Polemics and Evangelism
One of the joys and challenges of ministry in Israel is that churches and communities outside the country mostly want to hear about one thing i.e. Israel. Due to the difference of opinions and - shockingly - the facts about the conflicts and history of the Land, Christians around the globe want to hear from someone firsthand. So, it wasn’t a surprise to me that when I was asked to speak in Texas recently, the topic was the conflict.
As an Israeli I have an opinion on the politics and situation. Who doesn’t? However, as a minister of the Gospel, I always want to be more careful about placing unnecessary stumbling blocks before anyone, as well as admit humbly that my opinion is exactly that – an opinion. So, as I prepared for Texas, I endeavored to preach a message that would not fall into the trap of preaching myself. I focused on true Gospel community from James 4 and showed how our conflict will never truly end until the Gospel’s victorious over the hearts of the people.
About a year ago at the LCJE-NA I was asked to speak about my experience not only as an Israeli but the father of a soldier in Gaza. I talked about my deep feelings of anger and even my use of imprecatory psalms and prayers as I expressed my feelings to God. I expressed the same struggle on the Lausanne movement podcast last summer. Each time, despite my strong personal emotions and political convictions I did my best to temper my words with (at the very least) a recognition of the views that opposed my own.
In fact, it is my conviction that when engaging in polemic that we should always do our best to steel-man[1] the views of those we disagree with. Timothy Keller said this well when he wrote, “Do the work necessary to articulate the views of your opponent with such strength and clarity that he or she could say, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Then, and only then, will your polemics have integrity and actually have the possibility of being persuasive”[2]. The reason I love this quote is that it reminds us of the point of engaging in disagreement – to be persuasive. I want my opponent to be persuaded.
I think however that the point has too often been lost in our talks and papers. We seem more intent in crushing our opponents than trying to be convincing. Like gladiators in a ring with an opponent made of straw, we revel in the applause of our own echo chambers. We forget that there should be a redemptive goal to our words. Social media only exacerbates the problem here. Countless thumbnails appear over our feeds where influencers claim to “destroy” the arguments of the people we disagree with. Perhaps the time has come that we part ways with this type of discourse.
Paul’s second epistle to Timothy corrects us in this. He writes, “24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” Here again we hear the call to be persuasive through careful engagement. The goal is to persuade even if we believe our opponent is caught by the devil himself.
What has made some of this even harder to hear, is that our uncharitable polemics go beyond our confrontation with the world, but even with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Scripture repeatedly tells us how we should treat each other in the Church. 1 John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God”. Ephesians 4:1-3 says, “1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
This might need to be restated in a different article, but one of the most worldly attitudes we can develop is our love of church bashing. We permit ourselves to question motivations, beliefs and even assign accusations of antisemitism purely based on theological position. Not only is this uncharitable and not aligned with our ability to reflect God’s love, it impacts our evangelism.
John 17:20 records Jesus saying, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” The Messiah himself tells us from the outset that the way we treat each other in the church, directly impacts our outreach. Our care for each other does more than talk about Jesus, it shows the love of the Trinity. This is why each time we allow ourselves to join the world in attacking our fellow brothers and sisters, no matter how justified we feel, we hurt the very cause we gather to advance.
As ever, CS Lewis provides us with the best way to think through these moments. When we stand in front of a world gone mad, or follower of Jesus who believes things that makes our blood boil, Lewis writes, ““Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”[3]
[1] This is the opposite of straw-man.
[2] Keller, Timothy. Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (pp. 372-373). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[3] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity.