BY BILL REAGAN
Many Evangelicals support the establishment of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem. They believe the move fulfills Bible prophecy and fits into God’s plan for the End Times and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
It is not true that all Evangelical Christians hold this belief, or that in order to be an Evangelical one must believe that the modern State of Israel is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, or agree with the move of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem.
The word “evangelical,” properly defined means “gospel,” or “good news.” An Evangelical is one who believes that the Gospel of Jesus, the good news about forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ death and resurrection is the source of hope and faith.
Evangelicals are not only white, or conservative, or adhere to a particular interpretation of Bible prophesy. Evangelicals come from many ethnic backgrounds and can be found all around the world. Evangelicals are not always Republicans, or conservatives.
This Evangelical believes that Jesus will return when He is good and ready, regardless of the location of the United States Embassy.
We Evangelicals should care about whether Israelis live safely in their homes without fear of attack. And we should care about whether Palestinians have a homeland, civil liberties and a just peace. Too many Evangelicals, because of their hopes for Bible prophecy, give blind allegiance to the State of Israel and discount the rights of Palestinians. It is interesting that a significant minority of Palestinians is, in fact, Christian.
Every Christian is a servant in two kingdoms. Every Christian everywhere belongs to the Kingdom of God, the church. In the Kingdom of God there is no nationality or politics. There is only worship and belonging.
Every Christian also belongs to a kingdom in the world. For us, this is citizenship in the United States of America. This Evangelical is a happy, proud American. Our evangelical role is to be the best influence we can in the worldly kingdom to which we belong. So we Evangelicals should care about justice for our citizens and peace among nations. These things matter much more than the location of our nation’s embassy.
Bill Reagan is executive director of Loaves & Fishes of the Rio Grande Valley.
