For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem- (Isaiah 2:3)
From 16th-21st August 2015, more than 200 participants from six continents met in Jerusalem – the city from where the gospel went forth into all nations – for the tenth International Conference of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE). LCJE is an international network of agencies, congregations, educational institutions and individuals engaged in mission to the Jewish people, and is affiliated with the global Lausanne Movement. LCJE began in 1980 at the Consultation on World Evangelization (COWE) in Thailand as a task force on reaching Jewish people and has grown to include eight regional chapters. LCJE is the longest standing working group within the wider Lausanne Movement and Michael Oh, the CEO of Lausanne, describes Jewish mission as ‘part of our DNA.’ The conference celebrated and honoured the many Hebrew Christians and Messianic Jews who, during the last 2,000 years, have enriched not only the believing Jewish community but also the wider church. At the conclusion of the conference the delegates issued the following statement:
“We, the participants at the 10th International Conference of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, as Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus, rejoice that in every generation there have been Jewish people who embrace Jesus as Messiah and continue to identify as Jews.
We thank God for the increasing number of such Jewish people worldwide, especially in the land where Messiah lived, died for our sins, rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God.
We rejoice in the impact of a new generation of Jewish followers of Jesus on Israeli society through their bold witness and contribution to the country in education, the arts, health care, the military and start-up companies, and by providing help to the marginalised within society.
We rejoice also that God is working among Arab believers in the land and pray for their effectiveness in proclaiming Jesus in these troubled times.
With the wider Lausanne Movement we affirm that Jesus, through his saving work, has ‘broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility’ and we applaud those Messianic Jews and Arab Christians who live out this reality. We also affirm:
- The Jewishness of Jesus, who, as Israel’s Messiah, is the Saviour of the world
- The Jewishness of the Christian faith
- The irrevocable character of God’s gifts and calling in relation to Israel
- The special importance of taking the gospel to the Jewish people as an ever-present obligation on the Church, in accordance with Romans 1:16
Encouraged by the promises of God regarding Israel and the evangelistic successes of the past, LCJE is seeking to nurture a new generation of gifted leaders who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will inspire the worldwide Church to share the life-giving message of Messiah with Jewish people until, as foretold by the apostle Paul in Romans 11:26, ‘all Israel will be saved’!”
(The conference statement is also available in PDF form and can be downloaded here.)
From: The Tenth International Conference of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism (LCJE), held in Jerusalem from 16-21 August 2o15