerrillas.
Jim Sibley, director of Criswell College’s Pasche Institute of Jewish
Studies in Dallas, expressed “grave disappointment” over the NAE stance in
a letter Sibley wrote the association’s president, Ted Haggard, Aug. 17.
“I am writing to urge you to reconsider,” Sibley wrote.
Haggard, according to an Associated Press story Aug. 11, stated that no
pro-Israel stance would be taken by the National Association of
Evangelicals because of the possibility that evangelicals in the Middle
East could face a Muslim backlash.
Sibley, in his letter to Haggard, stated his concerns in four paragraphs:
“There are actually two issues that make it appropriate and even
imperative to address this conflict. One is the callous disregard for the
lives of non-combatants on the part of Hezbollah in this conflict.
Hezbollah is not only firing thousands of ballistic missiles randomly into
cities and villages of Israel, killing and maiming thousands, but it is
deliberately using civilians as shields for their activities, in direct
contravention of the Geneva Conventions. In contrast, Israel is taking
every possible measure to minimize the deaths of non-combatants in this
conflict.
“The second issue is the difference in motivation,” Sibley wrote.
“Hezbollah is motivated by hatred and anti-Semitism, as the presidents of
Iran and Syria have made crystal clear. Israel is acting in self-defense.
One of the greatest obstacles to Jewish evangelism is the historic silence
of the Church (especially the Roman Catholic and the Lutheran churches) in
the face of Hitler’s murderous rampage. As Evangelicals, we have argued
that Evangelicals were not silent, and in fact, that many shared the fate
of the Jewish people in their attempts to hide and help them. Now, you are
acting like the very ones from whom we have tried to distance ourselves.
“Please do not misunderstand: Israel is a fallible government and makes
mistakes,” Sibley noted. “I am not arguing for carte blanche approval for
all of the actions of the State of Israel. But silence or indecision in
this instance is unconscionable.
“In the Bible, the prophets, especially Zechariah and Isaiah, speak often
about the future judgment on the nations. Scripture makes it clear that
the basis of that judgment will be their concern for the welfare of the
Jewish people. Will God require less of Church leaders?” Sibley concluded.
Haggard, in the AP article, was quoted as saying that the NAE’s “silence
[over the Israel-Hezbollah clash] is not a rejection of Israel or even a
hesitation about Israel. Our silence is to try to protect people."
“There's a rapidly growing evangelical population in virtually every
Islamic country. Much of it is underground in the countries that are more
radicalized, and many of the Christians survive based on their neighbors
just ignoring the fact that they don't go to mosque," Haggard said.
In addition to his role as NAE president, Haggard is pastor of New Life
Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Sibley, in an e-mail to Baptist Press, countered Haggard’s view: “The
silence of the NAE is a guilty silence. The motivation may be sincere, but
it is seriously misguided. We, as Evangelicals, must be the voice for
these Christians in Muslim countries who cannot speak. Our silence in this
matter not only does not protect them, but it calls us to be less than
Christian.”
Sibley is a former Southern Baptist representative to Israel and former
coordinator of Jewish ministries for the SBC’s North American Mission
Board.
An NAE spokesperson stated in an e-mail to Baptist Press Aug. 17, “We are
currently in the process of having the official NAE statement approved by
the Board of Directors. There are 170 members of our BOD and so we should
have a response in two to three weeks.”
The Israeli-Hezbollah clash has claimed an estimated 800 lives in Lebanon
and 155 in Israeli, according to official counts reported by the AP on
Aug. 15. An estimated 1 million Lebanese, or one-fourth of the populace,
were displaced in the conflict, along with 500,000 Israelis, according to
the AP report.
The AP’s Aug. 11 article centering on the idea that evangelicals have been
“notably quiet” over the Israel-Hezbollah clash reported that
Focus on the
Family founder James Dobson had issued a statement on the crisis Aug. 11.
Dobson voiced agony over “the terrible loss of life in Lebanon,” but
noted, “There is no doubt who the aggressors are in this current conflict”
in which “Israel itself appears to be threatened with annihilation.”
Dobson’s full statement follows:
"A s one who takes both modern history and the Bible seriously, it is
difficult for me not to be moved by the bellicose threats and the panorama
of violence now being observed daily in the Middle East. Nor am I alone in
this regard. There are millions of Christians who love Israel and deeply
regret the hatred that is being expressed toward this holy land and its
people.
"At the same time, my heart aches to hear of the terrible loss of life in
Lebanon and of people, especially the women and children, who are innocent
victims caught in the middle between Hezbollah's aggression and Israel's
response. I recently received a message from dear Christian friends in
Beirut who poured their hearts out to us, describing what they called,
'this demonic anger and war.' Having heard from other close contacts in
southern Lebanon, our Beirut friends conveyed that, 'Hezbollah is setting
their missiles next to the [Christian] church where they are all staying
and sending rockets from there [into Israel], then leaving. So the
Israelis are hitting their area [in return] very hard.' Heartbreaking
scenes like these are happening daily in Lebanon, and we are very
concerned for our Lebanese friends and other innocent victims of this war.
"Such personal tragedies and death raining down also occur constantly in
Israel, and we hear from families and friends there, too. There is no
doubt who the aggressors are in this current conflict, and we understand
that Israel itself appears to be threatened with annihilation. The radical
left in Western nations, including many Americans, purport to defend the
weak against the strong. Yet there sits little Israel with its five
million beleaguered Jews, surrounded by 500 million Muslims whose leaders
are determined to drive it into the sea. Those who hate this covenant land
are aided and abetted by politicians representing two billion Russians,
Chinese and Europeans who won't lift a finger to save the descendants of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
"Yet we are reminded of the Biblical skirmish between little David and the
mighty Goliath,” Dobson noted. “With God's intervention, the shepherd boy
needed only one smooth stone and a sling to bring the Philistine crashing
down. It is our prayer that Jehovah will once again give His people a
miracle on the battlefield. While we are praying without ceasing for the
innocent victims in Lebanon, we stand firmly with Israel and the Jews,
and, with countless others around the world, we are praying for 'the peace
of Jerusalem' (Psalm 122:6)." |
A ceasefire brokered by the United Nations began taking hold Aug. 14 for
the region in southern Lebanon from which Hezbollah guerrillas have been
launching their rockets into northern Israel.
The conflict began July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel,
kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed several others. That prompted a
massive Israeli response, with Israeli aircraft and artillery destroying
key components of Lebanon’s infrastructure, including bridges, roads and
portions of the Beirut airport. Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
said at the time that his group would continue to attack Israel despite
the Israeli response, and it had launched nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel
until the ceasefire.
Reprinted by permission of Baptist Press.
* * * * *
JIM SIBLEY'S LETTER TO TED HAGGARD
August 17, 2006
Rev. Ted Haggard, President
National Association of Evangelicals
11025 Voyager Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
D
ear Rev. Haggard,
Allow me to express my grave disappointment in the refusal of the National
Association of Evangelicals to speak out on the conflict between Hezbollah
and Israel. I am writing to urge you to reconsider.
There are actually two issues that make it appropriate and even imperative
to address this conflict. One is the callous disregard for the lives of
non-combatants on the part of Hezbollah in this conflict. Hezbollah is not
only firing thousands of ballistic missiles randomly into cities and
villages of Israel, killing and maiming thousands, but it is deliberately
using civilians as shields for their activities, in direct contravention
of the Geneva Conventions. In contrast, Israel is taking every possible
measure to minimize the deaths of non-combatants in this conflict.
The second issue is the difference in motivation. Hezbollah is motivated
by hatred and anti-Semitism, as the presidents of Iran and Syria have made
crystal clear. Israel is acting in self-defense. One of the greatest
obstacles to Jewish evangelism is the historic silence of the Church
(especially the Roman Catholic and the Lutheran Churches) in the face of
Hitler’s murderous rampage. As Evangelicals, we have argued that
Evangelicals were not silent, and in fact, that many shared the fate of
the Jewish people in their attempts to hide and help them. Now, you are
acting like the very ones from whom we have tried to distance ourselves.
Please do not misunderstand: Israel is a fallible government and makes
mistakes. I am not arguing for carte blanche approval for all of the
actions of the State of Israel. But silence or indecision in this instance
is unconscionable.
In the Bible, the prophets, especially Zechariah and Isaiah, speak often
about the future judgment on the nations. Scripture makes it clear that
the basis of that judgment will be their concern for the welfare of the
Jewish people. Will God require less of Church leaders?
“For Zion’s sake…” (Isaiah 62:1),
Jim R. Sibley
Director
CC: Kerry Bural, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, SBC
Art Toalston, Baptist Press
* * * * *
Submitted by
Jim Sibley. Thank you, Jim.
Jim R. Sibley is co-founder and
director of
Pasche
Institute of Jewish Studies,
a ministry of Criswell College in Dallas, Texas. |
|