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While sympathetic to the SBC's right to evangelize, Eckstein believes that many chosen methods of evangelism appear threatening or insulting to most Jews. "Many Christians are somewhat ignorant of the history between the Christian and Jewish communities," Eckstein says. "But most Jews are very conscious of the inquisitions, pogroms, and forced conversions that took place."

Eckstein says such knowledge, combined with memories of the Holocaust, makes Jews wary of targeted proselytizing or "manipulative techniques."

"Talking about your faith is at the bottom of the evangelism list," Eckstein says. He encourages Christians to instead share their beliefs through lifestyle evangelism, such as befriending Jewish neighbors, or by blessing Israel and Jewish people with political or financial support.

Patterson disagrees: "I'm not sure that a Jewish rabbi knows the most effective way for Christians to carry out evangelism."

Eckstein, however, says he has the support of many evangelicals, including Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell.

Graham recently described his own evangelistic stance in an interview with Tony Snow on the TV program "Fox News Sunday." While he is loyal to the SBC and normally defends it, Graham says, he has never targeted Muslims or Jews: "I believe that we should declare the fact that God loves you, God's willing to forgive you, God can change you, and Christ and his kingdom is open to anybody who repents and by faith receives him as Lord and Savior."

"These serious Christians recognize, as I do, that it is possible to witness and fulfill the Great Commission uncompromisingly without making enemies unnecessarily," Eckstein says.

But Patterson is not convinced: "We're standing for the same things the SBC has always stood for."

A Chicago Tribune editorial in January looked at the SBC's outreach from another perspective, saying that while the campaign may be an annoyance to some, Southern Baptists were justified in denying that evangelism would instigate hate crimes."

This being America, there is a perfectly acceptable response available to anyone who is unpersuaded or who doesn't wish to be bothered. It is, quite simply, no," the editorial said. Reccord—whose mission board has planned future projects in Phoenix, Boston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Seattle—agrees. "Everyone should have the opportunity to accept or reject freely," he says, "but we wouldn't be obeying our Lord if we didn't share the love of Christ."

Related ElsewhereToday's related story, Is Evangelism Possible Without Targeting? for more links and resources on the topic.See also a related January 7 story on ABCNews, "A Mission of Conversion | Baptists Attempt to Convert Jews Amidst Contention"

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February 7 2000, Vol. 44, No. 2