The Great Commission is Jesus’ commandment to His disciples to spread the Gospel to the entire world. Matthew 28:19-20. Why would any Christian apologize for doing that?
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-michele-bachmann-apologizes-for-2015-remarks-about-converting-jews-1.6077894 Michelle Bachman is a paid staff member of Skyline Church in la Mesa, California with a ministry to the United Nations in New York City. She was with her pastor and employer, Jim Garlow and his wife Rosemary in Israel recently for a Bible study in the Knesset that had Jews and Christians participating. Her comments and apology were made to the press immediately following the Bible study and there has been no further statement or clarification on the apology by her or Pastor Garlow. The story was picked up by nearly every media outlet in Israel and many more world wide. Comments have been sharp on both sides.
I believe that pastor Garlow takes Jesus’ Great Commission seriously. That is, for everyone except the Jews. For example:
http://www.jimgarlow.com/books/a-christian%e2%80%99s-response-to-islam/ This is a really excellent piece of work on the Great Commission that was done by Pastor Garlow shortly after 9/11. Everything he wrote back then applies to all of us today. I copied just a portion of the article in the space below but I replaced Muslims with Jews. I put Jews and Judaism in bold italics so it will be easy to see the changes I made. Take a look:
Chapter 8: Authentic Christians – Relating To Jews with Compassion
If you love Jews, you will want to form meaningful relationships with them so that you can appropriately and lovingly share to the truth about Christ. To not do that would mean that we don’t really love them. Five experts on the topic helped Jim Garlow write this chapter.
If you love Jews, you will want to form meaningful relationships with them so that you can appropriately and lovingly share to the truth about Christ. To not do that would mean that we don’t really love them. Five experts on the topic helped Jim Garlow write this chapter.
Really Loving Jews, taken from Chapter 8 of A Christian’s Response To Judaism
Here is the key point of this chapter: to not lovingly share the Gospel with our Jewish friends is to demonstrate that we are really not willing to treat them as friends. What kind of a person would not share life-saving information with his/her friend. What kind of a friend are we (to Jews and other non-Christians) if we just “try to be nice” (such as “platforming” them) but do not articulate in creative and meaningful ways the pathway to Life Eternal? The title of this chapter could have been “How to Really Love a Jew.” To not show someone the way to abundant life is to not love them. Clapping for Jews on the platforms of our churches sounds so good – so vanguard! But it is lethal. It has two results: (1) it “lulls” us into complacency; and (2) and it affirms them in their Christ-less, works-centered attempt to reach heaven. God wants something quite different from us. Compassionately sharing Christ with them (in actions and in words) will make a difference one million years from now – in the destiny of every responsive Jew.
So why is Pastor Garlow so supportive of Evangelical outreach to Muslims, but not to Jews? How is it possible for a pastor to so passionately support preaching Jesus to one group of people but then to apologize for mentioning Jesus to another?
https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Falwell-Jews-can-get-to-heaven A huge backlash later caused both Falwell and Hagee to backtrack from Dual Covenant doctrine in their sermons. Nothing changed in their actions though toward the Jewish people. CUFI does not preach Jesus to Jews.
http://cufi.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=about_directors Pastor Garlow is a director of Christians United for Israel CUFI, John Hagee is the founder.
Does Pastor Garlow believe that Jesus is not needed for Jewish salvation?
I don’t know but maybe somebody should ask him.
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