'My response is that we have to keep forgiving'

9 februari 2011

By Alfred Muller in Jerusalem 

Dr. Alex Awad's house in South- Jerusalem is close to the military road block to Bethlehem. He passes through it on his way to the Bethlehem Bible College, where he works as a lecturer and student dean. He also pastors a Baptist church in East- Jerusalem.  

Awad often speaks at conferences by Musalaha, an organisation that brings Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians together. He thinks that both parties should not forget their histories. For the Jewish people the Holocaust is important, for the Palestinians it's the 'Nakba', which means 'catastrophe' and refers to the the events of 1948. 'I sympathise with the history of the Jews. It helps me to understand them better. When my Jewish brothers and sisters hear my story they can sympathise with me, although we might disagree about certain details.' 

Forgiveness
Awad has noticed that it is harder to forgive new wounds than it is to forgive old wounds. 'We surrender old wounds to Christ and say: “Lord, we forgive those who have caused this pain and commit them to You. We cleanse our hearts.” It is relatively easy to forgive the injustice done to me in 1948 that made me a refugee and caused the death of my father. But now when I cross a road block and a soldier insults me, it is harder to forgive, although it is only a small thing compared to what happened in the past. My response is that we have to keep forgiving.' 

When people tell dr. Awad that they want to forgive, but are unable to, he says: 'What would happen if God told you: “I can't forgive you.” We live in a fallen world and sin against God in many ways. If God is prepared to forgive us our sins every day, shouldn't we do the same? The basis of forgiveness is not that the other deserves our forgiveness, but that we ourselves have been forgiven.'

Setbacks in relationships
In theory everyone knows how to achieve reconciliation, but in reality it proves hard. The conference 'Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the service of peace and justice' held at Bethlehem Bible College in March 2010 caused a setback in the relationship. Messianic believers felt that the conference was extremely anti-Israel. Dr. Awad was the chairman of this international meeting.  

In reponse to this criticism Awad wrote a letter in which he stated that believers on both sides have to hold to three principles: First, believers have to recognise that in Christ Jesus they have unity. Second, they have to acknowledge that there are political and theological differences. And third, believers have to recognise that the grace of God is at work in both communities, despite the differences.  

Awad says that Messianic Jews were invited to come to the conference and some did. In his opinion the conference wasn't about Israel but about Christian-Zionism. 'We focus on a theology that we consider destructive to our dialogue. How many conferences have been held in Jerusalem where Israel was praised? Where the settlements or the injustices against the Palestinian people were never mentioned. Where Palestinians were condemned as terrorists? Where we were invited as a symbol, but not as speakers? We only appeared on the stage much later.' 

Believers can only have meaningful relationship if they accept unity in Christ as their standard. 'The basis for reconciliation is that I can look someone in the face and say: “I don't agree with you, but I love you for Christ's sake.”'