Why I Am Not a Christian Zionist

September 2026

By Ashton Dupler

I grew up in a place that raised several flags, both in worship and the public square. First, of course, the American flag, often followed by the Christian flag, and then the flag of the nation of Israel. Yet I must confess that in those days I found anti-Semitic jokes hilarious – they didn’t offend my Christian sentiments at all. I enjoyed them when I heard them from others, particularly the Christian Nationalists I followed online. It seemed I could both worship Jesus Christ and laugh at Jews. But once I got to college, things that used to make sense no longer fit together. How could one make anti-Semitic jokes even as Israel’s national flag hung in our sanctuary, and then post “Pray for Israel?” 

Looking back on my exposure to this particular version of Christianity, I can’t help but feel that God saved me from blatant anti-Semitism. And Christian Zionism’s attempt at a hostile takeover of my faith, which is steeped in the nonviolence of Jesus, now offends me deeply.

But I also understand how one can be swept into these beliefs. Reflecting on my own boyhood, and today hearing the arguments being waged for a genocide in Gaza, I realize that American Christianity has one shared interest with the State of Israel: the desire for a religiously-defined Israeli nation state, though the two may want it for different reasons. As much as Christian Zionists might talk about “a home for the Jewish people” and the need for security after the Holocaust, I do not believe they feel much goodwill toward the Jewish people themselves. Rather, they long to hasten Christ’s return and final judgement as described in modern end times prophecy. They can mock and deride Jewish people, while also advocating for the nation state of Israel. 

I have no need of a present or future nation state in the Middle East because my allegiance is to Jesus, who will rule in a very different way upon His return. I don’t long for the arrival of any particular nation state, foreign or domestic. My faith is in Christ, and in His plans for our world. 

Many people might push back, wanting to draw upon scriptures from the Old Testament to justify Israel’s chosen status and argue for Christianity’s obligation to support modern Israel. However, a cursory reading of the full text and basic understanding of the writers’ contexts would reveal that the Jewish people who penned these scriptures had been exiled from their home in Palestine, and for centuries, many of their descendants would continue to be scattered throughout the world. 

It is one thing to honor the desire of the Jewish people to return to their ancient homeland and establish a government that advocates for them. But the morality and ethics we find in scripture demand that it not be at the expense of other people. The Bible tells me that in Christ there is no East or West, nor Jew nor Gentile (Galatians 3:28), no one lesser or greater, but rather that He has broken down the wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). How could we interpret that scripture as anything other than a call for belonging for the Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish, Muslim and Christian people of the Holy Land? When we call upon scriptures to justify any nation state, how can we also claim that we are seeking first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)?

I am not a Christian Zionist because I cannot agree that certain lands must be occupied by certain people for some greater good. Rather, “the Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Ps. 24:1) This does not tell me or my own nation how to approach our geopolitical world or what foreign policy we should adopt. But it does carry both spiritual and political implications.

Though I wake each morning with great anxiety about our world, my hope is in Christ Jesus, and not in any nation state (Acts 17:24-31).   And I believe that the worth and dignity of all of God‘s children must be our highest priority as Christians. 

That is why I am not a Christian Zionist. 

Ashton Dupler

Ashton Dupler is a pastor serving two United Methodist churches and assisting with a Spanish-speaking congregation. An active member of his community, he is executive director of the “Dayton Equity Center,” an initiative to provide food, vaccine access, job training, and education to low-income residents. He also created a ministry to formerly incarcerated individuals that helps them find “a living wage employment and Jesus.” Ashton recently co-authored a devotional book entitled “Prayers in the 2020s.” He is married to Kasey and they live in Dayton, Ohio.