Sabine Sterk: The Elephant in the Church
Let me say the quiet part out loud. The elephant in the room is Christianity and its relationship with Israel.
Honesty is rarely welcomed. I know that from experience. I am criticized constantly for saying what many people prefer to whisper privately. I am often accused of being hostile toward Christianity. Some say I exaggerate. Others say I am unfair.
But my frustration does not come out of nowhere. It comes from decades of watching how Christians talk about Israel, about Judaism, and about the Jewish people.
And what I see is uncomfortable.
Many Christians claim to love Israel. They speak about blessing Israel, supporting Israel, and praying for Israel. They wave Israeli flags, attend conferences, and post Bible verses on social media.
But very often that support comes with a hidden condition.
Conversion.
If your support for Israel ultimately ends with the expectation that Jews will one day abandon Judaism and accept Jesus, then that is not respect. That is not love. That is a theological strategy.
And Jews see that.
To many Christians, this may sound harsh, but honesty matters more than politeness. If you truly respect Judaism as a living faith and not merely as a stepping stone toward Christianity, then support Israel for what it actually is.
A Jewish state. A Jewish civilization. A Jewish homeland that existed thousands of years before Christianity was even born.
When someone thanks Israel “in Jesus’ name,” it does not sound like solidarity. It sounds like religious superiority. It sends the message that Christianity ultimately stands above Judaism.
That is exactly the problem.
Judaism is not Christianity’s unfinished draft. Judaism is not a preface to the New Testament. Judaism is an ancient, continuous civilization that shaped the moral and spiritual foundations of the Western world long before Christianity appeared.
Yet throughout history, large parts of Christianity developed a theology that claimed the opposite. The doctrine often called Replacement Theology argued that the Church replaced the Jewish people as the chosen people of God. According to that belief, the promises made in the Hebrew Bible no longer belonged to the Jewish people but to the Church.
For centuries this idea poisoned the relationship between Christians and Jews.
If the Jews were no longer God’s people, then their suffering could be justified. If their covenant was obsolete, then their identity could be dismissed. The results were visible in European history for nearly two thousand years.
Pogroms. Expulsions. Forced conversions. Ghettos. Inquisitions.
Then came the Holocaust.
After that catastrophe, many Christian institutions finally began to reconsider their theology. Churches reexamined teachings about Jews and Judaism. Statements were issued condemning antisemitism and acknowledging the Jewish roots of Christianity.
That was an important step.
But theological shifts on paper do not automatically erase centuries of attitudes.
Even today, the Christian world remains deeply divided about Israel.
Some Christian groups openly oppose Israel and support political campaigns that single out the Jewish state while ignoring the brutal realities surrounding it in the Middle East.
Other Christians strongly support Israel but do so because they believe the return of the Jews to their ancestral homeland is part of an apocalyptic prophecy that will eventually lead to Jewish conversion.
And then there are Christians who support Israel for the right reasons.
They recognize Jewish history. They understand what two thousand years of exile meant. They acknowledge the reality of antisemitism and the necessity of a Jewish state in a hostile region.
Those Christians support Israel without demanding anything in return.
Globally the numbers roughly look like this.
About twenty to thirty percent of Christians strongly criticize or oppose Israel.
Roughly fifteen to twenty percent support Israel mainly because they believe it plays a role in an end times prophecy that eventually leads to Jewish conversion.
Around forty to fifty percent support Israel while accepting Judaism as a legitimate and continuing faith and recognizing the Jewish people’s right to their own sovereign state.
The remaining ten to twenty percent are neutral or simply not deeply engaged with the issue.
So yes, about half of the Christian world can be described as genuinely supportive of Israel in a way that respects Jewish identity.
The other half either opposes Israel or supports it with theological strings attached.
That is the uncomfortable reality.
Israel, however, does not exist to fulfill anyone’s prophecy. It does not exist to validate someone else’s theology.
Israel exists because the Jewish people returned home.
They rebuilt their country from deserts and swamps. They created a thriving democracy in a region dominated by dictatorships. They became pioneers in medicine, agriculture, technology, cybersecurity, water management and humanitarian innovation that benefits the entire world.
Israel survives constant threats, endless criticism and relentless double standards.
If you truly want to support Israel as a Christian, then do it for those reasons.
Support Israel because it is a resilient nation. Support it because it defends freedom. Support it because it contributes to humanity despite facing enemies on every border.
But do not support Israel while secretly hoping Jews will eventually abandon Judaism.
Respect means accepting the Jewish people as they are.
Not as a future conversion project.
