Racial Reconciliation
By Jhan Moskowitz, Jews for Jesus, ChicagoJhan Moskowitz participated in Issue Group #22: Racial Reconciliation
It had been 24 years since I rode a Thai taxi called a "chut chut." The last time was when the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization invited missionaries from different areas of the world to come together to pray and strategize on how the " whole church takes the whole gospel to the whole world." It was then that I met with other Jewish missionaries and educators from around the world and we formed the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism and so started a great adventure for God, which is still continuing to this day. In 1980, I had been in the ministry for 9 years, and was just learning about the great European Jewish mission agencies. What a thrill to be part of the birth of such a wonderful fellowship. How odd then to return to that same hotel in Pattaya, Thailand 24 years later only to find myself attending a different focus group other than one on Jewish evangelism (I did sneak off on occasion to fellowship with my friends from the Jewish focus group). You may wonder why I did not sign up for the Jewish focus group. There are two answers. The first has to do with my personal understanding of the gospel and the other has to do with impacting other groups with the cause of Christ among Jews.
This journey back to Pattaya started for me in Helsinki, I along with many of you reading this article was attending the quadrennial LCJE meeting there a year ago last August. It was there that the invitation to attend a special LCWE meeting was first given. At the time there was no Focus group on Jewish Evangelism, (thanks to the hard work of many including our current president Tuyva Zaretsky, that change by the time of the conferences). At the time of the invitation was first extended we were invited to select a focus group that already had been scheduled. It was there that I had chosen to attend the Focus group on Reconciliation. I had the privilege of attending focus group #22, which was mandated to address the problem of reconciliation in a world of destructive conflicts. Why did I pick that group you may ask? I have always believed that the gospel should never be bifurcated; that there is no spiritual gospel and social gospel, there is only the gospel. The Lausanne covenant affirms this important point. It was at Pattaya in 1980 that the "Thailand Statement" was ratified. This was to affirm the statements of the Lausanne Covenant that evangelism and sociopolitical involvement are both part of our Christian duty. In the church's mission of sacrificial service evangelism is primary. Reconciliation between God and man is demonstrated by reconciliation between man and man. Being a child of Holocaust survivors has made me sensitive to the plight of others who are suffering greatly.
The men and women that I met with in Pattaya in this reconciliation group were true giants in the field of Christian reconciliation. After the first meeting I realize what a great privilege I had to be able to be this group. I met women who had lost their homes and family in southern Sudan, and then managed to not only survive but also become spokespersons for their people around the world. I heard the story of a Chinese Malaysian who had suffered discrimination from a country that his family had lived in for generations. I thought I was hearing my father's story of growing up in Poland as a Jew. I shared meals with men from the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. Who had survived the genocide of Rwanda? They told stories of how members of the same church killed each other in inter tribal warfare There were Palestinians, an Eastern Orthodox priest, a peace maker from Northern Ireland, who worked closely with both sides of the conflict there. Truly people from every tribe and tongue. We all shared the same burden to see Christ made known among the peoples of the world and through that His peace reigning in their hearts and in their hands.
One of our main tasks was to call the church at large and in particular the LCWE to work toward reconciliation. I am enclosing the covenant that we came up with there to give you an idea of what was accomplished by God through us.
Adopted unanimously by the 48 members of Group 22: Reconciliation
at the 2004 World Evangelization Forum in Pattaya Thailand
October 4, 2004
"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:27-28
WHO WE ARE
We came to the 2004 Lausanne Forum in Pattaya, Thailand from six continents across God's earth, sharing a vision for reconciliation. Although we arrived mostly as strangers, we leave as committed companions in a strong Christian bond. We gathered across historic and continuing divisions and many places of conflict: as black, Asian, Latin American, and white; different tribal and ethic groups; Israeli and Palestinian; North and South; privileged and marginalized; women and men; as Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant. We heard each others' stories of pain and hope. We confessed that we in the Christian community are often part of the division and conflict. We listened, debated, prayed, sang and danced, and shared laughter and tears. We began to see common convictions arise among us. We witnessed breakthroughs of unity which caused us to rejoice. And we find ourselves hoping for an on-going community of relationship and partnership.
OUR COMMON CALL
We believe that reconciliation is God's initiative. The Church is called to be a living sign of the one body of Christ. Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel and the church's life and mission, and is integral to evangelism and justice. Reconciliation is a deep and costly process, and requires humility, forgiveness, courage, and patience. We are committed to pursuing God's reconciling mission in a world of broken relationships and destructive conflicts.
OUR COMMITMENTS
We pledge to continue and extend the community birthed in Pattaya, and to help each other be faithful ambassadors of reconciliation. Therefore, we shall:
OUR PRAYER
We covenant before God and one another to live into these commitments. May God give us grace to do so: "And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us" 2 Corinthians 5:19-20.
One of the most moving moments of our time together was when we had a foot washing service where the Hutu and the Tutsi washed each other's feet, where African American and white Americans washed each other's feet, Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox washed each other's feet, male and female and perhaps most touching, when our Palestinian brother washed our very own Lisa Loden's feet (Lisa also attended focus #22).
The other reason I attended the focus group was to make sure and represent the cause of Jewish evangelism among the greater church body. I must confess that I never had a chance to address that issue directly. The nature of our discussion concerning reconciliation never touch on the need for evangelism. I was happy to see that all those who attended were committed to the Lausanne covenant, and to worldwide evangelism. I did however found myself addressing the issue of the Jewish people and their place in the body of Christ and in the land of Israel. It was during the meal times and informal fellowship that I had a chance to share my burden to see Jews come to faith. It was during these informal times that I could get a sense of what God was doing in the larger Body with regards to the proclamation of the Gospel among our people. What a joy to hear from my African brothers their annual pilgrimage to Israel and their prayer support for the salvation of my people.
There were times when being in this focus group was challenging, to many of those attending the focus group the nation of Israel is seen as the villain and the Palestinians as the victims of the destructive conflict in the middle east. One of our Arab Christian brothers was giving a public report on his local situation, during the report he used the term "Zionist" in a pejorative way. I felt that Lisa and I needed to respond with grace and patience but still respond. It took a few days to finally meet with our Arab brother, alone and pray and see if we could at least make our feeling known to him. It was then that we discovered we mean two different things by the term he used. I believe that Lisa and I were able to better represent the real picture of the devastation on both sides of the conflict. While speaking with one of the participants, I was asked why Jews felt the need to re-colonize Palestine. I was taken back, and realized that my being in this focus group was to help these wonderful Christians who were so committed to reconciliation have a more balanced picture of the events in Israel. I explained to the women who asked me about " recolonization" that you don't have to hate Jews in order to love Arabs, and you don't have to hate Arabs to love Jews We had real dialogue and by the end of our time, there were some real moments of healing and understanding in our group.
In some ways, Lisa and I, being part of this focus group on reconciliation highlighted the reconciliation that God produced in Jesus between Gentile and Jew. For us to sit in this mixed multitude and to demonstrate the one new man in Messiah made the trip all the worthwhile. I can't speak for Lisa but I'm sure she feels the same way I do, that although we truly missed being with our brothers and sisters in the Jewish evangelism focus group, we knew that God's purposes were best served by our participating in this focus group on reconciliation. What better example of God's plan for mankind then having Jews is a part of this vital ministry?
Now I would not have you believe that all that happened at Pattaya was hard work, if you know our LCJE group you know one of the things that distinguishes us from so many other groups is our love of the brethren. Although we had representatives of LCJE in many other focus groups we did manage to have an evening meeting, with all of us that were attending to celebrate how God has blessed our efforts 24 years ago. Ole Kvarme reminded us of how at the very hotel we were meeting at we gathered at the swimming pool and put together the LCJE. With many laughs and prayers we thank God for the wonderful work He began and the real love that seem to cross over years and national boundaries.
Just one more bit of reporting it seem that many of us in the LCJE that attended Pattaya this year did some cross-cultural witnessing in Thailand. Now you would think it was to the Buddhist community, but leave it to Jewish missionaries to find some Muslims to present the Gospel to. It was a God thing to be sure. Many of us found this wonderful tailor name Mr. Bondal. We had negotiated quite a deal and so many of us found our way to his store over the week that we were there. In the hustle and bustle of doing business one of our own. Joseph Steinberg left him a signed copy of his" Y course," book which lays out the Gospel. When some of us returned to the store days later we discovered that Mr. Bondal, treated the book with reverence and had started reading about what all of us believed.
Jhan Moskowitz
jhanm@covad.net