(George A. Mason, senior pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, TX, posted the following commentary to his Facebook page on Sunday, December 29, 2019; it is reprinted here with his permission.)
The repeated and increasing attacks on synagogues and the murder of Jews is a grim product of anti-Semitism. Beliefs matter. As a Christian pastor, I hereby condemn not only violence against Jews but any perverse interpretation of Christianity that scapegoats Jews.
Hatred of Jews (or Muslims, or anyone) reveals more about the haters than the hated. A faith that depends on rejecting others in order to prove one’s own superiority proves instead the opposite.
Christians need to examine the ways our theology has fostered anti-Semitism by:
1) our false claims that Jews killed Christ (the Roman authorities did, even if some fellow Jews were complicit),
2) our supercessionist rejection of any continuing role for Jews in God’s purposes for human and nonhuman creation,
3) our related replacement theology, whereby the church becomes the true Israel without the Jews,
4) our failure to honor the Jewish roots of our faith (Jesus was a Jew and never a Christian) that includes a thought world of promise that did not originate with us,
5) the continuing problem of our appropriation of Judaism for our own purposes without recognizing that Jews get to define Judaism,
6) by our co-opting the State of Israel to reinforce an End Times theology that makes Jews only instrumental to our salvation rather than participants with us in God’s future,
7) our stereotyping of Jews in unflattering ways as global conspirators, shylocks, etc.
It’s not enough to send thoughts and prayers. It’s necessary to condemn anti-Semitism in all forms, speak against it privately and publicly, and build friendships and partnerships with Jews in working for the common good.
We are never better Christians at the expense of making Jews or anyone else lesser than fully dignified neighbors created in the image and likeness of God.
Dear Bill,
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