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In our thirty years as an organization, we've been asked a lot of questions. Some come from those who genuinely want us to grapple with issues that are important to them and to God. We are eager to respond to such inquiries. Some questions are more of a charge than a question, for example, "Why do you use deceptive means to push your beliefs?" We'll even try to respond to some of those. What we really want to provide here is some understanding and clarity where misunderstanding might exist. So please look over this Q & A and if we've missed a key question on your mind, please direct it to info@forjewsforjesus.org and we'll do our best to promptly answer it.
Can you explain how one can be a Jew and a Christian at the same time? That seems like a contradiction in terms.
The definition of who is a Jew continues to be debated within the Jewish community. Some want to define "Jewish" as cultural, others as religious and still others as a matter of parentage.
We believe that Jewishness is a birthright. It is inherited from our parents.
Our people are not of one culture; we have diverse cultural expressions (Ashkenazi/Sephardi, Georgian/Russian, Ethiopian, Persian, etc.). Our people are not of one religion. While Judaism might be the traditional religion for many Jewish people, Jews are still considered Jewish even though they might be atheists or even if they embrace other beliefs.
Those who say that Jews who believe in Jesus are errant Jews or misguided Jews are entitled to their opinions. But they are not entitled to negate our Jewishness. We are Jews by birth and that cannot change.
In the Jewish worldview, non-Jews are referred to as "Gentiles." "Gentile" is the non-Jewish ethnic category. Yet not all Gentiles are Christians. The term "Christian" refers to anyone, of any ethnicity, who believes in Jesus Christ.
The word "Christ" is Greek for "Messiah." Any follower of Jesus the Messiah, therefore, is a Christian (a messianic believer). That believer might be Jewish or of any other lineage.
Thus, "Jewish" refers to who we are. "Christian" is a designation for who we follow.
The statement, "You can't be Jewish and a Christian" is an institutionalized mutual exclusion of terms that is misleading. It is institutionalized because Jewish communal leaders use it and others have just accepted it. The terms "Jewish" and "Gentile" are mutually exclusive categories. However, the term "Christian" or "follower of the Messiah (Christ)" can accurately modify or explain the beliefs of both Jews and non-Jews.
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Okay, I understand your definitions. Still, do Jewish people really need to know Jesus? If so, why?
Jews and Gentiles need to know Jesus, if his claims are true. And we believe they are!
First, he claimed to be the Messiah. In response to a Samaritan woman's question concerning when the Messiah would come, Jesus said, "I who speak to you am he" (John 4:25,26). In detail as to lineage, birthplace, time and lifestyle, Jesus matched the messianic expectations of the Hebrew Scriptures. And if he is the Messiah, as we believe, what could be more Jewish than believing in him?
Second, he claimed to be the exclusive way to God. We live in an age where holding to absolute truth seems provincial and narrow-minded. But Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). We believe that people should be free to choose what to believe, but that doesn't mean that there is no binding truth. On the contrary, we need to share the truth, as we understand it, with others.
We sympathize with those who feel offended by the gospel but we do not apologize for caring to ensure that they get a chance to hear that message. Many of us were offended the first time someone tried to share their faith with us. We know that there is some choice involved in being offended, and we also know that a negative reaction is not necessarily the end of the story—we have been there! We Jews who have found faith and everlasting life in Jesus recall how we once felt. Most of us considered anyone who confronted us with the gospel a minor annoyance at best, if not a major aggravation. Now we thank God for those who cared enough to tell us what we did not wish to hear. Can we do less than what was done for us?
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What are your "witnessing campaigns" like?
They've been called the toughest month of service you could ever enjoy. We've been doing them since 1974. And they're one of the best things we do as a ministry. Campaigns are tough and exhausting. Campaigners spend their days witnessing on city streets, distributing thousands of pieces of contemporary literature. They work hard at engaging people in a good-natured but challenging way to accept Jesus. They meet business people, homemakers, students, tourists and the homeless. Some will appreciate their presence; others will look at them with disdain. Campaigners will be lifted, discouraged, challenged and stretched during a given day—but most of all, they'll see themselves used of God in this intensive focused effort.
Both staff and volunteers take part in campaigns. They are typically young (18-35), physically fit individuals who are fully briefed about our expectations prior to being accepted for training. While they do in fact work long hours, no one works a solid month on campaign. Everyone is given days off to rest and renew their energies. They are housed in a comfortable hotel for the entire month, well fed by a team of professional chefs and encouraged to explore the city and have fun with their peers on days off during the campaign.
Typically, hundreds will pray to accept Jesus on a major city campaign and thousands more will entrust us with their names and addresses so that they can continue to hear about Y'shua. Those of us who have been on a campaign can say that it was among the most amazing and spiritually rewarding experiences of our lives. We are in the midst a five-year program with 66 worldwide campaigns of different lengths planned. It's called Behold Your God and you can find out more about these campaigns.
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Some people think you are "fanatics" who work around the clock and have no life apart from Jews for Jesus. Is that true?
Campaigns are not a year-round vocation for us, but missionary work is demanding by nature. Please understand that most of us are incredibly passionate about our work. We've never seen this as a job in the conventional sense—it's always been our mission in life.
For that reason, Jews for Jesus is not just like any business or organization. While some staff work 8 to 5, others choose to work longer hours as needed. We don't apologize for regarding hard work as a good thing. One of our core values is that we strive for excellence in all that we do. We set goal to measure whether we are indeed striving for excellence. The goals we set are realistic; they don't have us working around the clock. They are based upon our own experience in serving as missionaries. They are no more demanding than the goals a lawyer sets for billable hours, or a salesperson for sales calls or a social worker for caseload visits.
At the same time, we tend to "play hard" too. We recreate and relax and read books for fun and go to ball games and concerts and play with our kids, etc. We are also involved with our congregations and churches as much as is possible. We encourage our staff to strike a healthy balance of time devoted to ministry, family life and personal devotions. And to be honest, some are better at reaching that balance than others.
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Tell us about the spiritual environment at Jews for Jesus. Do you pray and worship as a group?
Ministry springs from the spiritual life of any minister. So, we hold that spiritual development is an essential part of our belief system. Our leadership team is responsible for making the spiritual health of those they lead an important part of their daily duties. Prayer and reflection are ongoing parts of our daily lives.
In support of that, we employ a full-time ministry Chaplain team (husband and wife) whose mandate is to encourage the spiritual health and development of our staff. They meet regularly with individual staff members to provide counsel, support and assistance as necessary. We also employ a full-time Chaplain on our campaign team.
Four times per year we hold a Prayer Day for our staff and volunteers in which we dedicate that time to prayer and worship. We also provide paid time away in order for missionary staff to take an annual spiritual retreat of up to one week. That is apart from any paid holiday or vacation time. Staff are also expected to be part of local worshipping congregations.
The spiritual growth of our staff is very important to us.
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What is your philosophy of management?
When we first began, Jews for Jesus operated more like a family business than an organization. Everybody did everything. Who knew from job descriptions. We were a grassroots movement that was determined to reach the Jewish community with the message that Jesus is the Messiah. Most of us thought that Jesus would return imminently. Things like pensions and health benefits were not very pressing to us. Most of our staff were single and highly mobile. Putting in long hours was not that unusual. It was exciting to be part of something that could change the world.
We were also in the process of becoming an organization and that takes an over and above effort from an over and above staff, which we certainly had. In just a few short years, we had raised the banner of Jesus for the Jewish people to such a height that there were few Jews, if any, in the U.S. who were unaware of the option for Jews to come to faith in Jesus. And thousands did.
During those days, we learned a lot by trial and error, by doing and learning on the job. There was much care and kindness bestowed on staff, but mistakes were certainly made as well—and given the chance, there are certainly things we would do differently. Our founder, Moishe Rosen, has acknowledged that in his letter on this site as has our current executive director David Brickner.
Jews for Jesus is an organization that has grown and is growing. We believe in being fair and firm as well as caring and compassionate. We are committed to treating our staff with the dignity and respect befitting a child of God. We will no doubt continue to make some mistakes in managing our mission and its personnel, but we have purposed to learn from those mistakes and to incorporate changes where needed. For example, our leaders, who are highly dedicated men and women, have been directed not to resort to yelling in the supervision of others. And whereas losing one's temper has at times been tolerated and even justified in this ministry, it is not acceptable today. Our philosophy of management is one of fairness and firmness and we strive to be both on a consistent basis so that we can develop and train staff of the best character and ability for leadership.
Ours is still an exciting work. And Jesus can still return at any time. And we still believe that our efforts can have a part in changing the world for God's glory. We also believe that we must continue to change more and more into the likeness of our Messiah Y'shua.
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I heard that Moishe Rosen is retired. What is your founder doing these days?
Moishe Rosen is not retired. He's just moving a little slower than he used to. He continues to serve as one of our fifteen Board members. He currently carries on a ministry out of his home office, which includes teaching, preaching, writing and Internet evangelism. Moishe can be found online in cyberspace as MityMo.
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Jews for Jesus is known for being very creative and on the cutting edge when it comes to materials and methods of evangelism. What's on the horizon?
If we are to make the Messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people who are committed to avoiding it, we must bring to bear every ounce of creativity we can.
Our best songs have yet to be recorded; our best books have yet to be written; our best literature has yet to be developed and the best methods of outreach have yet to be employed in proclaiming the gospel. We have a long way to go, but we continue to strive and we continue to treasure God-given creativity as a key component in making Messiah Jesus known.
We have a new album of Jewish gospel music coming out this year; it will be called "Behold Your God." We're also in production on a new evangelistic video. Its subject matter is highly sensitive (Jews and Arabs who have found peace in Y'shua). We're hoping and praying it will speak to our Jewish people and to others who need the healing and reconciliation that only Y'shua brings.
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While Jews for Jesus has had its share of accomplishments, you have not been a stranger to controversy—like being called a cult. Is there any basis for such a charge?
None at all. We are a mainline evangelical organization that has the distinction of being Jewish as well. We are recognized as evangelical in practice and association. Our statement of faith does not deviate from conservative Christian theology in any way. Our staff receive their theological training in Bible colleges and seminaries such as Moody Bible Institute and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. We have the endorsement of leading pastors, presidents of seminaries and Christian statesmen like J.I. Packer, Vernon Grounds and Leighton Ford. None of these people nor the schools, churches or organizations they represent would endorse a cult.
Cults do not make themselves accountable to outside boards and agencies. Jews for Jesus operates with a high degree of operational and fiduciary accountability. Our Board of Directors, as trustees of the organization, is morally and legally responsible for the oversight and conduct of Jews for Jesus. They are fully empowered by the laws of the State of California to govern the organization as they see fit. They recognize that the operating policies of Jews for Jesus are initiated and implemented by the Executive Director and those to whom he has delegated responsibility. However, they reserve the right to initiate or override any operational policies in order to uphold the stated principles of the organization. Our Board has the right to review the performance of our Executive Director, and does so on an annual basis. They also have the right to dismiss him if it is felt necessary. They can also demand changes to our management practices and/or limit the powers of our management team. Our Board members are godly Christian leaders in business, law, academia and the pastorate.
Jews for Jesus is not only accountable to an outside Board, we are members in good standing of watchdog agencies including the Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability and the Interdenominational Foreign Missions Association. These organizations have high standards for membership and do not accept cults into their associations.
Cults do not provide avenues for disagreement among their adherents. We have always encouraged a healthy level of debate within Jews for Jesus. Our staff is encouraged to voice their opinions, critique things they don't like and offer suggestions on how things could be improved. That kind of open, honest dialogue has been a powerful force in the overall growth of our mission.
People involved in cults aren't typically paid for their efforts. Our missionaries are among the best paid in the field of missions, and their benefits package is exceptional. Many even own their own homes.
People involved in cults are usually isolated from their family and friends. We wholeheartedly encourage our staff and volunteers to be actively involved with their families and friends and to partake in important family milestones and events.
The final thing we would like to point out with regard to cult allegations is the need to consider the sources. Since the 70s, the Jewish community has chosen to regard us within the framework of "cults" largely due to a lack of understanding of who we are. In his recent history of our movement, Evangelizing the Chosen People: Missions to the Jews in America, 1880-2000, Jewish scholar Yaakov Ariel points out this phenomena and disagrees. He calls us an "avant-garde arm of the movement to evangelize Jews and persuade them to join the evangelical community and share its values" (p. 219). He also observes that there has been movement on the part of the Jewish community leadership "from denial to partial recognition of the new realities" (p. 269).
Sadly, in other cases, those responsible for labeling us a cult include former employees who no longer profess faith in Christ as well as some members of another Jewish mission whose motives we can only speculate on.
Tal Brooke, President and Chairman of Spiritual Counterfeits Projects, one of the most reputable cult researching organizations in the world, says,
"I am told allegations have been made by individuals that the ministry of Jews for Jesus is a cult, or cult-like in its behavior, that the organization is spiritually abusive in practice. These allegations cannot be further from the truth. I have personally known both Moishe Rosen, the organization's founder, and David Brickner, the current executive director, for many years. I have been impressed with the organization they represent and the care these men have shown in presenting the historic gospel message with clarity and with integrity."
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Jews for Jesus is known for having an aggressive witnessing approach. If you had a "kinder and gentle'' methodology maybe you wouldn't be the subject of so much criticism.
Hey, different ministries do different things. Some focus on telling other Christians how they can share their faith with seekers. Others focus on writing or public speaking. There are those who are engaged in planting congregations. We have a particular niche in that we see ourselves as frontline evangelists doing direct evangelism.
Direct evangelism occurs when there is a clear presentation of the facts of the gospel to seekers and a compelling appeal to receive salvation through faith in Christ. While it seems obvious that a mission to the Jews should make Jewish evangelism a priority, throughout history, many Jewish missions and missionaries who began by wanting to talk to Jews about Jesus have ended up talking to the Church about Jews. Why has this happened?
Jewish evangelism is difficult. The discomfort of being vulnerable and the pain of rejection that necessarily accompany effective missionary work can take their toll if not handled properly. If we don't keep our vulnerability and pain in perspective, then the natural desire to avoid these things can slowly erode any commitment to direct evangelism.
There are so many distractions. Whether it be leading tours to the Holy Land, conducting prophecy conferences or attempting to win support for Jewish causes, there are many worthy endeavors that simply do not add up to Jewish evangelism. No Jewish mission can afford to take on these efforts at the price of neglecting to speak directly to the unsaved.
Direct evangelism is the best and only hope for a lost and dying world.
Some people might mistake boldness for aggressiveness and truthfulness for harshness, but we present the gospel with love and compassion and only engage in dialogue with those who want to talk with us. Our methodology is patterned after the early Jews for Jesus (see the Book of Acts) and Jesus himself. If we are criticized for that, we stand in very good company.
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You've been accused of preying on the most vulnerable people of society (children, students, the elderly). How do you respond to that charge?
We don't. We don't prey on anyone. We strive to treat all people whom we meet in a respectful and God-honoring way. When it comes to evangelism and children, our stated policy is clear: We do not carry out our evangelistic ministry to minors without parental consent. We strongly believe that children under the age of 18 need to be spiritually educated by their parents, and that it would be wrong for us to instruct them without the consent of their parents. Therefore, if we are approached by minors who want us to provide instruction, we require them to get written consent from their parents before proceeding any further.
When it comes to evangelism and the elderly or the college student, we deplore the characterization of them as vulnerable. It is demeaning to assume that a college student or a senior citizen is defenseless and unable to discern truth from fabrication. We certainly minister to many seniors and students and are pleased to have helped them find Christ. We are respectful of the sensitivities and life situations of all people we meet, but for elderly people and students to be singled out as weak is unfair to them.
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I have a question you haven't answered. Where can I direct it?
In recent years there have been attacks on almost every visible leader and organization in the Christian community by those individuals who may or may not be involved with advancing the cause of Christ. Consequently, there has been a tendency of many such individuals to mislead and distort the truth about Christian organizations, including Jews for Jesus, in an attempt to discredit them.
We stand willing and ready to address any legitimate questions and concerns brought by individuals who seek honest answers and who do not seek to discredit the works Christ has done through us. So if we've missed a key question on your mind, we'd really like to have an opportunity to communicate with you. Click on this link.
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