Christian Zionism is seen as a stumbling block to gospel witness in the Middle East

In recent weeks, I visited a medical clinic in Jerusalem to get vaccinated before traveling to Africa. While in the nurse’s room, a Jewish woman began asking me questions about my trip. I told her I was an evangelical Christian pastor attending an international conference. She nodded knowingly and remarked, “Oh yes, evangelicals love Israel.” I explained that while many evangelicals do express support for Israel, it is often for the wrong reasons. Her expression grew serious. She thanked me for my honesty and shared, “Many of us Jews feel these evangelicals love us for the wrong reasons. Because of their end-times views, they want to bring us all here so that a global war will come, we will be killed, and their Messiah will arrive.” She described the situation as “a man who fattens a duck, feeding her daily and taking care of her—not because he loves her, but so that one day he can slaughter her.”

This analogy captures the deep suspicion and unease many Jews feel toward the so-called love of Christian Zionism. This form of support is not rooted in Christ but in a manipulative eschatology. It may be framed as blessing, but at its core, it treats the Jewish people as pawns in someone else’s prophetic scheme. The false love of Christian Zionism distorts the message of the gospel and undermines the integrity of Christian witness to Jews, Muslims, and all peoples in the Middle East.

Just days after this conversation, I watched an Israeli morning news segment where a self-proclaimed evangelical bishop was interviewed. He lamented the loss of evangelical support for Israel among young people. With passion, he vowed to work to bring the younger generation back, urging them to “pray for Israel” and to show uncritical loyalty, no matter what Israel does. His remarks revealed a troubling irony: he assumed that evangelicals would remain silent about injustice, indifferent to the suffering of Palestinians—Christian and Muslim alike—and oblivious to the witness of Jesus Christ.

Christian Zionism is not simply a theological oddity; it is a stumbling block to the gospel. It distorts Christian witness and undermines the message of Christ. The movement often cites Genesis 12:3 or Zechariah 14 to justify its position. However, the New Testament reinterprets these promises in Christ. Paul insists that the true seed of Abraham is Christ himself, and all who belong to him by faith (Galatians 3:16, 28–29). The dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has been torn down in Christ (Ephesians 2:14).

To apply territorial promises directly to the modern state of Israel bypasses the gospel. As the apostle Paul reminds us, the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ, not in political or territorial claims. The gospel message is not about national agendas but about the redemption of all peoples through faith in Jesus. The true witness of Christ is found in love, justice, and reconciliation, not in the manipulation of eschatological expectations for political ends.

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