Thank you John Piper!
Despite his recent Twitter controversy over Rob Bell’s new book promo, I can’t dismiss John Piper as an incredible preacher and thinker…primarily because of his blog post today about American Christian views of Israel and Palestinians.
Piper is 100% DEAD-ON in his assessment and I thoroughly commend him for using his national platform to address what is one of the most dominant folk-theologies of our time–Christian allegiance to the secular state of Israel, even at the expense of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ.
Piper makes a series of statements that Scripture teaches which should be givens among believers…but which are often ignored, rejected or modified by many popular preachers and teachers in favor of a form of Left Behind, Rapture Dispensationalism.
Here are Piper’s points, with which I thoroughly agree and offer a hearty “AMEN!”:
1. True Christians are citizens of the kingdom of Jesus Christ first, and only secondarily citizens of any earthly nation or state.
2. True Christians are united more closely to each other as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ than we are to any earthly bonds of family or nation.
3. American Christians are more closely united to Palestinian Christians and Arab Christians and Jewish Christians throughout the world than we are to the state of non-Christian Israel.
4. Israel was chosen by God from all the peoples of the world to be the focus of special blessing in the history of redemption which climaxed in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. “The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
5. God promised to Israel the presently disputed land from the time of Abraham onward. God said to Moses, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring’” (Deuteronomy 34:4).
6. Israel, like every other nation on the earth, including all Arab states, does not affirm Jesus Christ as God, Messiah, and Savior, and is, therefore, not a covenant-keeping people in relation to God. Rejecting the Son of God is rebellion against the God of the covenant.
7. A non-covenant-keeping people—Jewish or Arab—does not have a divine right to hold the land of promise while they are living in rebellion against the God who promised it to an obedient people. “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples” (Exodus 19:5).
8. This does not mean that other nations have the right to molest Israel, nor Israel to molest her neighbors. Israel and the surrounding nations still have human rights among nations, though they have no divine right to claim the land while rejecting the Messiah.
9. God has saving purposes for ethnic Israel (Romans 11:25-26), as he does for the Arab nations (Isaiah 19:19-25; Psalm 22:27; Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 3:29-30).
10. The Christian plea in the Middle East to Palestinians and Jews is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). This is the path to peace. “Jesus himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14).
11. Until that great day, when both Jewish and Gentile followers of King Jesus inherit the earth (including the promised land), without lifting sword or gun, the rights of nations should be decided by the principles of compassionate and public justice, not claims to national divine right or status.
12. Therefore, all Christians, especially Christian pastors, should speak openly and joyfully of our unity with Arab and Jewish Christians, and should not rank political support for Israel or any Arab nation above our family support for fellow believers.
Amen, indeed, John Piper!
And while I very much lament your response to Rob Bell (and moreso that of some of your colleagues within the Gospel Coalition), I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this proclamation that Christians must stop embracing dangerous folk-theologies which lead us to support those outside the Body of Christ, simply based on their religio-ethnic background, over our brothers and sisters within the Body who happen to be Arab or Palestinian by birth (something MUCH more pressing than intra-evangelical squabbles over doctrines of Hell or Inclusivism/Exclusivism views of salvation through Christ!).
So, from Disciple Dojo I say, thank you John Piper.
JM
ps: For a fuller treatment of the points Piper makes and their Biblical basis, I recommend my 10-session audio-CD course “Apocalypse Now?? – What the Bible says about the End Times” which is available free in the podcast link at the top of this page (downloadable to iTunes or streaming) or in CD format HERE.
Categories: Biblical Theology, Blog, Eschatology, Political/Social issues, Theological issues
PLEASE CALL/ EMAIL and show John Piper your support for this position/ post. As a Palestinian Christian it has been my experience with very well known big name ministries that when someone moves away from/ speaks out against the status quo position/ carte blanche for Israel their ministry suffers BIG TIME and is boycotted.
Please call them and thank them, thank them for ME an Arab-American Christian who has been marginalized by the church, church leaders and Christians far too long. If this is how I a committed Christian feels imagine how this looks to non-Christian Arab-Americans and muslims. Sorry for hijacking!
1.888.346.4700 or 612.435.2401, mail@desiringgod.org
http://www.desiringgod.org/about/contact-us
by Rana on Mar 4, 2011 at 6:16 pm
[…] […]
by The End of the World part III on May 25, 2011 at 10:17 pm