Jewish Conference Luncheon

The two speakers, Stuart Dauermann and Mitch Glaser, spoke on evangelizing the Jewish people and what that means for evangelical Christians. They have differing approaches to mission within the Jewish context which helped crystallize something that I have been thinking for months.

Often Christ-followers condemn the work of the Church or Christians who have gone before us saying that many of their efforts succeeded only in bringing more division and pain to the world. While this is certainly true, it is also too simplistic to say that everything they did was incorrect and therefore unproductive in the grand scheme of things. There is value in the old as well as the new methods that Christ-followers employ. We should not throw out all the other streams of worshipping God in favor of the new, seemingly-correct modes of worship. If Christ can redeem all things, he can work renewal in some of these forms of worship.

Both speakers urged that whatever our approach, it must be driven by authentic love. At the risk of sounding too simplistic, I would say that is what we need in order to fulfill the mission of the church—whether near or far. Only genuine love for others (and dependence on God’s spirit) will keep us from making some of the mistakes of the past.