Opinion Editorials, June 2013

Are Pro-Zionist Evangelicals Really Christians

By Rev Ted Pike 

Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, July 22, 2013

For nearly 30 years, I have publicly charged that pro-Zionist evangelicals ignore the Bible in order to "bless" the Jews. Does this mean they are not Christians?  No.  Most from birth have been subject to the most intense indoctrination. Brainwashed, they say false things, but in their hearts most have not denied Jesus or done or spoken what they know is wrong. This poses the question: At what point can a pro-Zionist evangelical come under judgment by Christ and lose his claim to being a Christian?

Jesus said it is when we deny His name -- when the pro-Israel evangelical, out of deference to the wishes of Christ-rejecting Jews, agrees not to pray publicly in the name of Jesus or witness to Jews in Christ’s name, testifying that He is the only hope of salvation. When that happens, he loses his salvation.

Pastor John Hagee and his pro-Israel organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), have taken this step into condemnation. Hagee forbids Jesus’ name being used in his CUFI meetings. (See Hagee: Ashamed of Jesus' Name and John Hagee: False Prophet ) Thus, Hagee and all who agree not to mention Jesus to Jews have become ashamed of the name of Christ. Jesus says He will also be ashamed of them in the Day of Judgment. The same is true of visitors to Israel who agree with the government of Israel that they should not witness or mention Jesus as Savior to Jews while in the Holy Land. They frustrate the Holy Spirit in His desire to use them to possibly lead a precious Jewish soul, elected to salvation by Christ, to Himself.  

The apostles Peter and John were restricted by Jewish leaders in exactly the same way but preferred flogging, prison, or death to silence about Jesus in Israel. They said, "We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29) Yet millions of evangelical visitors to Israel every year are delighted to "bless" the Jews by leaving Jesus and the Holy Spirit at the Tel Aviv airport. Their agreement not to cooperate with the Holy Spirit is worse than taking the mark of the Beast in order to stay alive in the time of Anti-Christ.

However, tens of millions of pro-Israel evangelicals have not gone this far. Although they passionately believe God wants them to unconditionally support Israel and not criticize Jews, many are the salt of the earth in the Christian/conservative right. They help Catholics man pro-life booths and anti-abortion picket lines. They protest homosexuality and advocate for decency in media. They oppose evolution in the Biblical creationist movement. In short, they are similar to the 7,000 in Israel in the time of Elijah who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

Elijah stood against murderous and frenzied prophets of Baal on the top of Mount Caramel and called out to those looking on, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” No one stepped forward, just as virtually none of these good evangelicals and their leaders will step forward with me today to publicly expose the wickedness of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League. Yet God said there were still 7,000 people who did remain faithful to Him. (I Kings 19:18) They were terrified for their lives, just as evangelical leaders today are terrified by ADL’s power to defame them as anti-Semitic. God told Elijah afterward that their cowardice had not driven them to the point of turning their backs on God.  But, in His first public appearance before the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus said God was not proud of these fearful believers. He did not honor them with any great miracle. Instead, He led Elijah north into Sidon to bring deliverance to a Philistine woman full of faith.

As we have seen over the past 13 years, the religious right has largely failed to help as I led the battle against ADL’s federal hate crimes bill. Instead, thousands have rallied from the alternative anti-Zionist right. We defeated the hate bill five times, delaying ADL for ten years, with very little help from pro-Israel Christians/conservatives.

Why did the right fail?  Evidently, they would rather live under a hate law than be associated with a leader who is critical of Israel. As a result, evangelicals are now saddled with the federal hate law they did so little to oppose, and 15 Amish evangelicals have gone to prison for up to 15 years under its harsh punishments.  (See Convicted Amish Are Not "Hate Criminals") Jesus said the 7,000 fearful Israelites, though still considered faithful, did not have enough spiritual power to deliver their nation. In the same way, the pro-Israel religious right today suffers defeat after defeat.

Jesus instructed His disciples to be moderate toward those who did not follow Him yet were not hostile. He said, “If they are not against you, they are for you.” (Mark 9:40) Christian Zionists may disagree with us; but if they do not actually persecute us, they set an example of tolerance for others to follow, which is of great benefit to us.

Over the past 30 years, I have seen Jesus’ advice powerfully vindicated in my efforts to bring the church Biblical truth concerning the Jewish people. My book Israel: Our Duty Our Dilemma and video “The Other Israel,” unprecedented at that time, were widely distributed in the mid-1980s.  In addition, 15,000 evangelical pastors responded to the National Prayer Network's offer of a free copy.  ADL and a number of Christian Zionist organizations rushed to attack me as anti-Semitic. But now, after nearly three decades of telling the whole truth with moderation and documentation, all public criticism of me by evangelicals or ADL has dried up. If you Google “criticism of Ted Pike” on the Internet, all you find against me is an old article by a Christian cult watch group. They agree with me that Jews dominate big media and government but assert it is "virulently anti-Semitic" of me to report when Jews in the media misbehave!  Google now includes 19 pages of articles and videos by me, virtually without refutation.

Because Jesus loves all mankind much more than we, He countered His disciples' human tendency to judge and destroy those who rejected Him. His disciples wished fire from heaven would incinerate those who did not accept Jesus, but He rebuked them for their hardness of heart. He said, “The Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:56) Jesus taught that people are only responsible for the spiritual light they have. Yes, they may hear words of truth; but if they have been very deeply indoctrinated by evil, they may be unable to process such information. They require intensive discipleship in the truth. Only God knows to what extent they are guilty of rejecting truth and aiding evil.

Jesus affirms that the ignorant often have a moral "cloak" around them and are without sin in their error, until His light of truth is actualized in their minds and consciences. He says, "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin…." But when that light does come, and they reject and persecute the person who brings it, He says, "…now they have no cloak for their sin.” (John 15:22) 

False premises and bad doctrine lead to sin. The apostle Paul exhorts us to aggressively bring new truth to others, so they won’t stumble into sin. He says we are to "reprove, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine" but also bear with and “accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.” (Rom. 14:1)

It took years for Paul himself to fully comprehend the heights and depth of Christian theology.  Paul tells us to be patient, not condemnatory, toward brainwashed evangelicals. Jesus concurs, saying, “Judge not that ye be not judged;” but He also says, “If you judge, judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)

The role of the Spirit-led truthteller to a benighted church is thus a balancing act. Grace must be extended when in doubt, but Scripture empowers judgment on evangelicals and their leaders when they have clearly bowed their knees to the Baal of Zionism, denying the name of Jesus. How do we know when to judge righteously and when to pull back? It is the role of the Holy Spirit, given to all who die to self-will and trust and obey Him daily to fulfill Jesus’ promise to lead us into all truth. He will give us the necessary guidance according to every situation that arises.

This is an edited version of my recently recorded at Truthtellers.org.

Are Evangelical Zionists Really Christians?

Christian Zionists inflexibly hold to a number of unbiblical premises. This causes some anti-Zionist Christians to conclude they are not real Christians. In this Bible study I clearly define what God will accept as human error and what actually crosses the line into heresy. 

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 Right Click Here to Download (.mp3; 35min., 8mb)  

7-17-13

Should You Attend a Pro-Zionist Church?

Today any evangelical Christian who attempts to awaken his pro-Zionist church to the dangers of Jewish supremacist control will probably be vilified as an anti-Semitic tool of the devil and driven out. This is because most evangelical churches in America for over a century have invited the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:9) to teach them Zionist values, displacing a truly Biblical perspective on Israel. Sincere Christians believe they are duty-bound not to forsake assembling together. Does this mean we and our families must attend churches hostile to new truth? What other choices are there?

Let's consider, first, the basic reasons churches become the mouthpiece of Zionist values and, second, how anti-Zionist Christians should respond.  

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 Right Click Here to Download (.mp3; 43min., 10mb)  

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Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative watchdog organization.

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