jewish_evangelism_90803

Posted: 9/5/03

Conference advances Jewish evangelism

HELSINKI, Finland (BP)–Participants in an international conference on Jewish evangelism adopted a statement underscoring Jesus' divinity and, among other items, applauding improved relations between Arab and Jewish believers.

The seventh Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism international conference, held Aug. 7-12 in Helsinki, Finland, drew a record 200 participants from 18 countries. Participants presented reports and heard updates on Jewish evangelism from around the world.

The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism was born in 1980 at a meeting in Thailand sponsored by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism. Participants with an interest in Jewish evangelism began meeting every three or four years. The committee also has local chapters, including one in North America.

“We call on believers worldwide to share the good news with the Jewish people, making every effort to relate the gospel in culturally appropriate ways, while maintaining that there is salvation in no other name,” the statement says.

Participants said they “observe with concern” that some people “do not consider verbal proclamation of the gospel to Jewish people a necessary part of the Great Commission. While we appreciate all those who care for the material needs of Jewish people, we are saddened when the eternal need of the Jewish people is not directly addressed.”

The statement also praised improved relations between Arab and Jewish followers of Jesus: “We rejoice in the progress towards reconciliation between Jewish and Arab believers which testifies that the bond believers share in Jesus transcends all political and geographic barriers.”

But the statement criticized Christians who place their national identity above “their unity with others in the universal body of believers.”

Addressing the instability in the Middle East, the statement acclaimed Christ “as both the road and map to true shalom with God and one another.”