I grew up as a “Cashew.” For those who are unfamiliar with that term, a “cashew” is a person with one Catholic parent and one Jewish parent. Though in my case, neither of my parents practiced their respective faiths very often.

I distinctly remember when I was a child, my mother taking me to church a couple of times on Christmas Eve for midnight Mass. On Jewish holidays, I’d sometimes go over to a cousin’s house the day after Yom Kippur to “break the fast” (even though we never actually fasted…but that was not brought up).

That was the extent of my religious upbringing. I lived as a pagan for the first 22 years of my life.

When the Lord radically saved me in August 2002 through a Bible study with a Korean missionary, I had a very strong desire to share the gospel with everyone I knew, especially the Jewish side of my family because I knew that they outright rejected Jesus as Messiah. One day, early on in my walk with the Lord, I read the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:16,

…I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.

I was struck that the verse talks about both sides of my family, and since it says, “to the Jew first,” I decided that my dad’s side would be the ones upon whom I would focus my early evangelistic zeal. Though sometimes that zeal was mixed with a certain youthful lack of wisdom, it was always with the intention to see my family come to faith in Christ.

Romans 1:16 is a fascinating verse because it contains Paul’s own “Ordo Missionis” – his Order of Missions. A further study of the Book of Acts confirms this, because even though the mighty Apostle says in Romans 11:13 that he was commissioned as the “Apostle to the Gentiles,” whenever he traveled on his missionary journeys, he went to the synagogue first to preach Jesus to the Jews (See: Acts 13:5, 13:14, 14:1, 17:1-2, 17:10, 17:17, 18:4-5, 18:19, 19:8, 21:27, and 28:17-30).

For Paul, preaching the Good News of the Risen Messiah to his kinsman was his priority for two reasons. First, because of his love for his people and deep desire for them to know the Messiah, whom he had previously fought so hard against. And Second, because Paul was convinced that their salvation would mean “life from the dead” (Rom 11:15).

These simple Bible truths drove my own passion as well. So then, even within Paul’s own ministry in Acts, he always went to the Jew first. Think about that. The Apostle to the Gentiles always went into the synagogue in every town to preach to the Gospel to the Jewish people. Paul’s ministry should be an example to us, but I don’t think his pattern of evangelism happens much anymore.

To be sure, “to the Jew first” certainly doesn’t mean “to the Jew last” or “to the Jew never.” Jewish ministry is important to God. Jesus says, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.”

There is a great need for Christians to have a heart to share the Gospel with Jews. There are indeed very few missionaries to Jewish people, and what has happened as a result is that the Jewish people today, en masse, are like sheep without a shepherd. I have done Jewish missions work in some capacity for almost 20 years, but the Jewish people are still mostly an “unreached” people group, even in America.

As hard as that may be to believe, consider this: how many Jewish missionaries does your church support? Perhaps you DO have one or two, and that’s great! But then my follow up question is, how often to YOU personally share the Gospel? To the Jew first and also to the Gentile – that was Paul’s order of missions.

What is yours?

I am writing this article to encourage my brothers and sisters to have a heart for their Jewish neighbor, and witness to them in a loving, sensitive, and appropriate way. Not boasting over those branches that were cut off, but pleading with them to be grafted back in. They need the Good News! They need to hear that Jesus the Messiah of Israel has come, and He has opened heaven to all who believe in Him, through his atoning death and resurrection. Keith Green, my favorite Jewish singer once sang:

“Oh, bless me, Lord! Bless me, Lord!” You know, it’s all I ever hear! No one aches. No one hurts. No one even sheds one tear. But, He cries, He weeps, He bleeds. And He cares for your needs. And you just lay back and keep soaking it in.

Oh, can’t you see such sin?! ‘Cause He brings people to your door, and you turn them away, as you smile and say: “God bless you! Be at peace!” And all Heaven just weeps ’cause Jesus came to your door. You left Him out on the streets…

I certainly don’t want to be that kind of Christian, yet I still see so much of it in me. So much selfishness, so much fear, so much navel-gazing, so much laziness…God have mercy. But how can I stay silent? My Jewish neighbors need Jesus! There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved!

I am going to go out into the mission field with a renewed sense of love and compassion for my people. Will you join me? Open your mouth and share the Gospel with your Jewish neighbor today. Don’t be afraid! Listen to Paul who says, “follow me as I follow Christ!”

O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” –Isaiah 40:9