JFJ abbreviates all people in the world and puts them in the following four categories.
UJ = Unsaved Jew
JB = Jewish Believer
GB = Gentile Believer
UG = Unsaved Gentile
It just seems very rude to categorize all people of the world into those four categories.
http://www.exjewsforjesus.org/
http://exjewsforjesus.blogspot.com/
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R. Kendall Soulen in his book "The God of Israel and Christian Theology" [BUY IT!], reminds us that the Bible uniformly conceives of humanity, not as an undifferentiated whole, but always as "Israel" and the "Nations." Most evangelical and Christian thought has substituted "the saved" and "the lost" as the primary categories of spiritual demographics.
The code letters didn't bother me. What did was that a U. G. (unsaved Gentile) contact sat in the to do list but a U. J. was redeemable for valuable prizes.
OK, I made that last part up. But I really saw how numbers-driven ministry caused a Gentile contact interested in Jesus to be neglected.
Yeah, I once got a bad caseload of hebegeebees and hugey ujays with no space on a contact card.
One day I received a call from a gentile who wanted more than anything to believe in Jesus.
I didn't know what to do since if I spoke with her on the phone, I couldn't count it on my Worklog. So I quickly led her to the Lord on my own time.
She was so, so excited and asked if she could come by the Branch to meet me. I told her I was very busy, but it was okay to drop by.
She showed up at the Branch front door within the hour wanting to just hug me for leading her to the Lord. I told her I was very happy for her, but I had to call Jewish people and just didn't have time for her and turned her away.
You see, there was no room on my Worklog for UGs or GBs.
Actually, there was. I got her name and address for the JFJ Newsletter and sent her on her way.
I used to use the JFJ classification terminology (UJ, JB, etc.) with other "ex-JFJ staffers" until one day a friend of mine, who had also been with Jews for Jesus, told me (nicely) that it was sort of racist to use those descriptions. And indeed it was. People shouldn't be categorized like that. That leads to stereotyping, prejudice, and 2nd class citizens.
Of course, this issue (the code letters) is probably one of the less serious offenses of the Jews for Jesus organization, especially when you compare it to the spiritual and emotional abuse that went on for years and years.
Top JfJ management knows how offensive the code language categorizing humanity into these four groups was and is. Missionaries were instructed not to use these abbreviations when in public, such as when groups of missionaries were in subways or going over the results of the most recent "sortie" with their group members. In fact, if not for the article appearing in the December 2004 edition of Moment Magazine, some might find it difficult to believe that such a "spiritual" group as JfJ would see God's creation so callously. Thank God JfJ's modus operandi is now laid bare for posterity in that wonderful magazine.
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