What Do Jews Know?

First of all, let me clarify just a bit - I have nothing against Jews, and no this post is not going to be anti-Semitic. Funny how a title like that can catch your eye though, huh?

I always try to continue my search for truth. I believe that it's safe to say that all truth is God's truth, so I'm not scared of finding truths that surprise me or that challenge my preconceived notions of reality. It's interesting to me how many facets of the nature of creation can be interpreted so many different ways. Even Scripture can often be interpreted several different ways - which, I suppose, is one reason why so many different denominations exist. My point is that with so many differing points of view out there - even among fellow church members or among family members - I would bet that none of us are exactly right about everything we think about "the way things are". This leads to the inevitable conclusion that some of my own assumptions about life and the universe are wrong. Don't get me wrong here - I'm not about to go into a postmodernist relativist tirade - not at all! In fact, I am of the strong opinion that God has made the most important things blatantly obvious to those who will see, but that he has left the not-quite-as-important things open to debate for us. After all, if it doesn't REALLY matter in the whole scheme of things, why does God REALLY have to fill us in on all the petty details? (Even though, I admit that sometimes I wish he did!) Anyway, this introduction is getting long enough. What I'm trying to say is that I am completely aware that I don't know everything, so I try to keep an open mind in this journey of life to always learn whatever truth I can find that will bring me closer to a fuller understanding of the nature of the universe and, therefore, the nature of its Creator.

Now back to the theme of my title. I recently read a book that really challenged my thoughts in this way. It's called What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus? The book is written by Michael Brown, a self-proclaimed Messianic Jew, and is very well-written and informative. I approached some of his topics pretty skeptically, but I can't deny that his points are well-thought out and supported. I learned a lot from the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the topic. The biggest question this book made me ask myself was: "What happened to our Old Testament heritage?" Or, wait a second. How about this question: "What happened to our Jewish heritage?" It's interesting how these two questions can ask the same question but have a different connotation. But really, most Christians, at least those that I know (me included!), don't celebrate Passover, don't associate the Star of David with their own religion, and probably couldn't tell you what Talmud means. I'm not sure that these are necessarily faults. But the fact remains that our God is the same exact God that we read about in the Old Testament. So really, why is it that we don't celebrate Jewish holidays (most of which were established in the Old Testament) and so forth? Why the rift? After all, Jesus even tells us himself in John 4:22 that "salvation is from the Jews". I'm sure there's a lot of history behind how Christians felt the need to separate from the Jews and to lump BC Judaism in with AD Judaism. It makes logical sense to see how Old Testament traditions could have been forgotten by Christians who have significant differences of belief from the Jews of their own day.

Still, there may be something to be said about reclaiming our spiritual history. Now, the following is a gross over-generalization, but for the sake of satirical stereotyping, here's a rough outline of how many Christians observe their history: The Catholic calendar of the universe started when Jesus was born. Nothing ever happened before him, but a lot of important traditions developed in the early church and continued to the present day. The broader Protestant calendar begins with Martin Luther. Nothing ever happened before him, but after the Reformation began, a lot of great Christian thinkers came along. The Evangelical calendar begins several years ago in Sunday School when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Nothing ever happened before then, but Jesus sure has a lot to teach me now. The Pentacostal calendar begins today. Nothing ever happened before today, but a whole lot will happen today and in the future if we call the Holy Spirit's presence into our midst right now! Obviously, this caricature isn't entirely accurate, but to me, it's kind of humorous as well as being kind of true. Granted, history and tradition maybe aren't THE most important thing...but they're of value right?

Augustine, Calvin, Jerome, Moses, David, Maccabees... these guys are all important figures in the history of the religion that is Christianity today. To a Christian, the birth of Jesus is obviously of greater consequence than a group of soldiers winning a battle and lighting candles. But is it still okay for a Christian to celebrate Hanukkah? "Gasp! That story isn't even in our Old Testament! What could that have to do with Christianity?! That holiday is for people who don't believe in Jesus!" But if my God...was the same God...who kept the menorah burning...why shouldn't that mean something to me? An interesting thought.

Ultimately, I think the important thing for Christians to focus on is Jesus. Religion, tradition, church services...these can all be good, but none of these matter nearly as much as Jesus himself. Furthermore, Paul even argues in the New Testament that there is no need for Jesus-believing Gentiles to adapt Jewish customs. It's just not necessary, because Jesus is ultimately what matters for eternity. Still, maybe it's important to remember that most of us Christians are branches that were grafted in. The original branches on our tree come from the people of Israel. Salvation is a gift from God offered to Jews, then Gentiles. And God is one, forever, unchanging. It is important to be part of God's work here and now. Maybe some value can also be found in remembering the vastness of what God has done before us...even before Jesus came.

What Gets To Me

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."

"What is it that GETS to you?" My wife and I are part of a young married couples' group that meets on Sunday mornings, and a couple Sundays ago, our leader asked us this question. We're about to start a new book - apparently the source of this question. I think it's called Divine Discontent, or else it's something like that and I think it's written by someone from Willow Creek. I haven't read any part of the book yet, so it's possible that the thoughts that follow will be completely unrelated to the gist of the book. Regardless, I've since been thinking about the question posed by our group leader. By this question, he meant, "What is it that provokes a righteous anger in you? What is it that just kills your heart when you see it?" I think for most people, the answer to this question falls in the arena of social injustice: poverty, rape, homelessness, hunger, racism, etc. These things all get to me. My soul longs for a renewed place where none of this crap of the world exists. But none of these issues were the first thing that came to my mind. The greatest hurt of my heart rather comes from a spiritual injustice: Christians who give my God a bad name. At the risk of sounding stuck in the 80's pop-rock scene, I think many Christians could take spiritual cues from the relational lyrics of Bon Jovi's song by a similar name.

This theme has been on my heart for a long time and will likely remain there. I've often noticed how many Christians (since I don't see people's hearts like God does, I'll be using this term to define true Christians and nominal Christians alike) have such a capacity to display behavior that eerily resembles that of the Biblical Pharisees. People have told me that this is a harsh parallel to draw, but I really don't think so. Until Jesus left us with documentation of their hypocrisy, (and even after), these were people who were greatly respected, who did all the right things. They were not a one-time phenomenon of evil whose ways disappeared from the Earth after the Bible was finished being written. They were most definitely not seen in this light by the larger community of their time.

I am saddened by Christians who put on a God-show as if the richer and more famous they become and the more converts they can win by their sensationalism, the closer they will come to heaven. I am frustrated by Christians who claim the name of Christ but make no substantial effort to seek or serve him as if by saying they believe in God and offering mealtime prayers, they have secured all the insurance their soul needs. And I am deeply hurt by Christians who go to church every week and sing songs of love and praise and then proceed to their Fellowship Hall where they share stories of gossip and condemnation.

I don't pretend to be above all this. I am guilty of all three of these offenses. I am a sinner saddened by other sinners. But all these hypocritical behaviors deeply affect my soul. Especially the latter. I am simply unable to understand how purity has any value without compassion. Where does a person's heart truly lie when they go to great lengths to keep themselves from sin and then frown upon those who fail to do likewise? Now, by no means am I arguing that sin should not be frowned upon by Christians, but you know that old adage - "Love the sinner, hate the sin"? Many Christians will proudly tout this phrase as their own social motto, but I wish every person of the church could see how many sinners feel deeply unloved by those same people.

I suppose the reason this hurts me so much is twofold: 1) By association, my God who is kind and worthy of all praise is being misrepresented to the world as a condescending, judgmental, rejector of those who haven't led a privileged and proper life. 2) So many people whom I love and wish the best for are utterly fooling themselves into thinking that they are okay with God. Again, I realize I cannot see the heart and I don't pretend to have the ability of sifting the sheep from the goats - neither do I intend to make such mental notes - but I'd be willing to bet that there are several established Christians in my own church who will be turned away from heaven. I'd also be willing to bet that some of the very people condemned by these Christians will find themselves in eternity with a loving God defending them. The last shall be first and the first shall be last.

It's just that I can't stomach someone who has the audacity to consider himself or herself better than someone else based on their own subjective view of the other's lifestyle. I just don't see how this sin is less severe than getting drunk, having extramarital sex, or doing drugs. A distinct parallel might be drawn to the Luke 18 parable of the Pharisee and tax collector. When a Christian welcomes their pastor into their home, but breaks off association with a friend who exposes himself as a homosexual, something is wrong. When a Christian hears a sermon about our responsibility to feed the hungry but determines that she can't afford to tithe, something is wrong. When a Christian joins youth ministry but closes his arms to the kids of the community who hurt the most, something is wrong. When a Christian claims to have love for those who are lost in despair but then proudly proclaims that she has never succumbed to drug use, something is wrong. And here's food for thought: If your response to all this is "he's right, those people need to fix their behavior", then you are the very person I am talking about. Not until we can admit to ourselves - I am messed up, I am the one who needs to hear this sermon - not until we throw this pride away, will we ever understand what it means to love others. When I look at the church, I see a remnant of incredible faithful followers of the true God and a multitude of self-righteous puffed up brothers and sisters who have become numb to true understanding. I wish I could see a community of the broken and unpretentious holding their arms wide open to even the scum of the world - a community where it's okay to admit the gross depravity of our lives and not be cast out with the rest of the despairing and honest, but instead be listened to, lifted up, and carried to renewal.

Jesus never condoned the lifestyle of the sinners he reached out to. He told them to "repent and sin no more". But he sure never forgot or shunned them. He made a distinction between the gross ugliness that infects us all and the human created in God's image along with the potential lying therein. Jesus helped the hurting and the lost to find renewal. The people he couldn't put up with were those who pretended to have it all together. A lot of us pretend to have it all together. But I'm willing to bet, in fact, I'm confident that Jesus would extend a long accepting embrace to even a Pharisee who is willing to fall to his knees.

A wise man I know once told me, "I'm an ass, you're an ass. We're all asses." Perhaps some would consider this statement crass. I don't. I think it's possibly the most valuable lesson a follower of Christ could ever learn. We're all on a journey and none of us have arrived yet. The prayer of my heart is that the church would determine love to be a higher virtue than propriety, and in doing so, become something that her head can be proud of.