Why I Am Not a Christian Zionist

Sept 1, 2021

James Beck

I am conservative, both theologically and politically. I believe the charge to love your neighbor means we are to treat our neighbor with kindness and to accept our differences, but it doesn’t mean we can ignore Biblical morality. As for politics, I am to the right of most of my friends and family, although I reject the extremism dividing our country, both the left and rightwing varieties. 

I do not remember when I first heard the term Christian Zionist, but I am pretty sure I fit the definition at one time. I regarded Jews as special people of God who needed and deserved to live in the Holy Land. But then I happened to be in attendance when a teacher of an adult Sunday School class declared “If you do not believe the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 was the fulfillment of prophecy, you are not a Christian!” My mind went immediately to Jesus, who welcomed and encouraged the Gentiles he encountered. I wondered what he would say to someone asserting the exclusive right of one group of people to the Holy Land. I also thought about Romans 4:11 where Paul says that the children of Abraham will now include both Jews and non-Jews. I thought about passages like Ephesians 2:19 where even “strangers” are now to be counted as members of the household of God. This coming together of Jews and Gentiles is one of the most important prophecies of the New Testament, and I realized I believed you could indeed be a Christian if you rejected Christian Zionism since it seemed to run counter to Biblical prophecy as I understood it. In a sense, I became an “Anti-Christian Zionist.” 

Having said that, I still had misgivings about opposing the State of Israel in any way. I saw it as a small nation surrounded by enemies and believed the US needed to defend its right to exist. I still feel that way to some extent, but in 2010 I was invited to go on a trip with some church leaders where we got to meet Palestinian Christians in the West Bank. I was by far the most conservative person in our group, and I even pushed to get a meeting with a Jewish settler – I wanted to get his side of the story. We heard it, but it just didn’t hold up for me. We saw many things that were disheartening and seemed cruel, and yet I also met many wonderful people - Palestinian Christians and Muslims, also Jewish Israelis. The most important part of my trip was visiting the Tent of Nations, a farm run by the Nassar family. I met Daoud Nassar, a devoted follower of Christ who lives out the motto carved in stone at the entrance to his farm: “WE REFUSE TO BE ENEMIES.” When I returned to the US I helped my church figure out a way to take a stand through limited and targeted divestment from some US companies that were making a profit from the occupation of the West Bank.  I also became a founding member of United Methodists for Kairos Response. Today I serve on the Advisory Council of Friends of Tent of Nations.

James Beck is a retired commercial banker in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is active in his church, Armstrong Chapel United Methodist, where he currently serves on the Finance Committee. He also enjoys serving on the boards of not-for-profit organizations in his community. In February of 2010 Jim visited Israel and Palestine while on a week-long trip with an ecumenical group investigating Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Jim was particularly moved by the non-violent resistance demonstrated by the Tent of Nations. Following that visit, in October 2010, Jim was one of the co-founding members of United Methodists for Kairos Response which, while pursuing the goal of peacefully ending the occupation, has taken decisive action in support of a just peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. At the annual conference of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church held in June 2011, Jim presented a resolution to divest from three companies which were complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The resolution narrowly passed. Jim now serves on the Advisory Council of Friends of Tent of Nations North America, and has been host to Daoud Nassar, Executive Director of Tent of Nations, on several of his trips to Cincinnati, helping to arrange presentations to churches, schools and smaller Bible study groups. Jim is a husband, father, grandfather and Cincinnati Reds fan.