Statement
The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE)
The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE)
Eighth European Conference in Révfülöp, Hungary
The European chapter of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism met in Révfülöp, Hungary, from 10th to13th March 2005. Participants from thirteen countries and ten societies committed to Jewish evangelism met to report on their ministries and to consider more effective ways to reach the Jewish communities in Europe with the gospel. The conference concluded by issuing the following statement:
Modern Jewish mission in Eastern Europe was born in the middle of the 19th century as a result of which many thousands of Jewish people embraced their Messiah. We rejoice that again at the beginning of the 21st century we see Jewish people finding salvation in the Messiah promised by their ancient prophets.
We rejoice that these Jewish believers in Jesus are finding spiritual homes in both churches and Messianic fellowships where they may freely express their Jewish identity.
We rejoice that after years of religious repression freedoms are enjoyed in Eastern Europe that allow Jewish people to identify themselves as such and also to embrace Jesus as the Messiah.
We rejoice at the opportunities the new freedoms afford to proclaim the gospel to all, including the Jewish people.
We rejoice that in European countries once associated with the death of Jews there are now a growing number of Jews who have found new life in the resurrected Messiah.
We rejoice that Jewish and gentile believers are now sharing the love of Jesus in the very countries where a previous generation of Jewish people perished as a result of the Final Solution.
We view with concern, however, that some Christians are declaring that God has rejected the Jewish people. Such a theology has in the past fuelled the fires of anti-Semitism and we are dismayed to see a similar pattern re-emerging in both Eastern and Western Europe.
We therefore call on believers in Jesus to acknowledge the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and that we worship the God who has been pleased to reveal himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
We call on Christians to denounce anti-Semitism in its many forms, and to reject unequivocally both the theology that teaches that God has rejected the Jewish people and the theology that Jewish people may find acceptance with God apart from faith in Jesus.
We call on Christians to remember that if Jesus is not the Messiah of Israel he cannot be the Christ of the nations.
We call on Christians to rejoice with us at the movement of the Spirit of God among the Jewish people in Eastern Europe and to pray that even greater blessing will follow.
Above all, we call on Christians to acknowledge that Jewish evangelism is an indispensable element in the evangelistic programme of the church and that the greatest expression of anti-Semitism is to withhold the gospel from the Jewish people.