Did you hear the hubbub over newly released tapes that recorded more of the conversation between former President Richard Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham? For many, the focus was on anti-Semitic attitudes that appeared in the conversation. But the mention of Jews for Jesus in these tapes sheds an interesting light on how and why many Christian leaders today shy away from Jewish evangelism. (If you didn’t know that Jews for Jesus was mentioned in these tapes and would like to read about it, click here)

The tapes contain a reminder that it is nothing new for Jewish community leaders to regard any overtures to reach Jewish people for Jesus as a threat. As it is human nature to “lobby” influential people to one’s cause, evangelists such as Billy Graham have been pressured to show friendship to the Jewish people by distancing themselves from those whose mission it is to reach Jewish people for Jesus.

The pressure often comes in the form of friendship proffered or withheld based on where one stands when it comes to evangelizing Jewish people. Nearly four decades later, we are seeing the “fruits” of this type of pressure as many Christian leaders are urging other Christians to demonstrate love and respect for Jewish people by keeping silent about the gospel. Rich Robinson, scholar-in-residence with Jews for Jesus, has some keen insight into this trend. I want to commend the following book review, in which Rich shows how Christians can inadvertently diminish their love for the unsaved as well as their own obedience to the Savior:

Honest to God: Christian Zionists Confront 10 Questions Jews Need Answered by Victor L. Styrsky.

The title of this book may imply that Jewish people have ten burning questions for Christian Zionists. A closer look shows that the “10 Questions Jews need answered” are actually ten assurances that the author believes Christians need to offer the Jewish people. The author poses these questions as springboards from which to show Christians how to relate to Jewish people.

June 26, 2009

The Rev. Billy Graham informed Richard Nixon of the Jewish community's concern about Jews for Jesus in a private telephone conversation in February 1973. Graham represented the group as being "set up all over the country," at a time when the organization was in its fledgling stage, with just a handful of workers.

The 20-minute conversation, released on Tuesday as part of 154 hours of tape recordings from the Nixon White House, took place on February 21, 1973, the day Israeli jets fired on a Libyan passenger plane that violated its airspace, causing the plane to crash and killing 108 people on board...

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