In Luke chapter 10 we read Yeshua/Jesus' teaching on the good Samaritan. In this story, two men, a Cohen and a Levi, walk past an injured, possibly dead man while a Samaritan stops to help him. Many people do not grasp some of the more subtle issues of this story.
First, the Cohen and Levi represent the most pious people of Yeshua/Jesus' day, while the Samaritan represents the untouchables in this same society. It is easy to simply write off the Cohen and Levi as simply uncaring, but that is selling them short. To a Cohen or Levi, their entire lives might have been devoted to obtaining ritual purity as a method of drawing closer to God. Since coming in contact with a dead body is one of the worst threats to ritual impurity, it is defendable that this is what caused them to avoid the man in the ditch.
Regarding the Good Samaritan, it took the following quote from Margaret Thatcher for me to realize the depth of his respons:
“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions - he had money too!”
Not only did the Samaritan stop to help, but he spent a significant amount of his own money to feed and shelter the man.
It appears to me that Yeshua/Jesus is showing us which character traits he considers most important.
I posted the following response to a blog that was discussing the acceptance of Gentiles into the Messianic Jewish congregations:
In 1982 I moved from Illinois to Oregon. I was told to quickly change my license because Oregonians did not like outsiders and would even vandalize the cars that did not have Oregon plates..
When we moved to Colorado 12 years ago, I was surprised by the attitudes directed at me by lifelong residents of Colorado. It was as if not having that "Native" bumper sticker on your car made you less of a person. I found it interesting that both states' residents had the attitude of "Look at what makes our states special, but don't come here to enjoy them."
When we moved to a small town on the plains three years ago, I was shocked to find that same condescending air of hostility from the town's residents. It doesn't matter what your status is from doctor to business owner to feedlot dung collector, "if you weren't born in this town then you are less than me."
I am now experiencing it in the Messianic community and I would like to say that my past experiences have made me better able to handle being treated as a second class citizen. But I cannot. I believe that my God judges me by my character and not that I came from Illinois.
According to the New Testament, Yeshua did not spend a lot of time teaching on the specific halachic issues of his day. Whether that proves that he supported them, however, can never be completely substantiated.
On the other hand he did spend a lot of time teaching on character issues that he believed were important and that can be completely substantiated.
Until we put the issues that our Messiah considered most important first, there is absolutely no way that we can be doing the proper walk. Five years ago my wife and I stopped attending Messianic congregations because we decided we would rather be surrounded by people who have a spirit-filled love of God and who actively care for their fellow man than talit covered self-seeking people who would walk past an injured man on the road.
I would ask that you ask yourself, are you a Cohen, a Levi or a Samaritan?
As for me, I would rather judge a man by the strength of his character than by the color of his Tekhelet.
Shalom, Jeff.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Call Me a Messianic Hebrew
Call me a Messianic Hebrew.
There is (as usual) the ongoing debate within the Messianic community as to where the gentiles (read nonJews) fit in. As a nonJew, as far as I know, I have been told to convert to Judaism, go to a gentile Messianic congregation and to even go back to the church where I belong. As someone who viewed coming out of the church nearly the equivalent of coming out of Babylon, to be told to go back really makes me question the heart of those who would recommend that.
So as the one being told where to go, I have had to turn back to the scriptures to see where God would have me be.
About thirteen years ago I was in the middle of a “spirit-filled” church, when God started telling me to “be a Godly man.” When I looked around my church and saw only “the world”, I realized that being Godly meant being somewhere else. At about the same time, my wife who is a family practice physician started to get asked to do eighth day circumcisions by some of the local Messianics. Over the next few years she became the mo’el for almost every Messianic congregation within two hundred miles. And it was because of this that we came in contact with almost every Messianic flavor there was.
For a little more than ten years I have been sliding back and forth on the scale between Jew and Christian. I used to say, “that on a scale of “one” being the most orthodox of Jews and “ten” being the most charismatic of Christians, the real answer lies about a “four. “” When it came to Messianic congregations, I used to rate them that way. Ie They are a “three” or they are a “three” on their way to becoming a “two”. For us a “two” would be a congregation that was so orthodox that it hardly ever mentioned Yeshua or read from the New Testatment. We saw many of those over the years.
When I was part of the Spirit-filled congregation, I used to feel the presence of God in our midst. I have experienced the same in Messianic congregations, but with much less regularity. In fact, it may be anecdotal, but the closer I got to a “one” on the scale, the less I felt the presence of God.
Now don’t get me wrong. I do not believe the Jews are farther from God than the Christians. What I saw instead was as Christians tried to become more Jewish, they would move farther from the Spirit of God. So maybe my scale doesn’t work. I think that instead of having the two points of Judaism and Christianity, there is a third point of Godliness that has both the Spirit and the works present. More of a triangle than a straight line, where if a Christian or a Jew wants to be more Godly, they will have to move towards it.
So how do we find that point? Where do we have to go to find the common point between Jews and Christians where they are both more Godly? I think that Paul was trying to teach it to us in Romans and Galatians. We must get back to Abraham! If you had the faith of Abraham, then you are a child of the one true God.
Abraham was called a Hebrew which means "one on the other side" or "one who has crossed over" because he had crossed over and set himself apart from the pagan world. From the beginning he was recognized by those around him as someone who followed God, not the world. Notice however that those who came after him were not called Abrahamites, but were also called Hebrews. Being a Hebrew was not about lineage, but about a state of mind.
Abraham was called a Hebrew. His sons and members of their camp were called Hebrews. And finally the Israelites were called Hebrews because they were all “on the other side”. As for the title Jew, that did not come about until after the Babylonian captivity. Prior to the expulsion to Babylon, the capital of pagan idolatry, the Israelites were referred to as Hebrews. Afterwards, they are only referred to as Jews. You might say they went into Babylon a Hebrew and came out a Jew.
Is that an unfair assertion that there was a change? I don’t think so when you see that all of the pagan and Hellenistic influences date back to the Babylonian captivity.
To tell me that I should go back to the church is impossible because I could never go back to what I now see as all the pagan influences. However, I cannot go willingly to the Jewish side because of the same reasons.
That is why I have decided that I will be a Hebrew or in this case a Messianic Hebrew.
There is (as usual) the ongoing debate within the Messianic community as to where the gentiles (read nonJews) fit in. As a nonJew, as far as I know, I have been told to convert to Judaism, go to a gentile Messianic congregation and to even go back to the church where I belong. As someone who viewed coming out of the church nearly the equivalent of coming out of Babylon, to be told to go back really makes me question the heart of those who would recommend that.
So as the one being told where to go, I have had to turn back to the scriptures to see where God would have me be.
About thirteen years ago I was in the middle of a “spirit-filled” church, when God started telling me to “be a Godly man.” When I looked around my church and saw only “the world”, I realized that being Godly meant being somewhere else. At about the same time, my wife who is a family practice physician started to get asked to do eighth day circumcisions by some of the local Messianics. Over the next few years she became the mo’el for almost every Messianic congregation within two hundred miles. And it was because of this that we came in contact with almost every Messianic flavor there was.
For a little more than ten years I have been sliding back and forth on the scale between Jew and Christian. I used to say, “that on a scale of “one” being the most orthodox of Jews and “ten” being the most charismatic of Christians, the real answer lies about a “four. “” When it came to Messianic congregations, I used to rate them that way. Ie They are a “three” or they are a “three” on their way to becoming a “two”. For us a “two” would be a congregation that was so orthodox that it hardly ever mentioned Yeshua or read from the New Testatment. We saw many of those over the years.
When I was part of the Spirit-filled congregation, I used to feel the presence of God in our midst. I have experienced the same in Messianic congregations, but with much less regularity. In fact, it may be anecdotal, but the closer I got to a “one” on the scale, the less I felt the presence of God.
Now don’t get me wrong. I do not believe the Jews are farther from God than the Christians. What I saw instead was as Christians tried to become more Jewish, they would move farther from the Spirit of God. So maybe my scale doesn’t work. I think that instead of having the two points of Judaism and Christianity, there is a third point of Godliness that has both the Spirit and the works present. More of a triangle than a straight line, where if a Christian or a Jew wants to be more Godly, they will have to move towards it.
So how do we find that point? Where do we have to go to find the common point between Jews and Christians where they are both more Godly? I think that Paul was trying to teach it to us in Romans and Galatians. We must get back to Abraham! If you had the faith of Abraham, then you are a child of the one true God.
Abraham was called a Hebrew which means "one on the other side" or "one who has crossed over" because he had crossed over and set himself apart from the pagan world. From the beginning he was recognized by those around him as someone who followed God, not the world. Notice however that those who came after him were not called Abrahamites, but were also called Hebrews. Being a Hebrew was not about lineage, but about a state of mind.
Abraham was called a Hebrew. His sons and members of their camp were called Hebrews. And finally the Israelites were called Hebrews because they were all “on the other side”. As for the title Jew, that did not come about until after the Babylonian captivity. Prior to the expulsion to Babylon, the capital of pagan idolatry, the Israelites were referred to as Hebrews. Afterwards, they are only referred to as Jews. You might say they went into Babylon a Hebrew and came out a Jew.
Is that an unfair assertion that there was a change? I don’t think so when you see that all of the pagan and Hellenistic influences date back to the Babylonian captivity.
To tell me that I should go back to the church is impossible because I could never go back to what I now see as all the pagan influences. However, I cannot go willingly to the Jewish side because of the same reasons.
That is why I have decided that I will be a Hebrew or in this case a Messianic Hebrew.
You are what you eat.
Ok, so the term biblically kosher is out. Yes, I try to refrain from consuming that which the bible says is abhorant to God. But is it possible that from time to time I misunderstand what the Torah is trying to say? I am sure there are times.
And yes I have read the pro-kashrut writings before and probably have a couple dozen books defending it on my shelf. But the argument is always the same with the pro kashrut crowd. Since we Hebrew ignorant gentiles cannot possibly understand what He meant, we must do it the Jewish way. Whatever that means.
Yet keeping kashrut is like that kids game where you try to pick the largest number. You say infinity, but the other kids says “Nope, infinity plus one!” There is always one more layer that you missed.
Now I’m not saying that trying to keep the biblical dietary laws is wrong. It is just that from my experience, when someone spends a lot of time on that, they usually are lacking somewhere else.
For instance, my wife and I used to attend a messianic congregation until they got mad at us for bringing store bought fried chicken for their potluck. Now, the main reason that we spent $100 on chicken was because we got tired of seeing people not get to eat because the majority of the attendees would bring almost nothing yet take enough food for three people. So we left and took the food to a shelter to help the needy, something we also never saw that congregation do.
Most people miss the point of the teaching of the good Samaritan. That it was a Cohen and a Levy that walked past the man in need because they were afraid he might make them unclean!
I had a congregational leader tell me that he stresses issues like kashrut and purity because he believes that our actions can motivate the heart. I agree that following His commands can lead to a heart change on some things. But only if there was a heart to begin with.
If we as messianics want to use Torah commands to effect a change in hearts, shouldn’t we start with those that our Messiah taught?: Love of God; love of man; caring for the widows, needy and orphans, etc.
Lead with good deeds and your heart will surely follow!
Shalom, Jeff.
And yes I have read the pro-kashrut writings before and probably have a couple dozen books defending it on my shelf. But the argument is always the same with the pro kashrut crowd. Since we Hebrew ignorant gentiles cannot possibly understand what He meant, we must do it the Jewish way. Whatever that means.
Yet keeping kashrut is like that kids game where you try to pick the largest number. You say infinity, but the other kids says “Nope, infinity plus one!” There is always one more layer that you missed.
Now I’m not saying that trying to keep the biblical dietary laws is wrong. It is just that from my experience, when someone spends a lot of time on that, they usually are lacking somewhere else.
For instance, my wife and I used to attend a messianic congregation until they got mad at us for bringing store bought fried chicken for their potluck. Now, the main reason that we spent $100 on chicken was because we got tired of seeing people not get to eat because the majority of the attendees would bring almost nothing yet take enough food for three people. So we left and took the food to a shelter to help the needy, something we also never saw that congregation do.
Most people miss the point of the teaching of the good Samaritan. That it was a Cohen and a Levy that walked past the man in need because they were afraid he might make them unclean!
I had a congregational leader tell me that he stresses issues like kashrut and purity because he believes that our actions can motivate the heart. I agree that following His commands can lead to a heart change on some things. But only if there was a heart to begin with.
If we as messianics want to use Torah commands to effect a change in hearts, shouldn’t we start with those that our Messiah taught?: Love of God; love of man; caring for the widows, needy and orphans, etc.
Lead with good deeds and your heart will surely follow!
Shalom, Jeff.
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