“As an American in Israel during the Israel-Iran War,” says Bishop Robert Stearns, “I believe that President Trump showed the same moral clarity [in destroying Iran’s nuclear sites] that Harry Truman showed when he recognized the State of Israel, just 11 minutes after its creation, despite the opposition of his advisors.”
Since 1994, Stearns, the founder and executive director of Eagles’ Wings, a global Evangelical movement that supports Israel and the Jewish people, has brought over 35,000 people to Israel. He describes the organization as “a bridge between the global Christian community and the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Earlier this month, he had traveled to Israel with 46 other pastors from the United States, whose return flight departed late Thursday evening, June 12, before Israel’s preemptive attack on Iran. Stearns has remained in Israel since then, broadcasting and reporting to Evangelical Christians in the US, meeting and speaking with Israeli friends, and providing support and comfort.
Stearns took time from his schedule in Israel to speak to The Jerusalem Post about the Israel-Iran War, the role that Evangelicals can play in supporting Israel, and Christian-Jewish relations.
“Sometimes, in moments like these,” he says, referring to his extended stay in Israel during the war, “the biggest gift you can give is the gift of your presence. We pray that our presence added comfort and strength to the Jewish people worldwide and the State of Israel in particular.”
Stearns notes that the global Evangelical community comprises approximately 600 million people, with 70 million of them residing in the US.
“Evangelicalism has a philosemitic theological bent,” he explained. “Evangelical theology is predisposed to be friendly to the Jewish people and friendly to the State of Israel. Evangelicals are the largest potential ally globally of Israel and the Jewish people, in a demographic sense.”
Stearns has traveled to over 45 countries around the world, sharing his vision. In 2002, he co-founded the “Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem,” which is held annually on the first Sunday of October.
Warnings of 'social justice lens' among some evangelicals
DESPITE THE pro-Israel bent of Evangelical theology, Stearns warns of a “social justice lens” that is beginning to erode support among Evangelicals. “I have been trying for some years to send a word of significant concern to the Jewish establishment in Israel and America that Evangelical support for Israel is not a de facto guarantee,” he said.
Over the next 18 months, Stearns plans to bring 1,000 pastors to visit Israel to strengthen support for the Jewish state among the Evangelical community.
“But my message to those who would listen is that it’s not a guarantee. It’s a relationship that has to be fostered and cultivated and maintained,” he shared.
Stearns says that Christian Zionism owes a debt of gratitude and a debt of repentance to the Jewish people.
“Our faith, our worldview, and everything that we hold dear comes from Jewish wisdom. We also have a responsibility for the horrible atrocities committed against the Jewish people in the name of Christianity.”
He added that both the Christian and Jewish worlds face the twin enemies of radicalized Islam and “radicalized wokeism.” “These twin threats are both allied together against the Judeo-Christian worldview, which is the foundation of Western civilization,” said Stearns. “We must build the strongest bridge possible so that we can protect the shared values that we have of Western civilization.”
Returning to the events of the past two weeks, the pastor said, “Israel has done the world a great service and a great favor. Israel has the moral clarity and the inner resolve to confront evil when much of the [rest of the] world too often adopts a philosophy of appeasement. We’re so grateful that America, Israel’s strongest and greatest ally, came into partnership and did what only America could do. I think this was a great example of Israel doing what only Israel can do and America doing what only America could do. And together, that has been a gift to humanity.”
As the interview ended, Stearns responded to the thanks expressed for his support during Israel’s moment of crisis by replying, “When a Jewish person says thank you to me, I understand that sentiment, and I’m grateful for it. But I gently explain to them that it’s actually the opposite because Israel is fighting a war on behalf of all of Western civilization. Israel is fighting the war and paying the greater price so that we in America and the West can be safer.
“And so, to me, this is my responsibility. This is my obligation. This is my privilege,” he said. “It’s to thank Israel for being literally on the front lines. I appreciate the thanks. But honestly, to me, you are the heroes. The people of Israel are the heroes who are on the front lines.”