I had the “fortune” of coming across another John Hagee show the other day—this one was about a program he has started called Exodus II (see http://www.jhm.org/exodus2.asp). The purpose and goals are highlighted here, taken from a revealing look at his website: Through John Hagee Ministries, Christians are uniting in support for the State of Israel and the Jewish people… John Hagee Ministries has been able to donate more than 19 million dollars to various causes that support the Jewish people. These causes include education, repatriation, rebuilding and relocating children to safe zones, as well as providing medical equipment and supplies for the Jewish people injured in terrorist attacks… We have aided in tens of thousands of God’s Chosen to be brought back to their covenant… In Psalm 122:6, King David commands all Christians, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.” The scriptural principle of personal prosperity is tied to blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem… Why did Jesus Christ go to the house of the Centurion and heal his servant who was ready to die? Jesus went because the Gentile Centurion deserved the blessing of God because he had demonstrated his love for God’s chosen people, the Jews, by building a synagogue in Israel (Luke 7:5).
When you do things to bless the Jewish people and the state of Israel, God will bless you. Your support of the nation of Israel through Exodus II strengthens their nation. As the Jewish leaders say, every Jewish person coming to Israel strengthens the nation… [Scripture verifies] that PROSPERITY (Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 122:6), HEALING (Luke 7:1-5) and the OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT came first to Gentiles that blessed the Jewish people and the nation of Israel in a practical manner.
Let me begin by saying that I absolutely love the Jewish people, and I understand (and support) their effort to get to their homeland should they desire to do so. However, replace the words Jewish people, and plug in whatever you like as far as race, religion, and country of origin: that’s how I really feel. The exception would probably be any person who interprets their religious beliefs to mean that they can harm any human or animal—terrorists, fundamentalists, that kind of thing. I only say that because in the past some individuals have misinterpreted my blogging to mean that I am for a free-for-all. Not so—common sense ought to dictate otherwise, but because it doesn’t, I felt the need to address that possible interpretation of what I am saying here.So, getting to the actual point of this blog… My concern here is Hagee’s apparent obsession with exclusively blessing Jews over people of other nations and/or religions. The underlying reason appears to be the sole desire to gain a blessing from God, apparently explicitly promised to the Christians in the Old Testament. Never mind that Christians weren’t even around then… But it isn’t what I’ve already cited that really disturbs me—it’s a grossly narrow interpretation of Scripture that he used on his program. He used a famous instruction given by Jesus—“I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to me” (Matthew 25, from the Voice of Matthew). So, then, who is a brother or sister? A Jew? Yes, perhaps during that time. But it isn’t Jews who typically read this passage–it’s Christians. The narrowest interpretation during this time would have to be, at least to me, the Christians. But back to that pesky question, “Who is a brother or a sister?” Well, someone asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) And I think that may be the better question, as I believe it gives us the answer to our first question: He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Sister Magdalen writes, “the neighbor is the one who shows mercy. Then Christ says, ‘Go and do you likewise.’ [So] the question becomes, ‘How can I be a good neighbor?’ By my becoming a good neighbor to others, everyone becomes a neighbor to me. We are asked not to find a neighbor but to become a neighbor”. She follows this by referencing another part of Scripture—“Whoever does not love a neighbor whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).So, if all are my neighbors, and Christ has instructed me to do as the Good Samaritan did, then blessing only one aspect of God’s creation—in Hagee’s case, the Jews—then I run the risk of living a small life in Christ. It’s not that God won’t accept my kindness, but it’s that I’ll miss out on all the joy, community, and yes, even blessings (though not necessarily the kind Hagee refers to) that will surly come if I’d open my heart to all of his people (and creation in general).
