Israel (MNN) — This month Amnesty International released a report contending that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. It’s not the first time this idea has been pushed forward and sharply disputed.
Tom Doyle with Uncharted Ministries says mainstream media narratives push us to choose sides: Israelis or Palestinians? Jews or Muslims? Yet there’s another option for followers of Christ — indeed, more than an option but a divine allegiance.
“There are a lot of ministries and a lot of people — and we’re included — talking about what’s going to happen the day after the war. Israel doesn’t want this to go on forever. Palestinians don’t, obviously. I think people need to see that the Body of Christ has no boundaries,” Doyle says.
“For believers, it’s dangerous to take our worldview from the news, because we’re the Body of Christ. We belong to the Kingdom of God, and there are bigger things going on than this war.”
Uncharted Ministries works with believers across the lines drawn in the Middle East. Doyle says that even in the devastation today, Jews and Muslims are coming to Christ.
“I think we will look back one day and say this was an awakening. It was a horrible thing, the war. Think of all the people that have been killed just even on October 7, 2023 and then as Israel goes into war in Gaza and back and forth,” Doyle says. “But I think we will look back and say, amazingly, God did something [in line with] Romans 8:28, for He can work all things out to the good of those that love the Lord.”
He adds, “We want to see as a result of this horrible time, people that we meet in heaven one day that say, ‘I came to faith in Christ in the worst time in Gaza history’ — or Israel’s or Syria’s, because the Lord is so present, and He’s moving so powerfully.”
Three calls to action
This Kingdom mindset doesn’t remove the controversy and chaos in the Middle East. But it does reframe it for followers of Jesus. Whatever you think about what’s going on, please take action.
“Number one, we pray for peace. As believers, we pray for all human beings. We want to see Palestinians stop suffering through this. We pray for the Jewish hostages that are still being kept. There’s so many people groups that are affected,” Doyle says.
Photo courtesy of Artem Beliaikin via Unsplash.
“Two, I think this is a wake up call for us in the West that the return of the Lord could be closer than we thought. If you look at Ezekiel 38 and some of the nations that are lining up and what’s happening, it could be [soon].”
Number three, Doyle says to pray for one more surge of awakening to the gospel across the globe. When that happens in the Middle East, it will make people marvel.
“I’m telling you, if the world can see Jews that love Jesus and Muslims that have come to faith in Christ [who are] reconciled, [who] can love each other, and in some places even worship together — that is something they will never get over, because most people think that is an absolute impossibility,” Doyle says.
“But then God says, ‘Is anything too hard for me?’ We know [reconciliation in Christ is] possible. We see it in places. We pray for more of that, and when we see it, it’s going to show the world peace can triumph over hatred and it really comes from the Prince of Peace.”
Header photo from October 2023: Israeli pastor and a Palestinian missionary praying over the Gaza Strip from Israel. They love each other as brothers in Christ and they love both people groups. (Photo, caption courtesy of Uncharted Ministries)
