The Direction of PCUSA's Divestment Dilemma
The PCUSA has approved an initiative to divest stock holdings in companies deemed to benefit from the ways in which Israel is allegedly profiting from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.1
This decision and more that took place recently at the 221st General Assembly in Detroit2 demands a response from followers of Jesus and especially from Messianic Jews like myself – Jewish people who believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah for all.
One needs to look at the divestment vote as an indication of the direction of the PCUSA holistically. When it is viewed as one event among many, it is easier to see what is at the heart of this vote.
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Let's start with some suggested good points. The 310 delegates (303 voted against) who voted in favor of the PCUSA divesting their stock holdings in three companies, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions and Caterpillar, probably did so with noble intentions.
The rationale would probably include a genuine belief that this symbolic gesture, i.e. removing about $21 million in invested funds, would cause Israel and the worldwide Jewish committee (let's face it – we are inseparable) to remove or "deconstruct" Israeli Jewish settlements in Palestine. This is why the term "occupation" is used in the Presbyterian documents and in the Palestinian political and historical narrative of the conflict.
The PCUSA delegates who voted for the divestment measures believe their vote is an expression of Christian ethics affirming the dignity of all humanity created in the image of God and that true Christians are called to support the oppressed and withstand the oppressors. The assumption is that Israelis are genuinely oppressing Palestinians, which may be heartfelt but is also naïve.
I would also assume that those who voted for divestment did so out of a sincere sense of love and compassion for Palestinians whom they believe are victims of Israeli aggression. Those who voted also affirmed a two-state solution, an affirmation of Israel's right to exist.
But a vote for divestment endorses the Palestinian Authority, which does not support the existence of Israel. This is especially challenging today since the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have made a decision to work together. Unfortunately, the PCUSA statement ignored the linkage between the PA and a known and active terrorist group.
I speak in many PCUSA churches and believe that there is great sincerity and devotion among the 1.8 million members of this great historic church body. However, I question whether or not the voices of the pro-Israel PCUSA community are being heard. So many have simply given up and left the denomination.
Let me suggest why the PCUSA sincerity and attempts to show compassion in the midst of this difficult situation are faulty.
First of all, the delegates who voted for divestment have chosen to believe the Palestinian narrative of the conflict and therefore have sided with the Palestinians against the majority of Jewish Israelis. Some of the more outspoken PCUSA leaders of divestment spent some years serving as missionaries in the Middle East and have well developed sympathies toward the Palestinians and embrace the Palestinian narrative. Is this true of most PCUSA congregants? Probably not! However, it is clear that the PCUSA has taken a political position on the conflict and has decided to believe negative and dangerously provocative charges against Israel.
The PCUSA has also "paraded" a few left wing Israeli peace activists to demonstrate that there are Jewish Israelis who agree with their position. According to the Times article,
Of more influence was the presence at the church's convention all week of Jewish activists, many of them young, in black T-shirts with the slogan "Another Jew Supporting Divestment." Many of them were with Jewish Voice for Peace, a small but growing organization that promotes divestment and works with Palestinian and Christian groups on the left.3
False representation of Jewish support has long been a practice by the Palestinian media machine. It has not been ethically scrutinized by the PCUSA voices for divestment.
I just returned form Israel where the narrative in the Palestinian press attempted to argue that three recently kidnapped boys were not taken but are merely missing. The evidence is virtually decisive that they were kidnapped and perhaps already killed. Instead, Palestinian media charges that the kidnapping story is an excuse to "crack down" on Palestinians.
Multiply these types of charges against Israelis and you will see that when people actually believe these things – they will naturally be opposed to the perpetrators. The PCUSA includes many who sincerely voted for divestment but leaders who have some "skin in the game" and have led the denomination into embracing a particular political narrative.
One of the reasons the vote was so close is because many of those who believed otherwise have already left the denomination because of a variety of issues.
However, there were other issues that were also affirmed at this General Assembly, besides divestment from the three companies. For example, the New York Times reported the following,
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted at its General Assembly on Thursday to change its constitution's definition of marriage from "a man and a woman" to "two people," and to allow its ministers to perform same-sex marriages where it is legal.
The vote giving discretion to ministers to marry gay couples takes effect on Sunday, at the close of the General Assembly.4
This issue has been more schismatic for the average PCUSA congregation than the divestment issue, but together these votes speak to a trend. This is why we must view these decisions as holistic and not isolated incidents. And perhaps seeing these issues as part of one agenda will sober Evangelicals who have unwittingly bought into a similar Middle East agenda without understanding the underlying values that moved the PCUSA leadership.
The PCUSA seems to be leaving its biblical moorings and instead of allowing Holy Scripture to judge the trends and philosophies of our day. The opposite is happening. Today's trends and values are beginning to determine the ethical, moral and political decisions of the church. This leads to a worldly syncretism that can erode the very heart of our faith in the Son of God who dies for sinners, rose in victory and will come again to establish His kingdom. And if the theology does not crumble then the outliving of our creeds and beliefs faith will be practically minimized as we apply His truth to the shifting values of our day.
As a Messianic Jew I am very concerned with the decisions of the PCUSA. I am concerned with the temptation to reject biblical fidelity. I very am disturbed with the lack of commitment to the literal promises in the Old Testament to the Jewish people. I believe that disregarding these literal promises may be the very impetus that leads His people on the path of moral relativity and spiritual decline. I believe this is borne out in the decision of the PCUSA regarding marriage.
When we spiritualize God's commandments we become rudderless boats navigating the turbulent rivers of living as faithful followers of Jesus in today's world.
I grieve over the increment general turn of the PCUSA from a deep and heartfelt concern for the spiritual welfare of the Jewish people to the loss of evangelistic zeal for Jewish people. In fact, at one time – in the first half of the 20th century, the Presbyterians, then inclusive of a number of more conservative groups that have split from the larger body, were active in Jewish missions and believed that reaching Jewish people for Jesus was important. The Home Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church at the time supported dozens of missionaries to the Jewish people and Neighborhood Houses that were funded to be a home for Jewish people who believed in Jesus.
Today is a new day for the PCUSA as we now see a growing insensitivity as to how politically driven decisions might impact the eternal fate of Jewish people. But, perhaps the leaders of the PCUSA have stopped caring about this a long time ago?
The PCUSA must understand that the Jewish people – my people – will view their divestment decision as one of s long list of Christian acts against the Jewish people. I am heartsick to this happen again…even if a few liberal Rabbis or Jewish community leaders are for some convinced to support the PCUSA decision.
I now have another opportunity to try and explain to my family why Jesus is Jewish, why He is the Messiah and why believing in Jesus is good for the Jewish people.
I am afraid the PCUSA has helped me lose another chance to share the Gospel with my Jewish family. All the rhetoric, niceties, calls for dialogue or speeches by Rabbis at the General Assembly will not make up for the actions of the General Assembly in calling for an action that might be one symbol to the declining membership of the PCUSA – but, quiet another to my people.
