It is my pleasure to welcome Lily Dayton here with me today.
The Jewish-Christian Lily Dayton graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Computer Science and Linguistics with a minor in Logic Computation. Additionally, Lily educates a wide audience about Zionism, faith, anti-semitism, and more.

WOTL: As you mentioned many times on your platform, you’re a Jewish-Christian with an Israeli background. A lot of Christians in the West don’t hear that often, so I was wondering, have you always been a Believer, or were you drawn to Him later in your life?

Yes, I’m a Jewish-Christian. While that’s not something you hear every day, my sense is that most educated Christians understand it intuitively: we’re talking about a Jew who practices Christianity. It’s important to me to be completely upfront that I’m Christian, as Jews find the “Messianic Judaism” framing very off-putting. I was raised in a Modern Orthodox Jewish environment, but completely stopped practicing in college. Later on I found my way to Jesus and the gospel, getting baptized almost a decade ago.

WOTL: As a Jewish-Christian, have you ever been in Jewish or Christian spaces where theological differences clashed, and how did you navigate through them?

Absolutely. There are many hot topics, including the ongoing nature of God’s covenant with Israel, negative characterizations of Jews in the New Testament, and Christian support for the modern State of Israel. I navigate them by exercising discernment as to which communities I participate in.

For example, I started my journey as a mainline/liberal Protestant. They recognize the eternal covenant, and avoid anti-Jewish tropes. However, they’ve been influenced by Palestine propaganda and are returning to classic replacement theology and antisemitism under its influence. So I jumped ship and now consider myself Evangelical Protestant.

WOTL: Was there ever a time that you struggled with your faith? If so, how did you overcome it? Or were you always convinced?

Nothing makes me struggle more than Christian anti-Semitism, when I encounter it. For me the promise of Christianity, especially as championed by Paul, includes the unity of Jew and Gentile in Christian life. Most Jewish-Christians, myself included, are married to Gentiles. When Jews can’t be themselves in Christian life, we’ve failed as the Body of Christ.

Last Christmas was very difficult. Anti-Semitic theological propaganda by Pastor Munther Isaac in Bethlehem, promoting a “Palestinian Jesus,” was devastating. It’s no less than wholesale religious identity theft of Jews and Jewish-Christians alike. His “Christ in the Rubble” imagery revives classic Christian deicide, except now it’s the State of Israel that killed “Palestinian Jesus,” not the Jewish People as such.

WOTL: Many people are shocked to learn that Christianity is one of the world’s most persecuted religions. How do you utilize your experience to educate others on this issue, as it may be particularly challenging for westerners.

Westerners are under the spell of liberal-progressivism, although thank God it seems to be in retreat today. Part of that worldview is Islamophilia. It’s become impossible to factually describe Islamic history, theology, and contemporary ideologies without triggering hysteria about racism. Westerners will listen to accounts of Christian persecution in non-Islamic contexts, although they don’t seem terribly concerned. Discussing persecution in Islamic contexts is verboten.

It’s our duty as Christians to evangelize Muslims. There’s nothing untoward about sharing the gospel, even if it triggers extreme defensiveness from Muslims. Christians need to do more to learn about the Middle East, Islamic theology, and Islamic ideologies. Don’t confuse Islamic fragility with racism. If we’re not prepared to evangelize Muslims we ought admit that Jesus Christ isn’t Lord.

WOTL: Tell me, what does it look like being a Christian in Israel? What are some of the challenges our brothers and sisters face, how is it different in the West?

Christianity in Israel is such a fascinating subject! I’m honored to serve as spokesperson for the VOICE of Israeli Christians, for the Western and Christian world. We’re a registered association in Israel that’s advancing Israeli Christian identity and solidarity. Most Israeli Christians speak Arabic, although that doesn’t mean they identify as Arab.

The largest streams are Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic, all of which are overwhelmingly Arabic speakers. There’s a substantial minority (maybe 10%) that’s Jewish Christian. In Israel, the Protestant community, the Evangelical community, and the Messianic Jewish community are all one and the same.

Our challenges in Israel relate to our social status and murky identity. There’s a significant divide between the grandparents’ generation and the grandchildren’s generation, especially among Arabic speakers. Grandparents’ saw themselves as members of particular Christian churches, not as a united national minority. Today’s sentiment leans heavily in the direction of Israel and Zionism.

The younger generation understands that Israel is the future of Christianity in the Middle East, and that without Zionism there is no Christian future. With regard to social status, the outdated framing of Jews vs Arabs is deeply entrenched in the mindset of Israeli Jews and Jewish Americans.

We’re initiating a campaign to educate the Jewish public that most of us don’t consider ourselves Arab, but have pre-Arab indigenous identities dating to the Byzantine Empire and the New Testament. We’re loyal to Israel and allied with the Jewish People forever.

WOTL: How has Christian advocacy strengthened your relationship with Christ?

To advocate is to believe. So often I talk with Christians who say they don’t share the faith, or don’t work for Christians as a collective identity. This attitude is a mystery to me. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is too amazing for a Christian to keep to herself. The Body of Christ has a scriptural mandate in sustaining the Gospel.

When it comes to Jewish-Christian relations, I don’t personally evangelize Jews. In fact I’ll terminate lines of questioning that can lead to persuasion. I don’t claim a theological basis for this. It’s simply a reflection of social and historical realities that Christians have rarely respected Jewish boundaries, and still struggle with it. I’m widely accepted by Jews. It’s my calling to be in the People of Israel, to advocate for the Jewish People and Jewish State. Evangelizing Jews is strictly incompatible with this mission.

WOTL: Besides simply providing donations, what can Christians do to support persecuted people? I feel like people are starting to take notice, even though this has been happening for years.

The winds of change are coming. Westerners are beginning to feel in their home societies the same seething hatred we experience in the Middle East. Christians must completely abandon Western and white guilt. They aren’t compatible with our Christian mission. I encourage Christians to learn more about the Middle East, and to look more critically at the role of Islam in the world. Eastern Christians are warning us, and we ignore them at our own peril.

WOTL: Now, I know you have been vocal about your support for Israel (obviously) and probably received much criticism. What is the main issue regarding which you would like to educate people? What are the misconceptions, because a lot of people believe being pro-Israel is synonymous to being anti-Palestinian.

I’d like people to understand that Palestine is a system of propaganda, not an ethnic group or a country. We Israeli Christians are the large majority on the land, not Palestinians. Many Israeli Christians have the same ancestral and religious backgrounds as Palestinian Christians, Lebanese Christians, and Syrian Christians, yet reject any possibility of identifying with Palestine.

As far as we’re concerned “Free Palestine” is a movement to destroy Israel and always been. Please don’t be deceived by the Palestine propaganda that Westerners are being spoon-fed by Marxist academics and Qatari media. The Western Palestine narrative bares little resemblance to actual Palestinian discourse, which is fervently antisemitic, built on historical falsification, and Islamic supremacist.

WOTL: In the past, the relationship between the Jewish and Christian communities has been complicated, and even present to some extent. What can we do to strengthen our bond?

By the grace of God, relations between Western Christians and the Jewish People are greatly improved after WWII. However, there are signs of fraying as certain liberal Protestants and conservative Catholics fall under the spell of Palestinian Christian propaganda.

This is tragic, and true Christians must do everything in their power to fight these trends. The Jewish People are the root of our faith. God’s gifts to them are manifest. You cannot love the Jewish People and hate Israel. The Jewish People are engaged in a struggle between good and evil. There’s no middle ground, as the Palestinians have always rejected any notion of compromise. Jesus commands us to be brave, not afraid, and to tell the truth. Now is your moment.

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