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Dr. Jim Congdon
There are two reasons why Topeka Bible Church supports Jews for Jesus.
One, they have a unique calling from God. Two, they have been faithful to
that calling.
Perhaps their calling shouldn't be unique. After all, the uniqueness
consists in nothing more than an unabashed commitment to evangelism. Isn't that what all missionaries and missions organizations are about?
In theory, yes. But missionaries and missions organizations are just
normal Christians like you and I, and we all know that it's easier to talk
about evangelism than to do it. Missions statistics simply support what we
pastors already know from a casual survey of our Missions Support
lists—that a lower and lower percentage of missionaries are actually
talking with lost people about Jesus.
So for every lone evangelist, missions organizations are tempted to
accumulate ten disciplers, administrators and fund-raisers. Likewise Jewish
missions are tempted to go to churches to talk to Christians about Jews,
rather than go to the streets to talk to Jews about Jesus.
TBC's support list presently consists of thirty missionaries and fifteen
organizations. The first reason I1m glad to see Jews for Jesus on our list
is that their calling is unabashedly evangelistic. They actually talk to
Jews about Jesus.
The second reason is like unto the first. We feel privileged to support
Jews for Jesus because they have been faithful to that calling.
We began supporting JfJ in the early Seventies when founder Moishe Rosen
stopped in Kansas to share their evangelistic vision. We have observed
happily that in the three decades since, nothing has changed.
Well, some things have changed, of course. The Liberated Wailing Wall
changes faces every year or two. Some of the JfJ missionaries we've brought to TBC have gone on to other organizations or congregations. After a quarter of a decade, Moishe and Ceil Rosen have given way to David and Patti Brickner.
But in the midst of major changes in the world and Christian missions,
What's important has stayed the same. Jews for Jesus has remained faithful
to their calling. Just in case anyone wonders what this calling is, their
mission statement dispels the fog: "We exist to make the Messiahship of
Jesus an unavoidable issue to Jews worldwide." Crisp. Memorable. And unique.
Dr. Jim Congdon
Senior Pastor,
Topeka Bible Church
Topeka, KS
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