The central issue facing Messianic Jewish congregations is context, especially as it relates to Jewish evangelism. Of course, fulfilling Yeshua’s Great Commission is not the only reason for congregational life. Congregations also serve to provide a sense of identity and community and become the source of discipleship and spiritual growth for believers. Certainly, this should be understood in Yeshua’s commission to “make disciples” and to teach those disciples “to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20 NASB). However, entrance into and participation in Messianic congregational life depends on the proclamation of the gospel and the extension of the offer of Kingdom living to Jews and Gentiles alike. Therefore, Messianic Jews must first be concerned with gospel proclamation to other Jews. With this in mind, the evangelistic question, which asks whether Messianic congregations function practically to attract Jews to Yeshua, applies equally to matters of fellowship and discipleship.
Fellowship
The first chapter introduced us to the Messianic Jewish dilemma of a Jewish Jesus, Jewish disciples, and a Jewish early church brought under the hegemony of Gentiles. In our humorous anecdote, we asked the question, “Who sold this business to the Gentiles in the first place?” The sober analysis by which church historians have answered this question has been largely unconvincing to many contemporary Messianic Jews. Many American and some Israeli Messianic Jews posit a more sinister and even conspiratorial theory of church history. Their view is not that leadership of the Church was sold to the Gentiles, but that it was stolen by the Gentiles, often by force. Some Messianic Jews have become so intent on seeking to reestablish a direct link with first century Messianic Judaism that they have become anti-Church and anti-Gentile.[1] A few have proffered elaborate conspiracy theories to explain Gentile hegemony. Others demonstrate a kind of “spiritual paranoia” that might convince an outside observer that contemporary Messianic Judaism is a marginal and extremist movement.
However, Messianic Judaism is neither marginal nor extremist. The very existence of over 200 congregations in North America and as many as 50 congregations in Israel refutes this. Messianic Judaism should not be condemned for its extremists any more than historical Christianity for its extremists who actualized the Inquisition or the Crusades.[2] Messianic Judaism is a modern phenomenon and no direct ecclesiastical link with first century Jewish Christianity has been established. However, the significance of modern Messianic Judaism is the link between the Jewish people of the first and twentieth centuries.
We have demonstrated that modern Messianic Judaism has its genesis in Protestant Evangelical Christianity. It grew out of the Western individualistic tradition and was greatly influenced by the American counter-cultural revolution of the 1960s. This is true of both North American and Israeli Messianic Judaism. The differences in American and Israeli Messianic Judaism are largely a matter of context. Each represents an effort to contextualize the gospel message and congregational life by answering the question of Jewish identity:
1. Who is a Jew?
2. How does a Jew live?
3. What does a Jew do?
In Israel, a Jew is just about anyone. Except for those who are Palestinians and tourists, both of which groups have some obvious characteristics, everyone is Jewish. It is assumed that if you are living in Israel, it is likely you are a Jew. The issue of Jewish identity is settled in Israel. Although rabbinic authorities question the Jewish identity of those who believe in Yeshua, Israeli Messianic Jews are confident in their identities as Jews. As a number of them said to me,
The rabbis try to tell people that when you believe in Yeshua you are no longer a Jew. But, we know we are Jews. We live in Israel. What else could we be? We participate in everyday Israeli life. We speak Hebrew. We celebrate the national Jewish holidays. We serve in the Army. We pay our taxes. We do what all Jews here do, except follow the rulings of modern rabbinic Judaism.
This identity issue is not as clearly defined in the American context. Jewish believers, especially those in Messianic congregations, are often embattled over accusations of the abandonment of their Jewishness. In America, Jews express their Jewish heritage through participation in the life of the synagogue and the Jewish community. American Messianic Jews are often excluded from both synagogue and community. This constitutes an attack on their Jewish identity that they are challenged to prove over and over again. American Messianic Jews have to reestablish their Jewishness every time they meet another Jew with whom they desire to share the gospel.
Therefore, American Messianic Jewish congregations must spend a considerable amount of time and energy in asserting and proving Jewishness. Much of the activity in their congregations is to symbolize their Jewishness as existing in tandem with their faith in Yeshua. One often encounters Messianic Jews who are much more “Jewish” in their lives as believers than they ever were as non-believers. For many who did not wear them in their youth, the tallit and kippah have become the symbols of their Jewishness. Most of my American survey respondents recommended that Jewish believers keep kosher, Sabbath observance, and Torah observance. This is in stark contrast to Israel, where only a minority of Messianic Jews even mentioned these issues.[3]
There is pressure on both Israeli and American Messianic Jews to hide their Messianic identities. For Israelis, the issue is discrimination and the specter of persecution. For Americans, it is the opprobrium that is heaped upon them by family and the Jewish community. The disinheritance of believing children, common in past generations, rarely occurs in present-day Israeli or American families. Nevertheless, the threat of exclusion from Jewish family life continues. Israeli Messianic Jews, though saddened by this, wear their exclusion as a badge of Messianic honor. American Messianic Jews often express feelings of dishonor and shame.
In response, some American Messianic Jews may conceal their Christian connections in an effort to make their faith in Yeshua appear to be completely Jewish. Even the involvement of Gentiles in American Messianic congregations is given a “spin” that paints them as modern day proselytes to Judaism.[4] This obfuscation of identity issues often angers devout Jews. Jewish authorities consistently deny that Gentiles in Messianic congregations are anything but Christians. Furthermore, they refuse to waver in their conviction that Jews who believe in Jesus are no longer Jews. These responses on the part of other Jews often result in more determined efforts on the part of American Messianic Jews to disassociate from Christianity and to further assert their own Jewish identity.
Some Messianic Jews refuse to be known as “Christians.” They see themselves as equivalent to some of the Pharisees in the time of Yeshua who were “secret believers.” In their reasoning, to accept Christian identity is to imperil their community standing that they believe essential to successful witness. In order to maintain this standing, some Messianic Jews call their congregations “synagogues.” In most cases, this represents an attempt at contextualization. However, in the time of Yeshua, the only synagogue there was, was Jewish. For first century believing Jews, being “put out” of the synagogue was often the result of their faith proclamation. Messianic Jews are already considered non-Jews in traditional Jewish thought. As Messianic congregations continue to proliferate in America and Israel, Messianic Jews may soon find that neither do traditional Jews respond to the contextual adaptation of the Messianic synagogue. If this occurs, Messianic Jews will have to decide whether the Messianic synagogue continues to be an effective vehicle to reach the Jewish community.
Contextualization is an issue for all Messianic Jews. It is especially significant in America. American Messianic congregations steep themselves in Jewish symbolism. This can often appear to be more an affectation than genuine Jewishness. One can often observe a defective and inaccurate appropriation of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic tradition, and Jewish symbolism. An observant Jew from any of the three major American Jewish traditions would find much of what passes for Messianic Jewish worship to be aberrant at worst and unfamiliar at best.
For a traditional Jew, this misappropriation and misuse of Jewish practices is offensive. The Torah is not read on Friday evenings in the synagogue. This activity is reserved for Saturday mornings. Neither is the tallit worn on Fridays. The traditional Jew may wonder if all those wearing the tallit have had a Bar Mitzvah or a Jewish religious education at all. When it is discovered that many of those wearing the tallit and other Jewish religious symbols are Gentiles, this causes offense. Many American Messianic leaders are Gentiles. Others came from secular homes or were raised as Gentiles, unaware of their Jewish heritage as children. I have observed that the Messianic Jews who are most zealous for the affectation of Judaism, and particularly Torah observance, were not reared in religiously observant homes.[5] Many are not even Jewish by birth. Consequently, they have never lived under the “yoke” (Acts 15:10, Gal 5:1) they seek to impose on others.
In both American and Israeli contexts, Messianic congregations generate strong feelings of community. Though much of that community feeling may be generated out of misinformation and reaction, it nonetheless provides a strong common identity and bond for those in the congregation. Messianic Jews have a sense of their own uniqueness, not just as Jews who believe in Yeshua, but as believers united in a common effort. That effort is to reestablish an authentically Jewish expression of faith in Messiah.
Discipleship
Messianic Jews are conscious that somehow they are to play a significant role in world evangelization. This lends a strong motivation to develop an Jewish indigenous expression of faith that serves as a better model for discipleship. In Israel, some like Yosi Shulam, have begun an effort to develop a halakah (way of walking) that could be considered completely Jewish. In this effort to develop a model for Jewish discipleship, some Messianic Jews minimize and even deny Christian connections and heritage. One Messianic congregation in Israel has completely separated from all other Jewish and Gentile believers. Its members live in the West Bank as “settlers” and affect an Orthodox Torah-observant lifestyle.[6] There are also extremists in the American Messianic movement. One survey respondent questioned how a believing Jew could participate in any Gentile church. Another suggested that anyone who celebrated Christmas “broke the Law” of Moses and could not know “the real Yeshua.” A few refused to use vowels in names for God, preferring instead “G-d” and “L-rd” out of “respect for the Jewish tradition.”[7] It is hard to understand how such extremes can effectively promote unity for Jews and Gentiles in one body.
Israeli Messianic pastors are conscious of the critical need for the development of discipleship materials and programs in their congregations. Americans are also aware of this and have made better progress in production of materials. In Israel there is little theological or ministerial training available. Americans are able to attend Christian seminaries and Bible colleges. In addition, there are Messianic yeshiva courses developed by the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, Messianic Bureau International, and Judaic studies programs at Moody Bible College and Fuller Theological Seminary.
The issue that critically impacts Messianic Jewish discipleship is Torah observance. Although there is some movement toward a stricter Torah-observant lifestyle in Israel, the real debate is in American Messianic circles.[8] The debate is not over whether Messianic Jews have the liberty to keep certain elements of the Mosaic Law. Most Messianic Jews believe they have this liberty. Rather, it concerns the imperative for Jews to keep Jewish observances such as the Sabbath, circumcision, and the Mosaic Law. In particular, the Jewish imperative for Torah observance seems to contradict New Testament assertions of Jewish and Gentile oneness in identity, worship, and fellowship. If the promoters of Torah observance are correct in asserting that only Jews are bound to keep the Law, then New Testament exhortations for Jews and Gentiles alike to “walk by the Spirit” lose their meaning. If Jews alone are to keep the Law as disciples, then how can the olive tree of Romans 11 that is composed of Jews and Gentiles “grow together”? The unity of Jews and Gentiles in Messiah is significant in the American context with regard to Gentiles, and in the Israeli context with regard to Palestinian Christians.[9] These are issues that the Messianic movement must address if it is to continue to provide an environment for personal and congregational growth.
Evangelism
If one employs the measures of community or spiritual growth, then Messianic congregations in both Israel and North America have attained a level of congregational success. But, congregations need to grow, and congregational growth rests with the ability of leaders and members adequately to and effectively attract new participants. Messianic Jewish congregations must successfully evangelize others in the Jewish community.
There are between 5,000 and 6,000 Messianic Jews in Israeli congregations. There is a comparable number of Messianic Jews participating in American Messianic congregations. It appears that both Americans and Israelis are having similar success. But, when one takes into account the larger population of American Jews and the 50,000 to 75,000 believing Jews in traditional churches, then one begins to question just how successful American Messianic Jewish congregations are at attracting other Jews to Messianic life.
The difference in the evangelistic presentation of American and Israel Messianic congregations seems to revolve around the issue of identity. In the American context, Jewish identity as believers is the focus in evangelistic effort, rather than the identity of Yeshua as the Messiah. American Messianic Jews do communicate Yeshua as Messiah, but the emphasis is often on their own Jewish identity rather than on Yeshua’s identity. In Israel, where Jewish identity is presumed for most, the focus is on Yeshua and faith in him.
How do the Jewish communities respond to these two contextual expressions? For the most part, in Israel, as the 1988 Dahaf poll survey revealed, Messianic believers are accepted by most Israelis as Jews and full-fledged members of Jewish society.[10] Most evangelism in Israel is done by inviting Jewish unbelievers to Messianic worship. I heard numerous accounts of Israelis who attended Messianic congregations for weeks and even months before becoming believers. They felt comfortable in the Messianic congregations as Jews, even before they had come to faith in Yeshua. This is not the case in America. My surveys indicated that Messianic congregations sensed that where the American Jewish community was aware of their existence, they were disdained at the worst and ignored at the best. Michael Schiffman’s survey showed that only 2% of American Messianic believers had come to faith as a result of Messianic congregational life.[11] My own survey of 62 Messianic congregational leaders confirmed a similar figure.[12]
I have observed some confusion among Messianic leaders with regard to the American Jewish communities they seek to reach. Most indicated that the Jews in their communities were, for the most part, secularly-oriented and that more religiously-oriented Jews would not pay any attention to their gospel proclamation. In spite of this, fealty to rabbinic Jewish traditions and a strong insistence on Torah observance is on the increase in many American Messianic congregations. Stuart Dauermann observes that even secular Jews will respond to guilt with regard to Jewish observance.[13] He insists that this response validates his approach to worship in a Jewish manner. The purpose would appear to be to make faith in Yeshua attractive to the religiously guilt-motivated secular Jew.[14] This seems to confuse the legitimate need for Jewish forms of faith expression among Jewish believers with the need for a gospel hearing for non-believers. Furthermore, evangelistic method based on religious guilt seems unadvisable.
If the majority of American Jews are secular, one must question the value of a religiously-oriented approach, traditional or otherwise. However, my research reflects a growing interest in and demand for traditional rabbinic interpretation and observance in Messianic congregations. Yet, my research also suggests that where there is a greater focus on Torah observance and Jewish symbolism, there is less evangelistic success.
Who then is being won to American Messianic Jewish congregations? For the most part, the majority of members and leaders of American Messianic Jewish congregations are Gentiles.[15] Many of these have little or no formal training in Judaism, nor even a rudimentary understanding of Jewish culture. Certainly Gentiles should be welcome in Messianic Jewish congregations. But, if the goal is to reach Jewish people, leaders need to be culturally educated and sensitive to the Jewish population they hope to reach. There is a need to understand the context and frame evangelism sensitively within it.
A significant factor that limits the evangelistic effectiveness of American Jewish congregations is defective Jewish practice. So many Jewish symbols are misappropriated or misused that the Jewish visitor may find Messianic practice sadly amusing. Messianic leader Yosi Shulam summarizes the effect of defective Jewish practice in American Messianic congregations: “Jews see this stuff and they can smell the bacon!”[16] Could it be that American Messianic Jews are missing the context, or that they are trying to affect a Jewishness in which the contextual target group has no interest?[17]
This is not to say that Messianic Jews shouldn’t try to be “Jewish” in trying to reach Jews. But there must be continued adaptation of the evangelistic method and vehicle for delivery of the gospel message to varying Jewish contexts. This must be done in such a way that the gospel can receive a hearing and may facilitate a positive response. Two models hold promise for successful American Jewish evangelism. Stuart Dauermann’s suggestion of separately developed Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Messianic congregations in each community may be workable in communities like his own (Los Angeles), where there are more than one million Jewish residents.[18] In smaller communities, Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s model of Messianic Jewish fellowship groups within and between churches likewise affords opportunity for identity development and outreach to other Jews.[19]
Some American Messianic Jews hope that unbelieving Jews will one day accept the Messianic Jewish congregation as another synagogue in a varied Jewish context. This seems to be a forlorn hope, but there is some indication that Messianic Jews could be accepted as Jews who have accepted faith in Jesus and become Christians. This would require flexibility in the Messianic Jewish claim to authentic “Jewishness.” A Messianic congregation that would call itself a fellowship of Christians and Jews would experience less opposition to its very existence by Jewish leaders. In my own interaction with Jewish leaders over the past twenty-eight years, I have never been treated with animus nor had my Jewishness denied by rabbis or other Jewish leaders. My own childhood rabbi, Chester Diamond, told me:
I have no problem with Jews who consider themselves Jews and who believe in Jesus. They are, of course, still Jewish but have become something that they were not before. They have become Christians. The problem I have is with those who claim to be Jews and who say they have not changed at all. Didn’t the Apostle Paul say that those who believed in Jesus became new creatures? My problem is with those who claim that they are not new creatures and remain Jews just as they were before.[20]
Liberally-minded Jewish leaders like Diamond are content for Messianic Jews to express both their Jewish and Christian identities. Certainly, it is the right of Messianic Jews to assert the validity of personal Jewishness. However, in America, it may not be the most effective strategy for evangelistic success.
Why is it that Messianic congregational evangelism is working in Israel but not very well in America? I asked that question of a number of Israeli Messianic Jews familiar with the American scene. Without exception their answer was that the American Messianic congregations were not expressing themselves in a genuinely Jewish manner. They told me that American Messianic Jews seemed to be so occupied with proving they were still Jewish that they had adopted Jewish mannerisms and practices that were just not “natural” for them. The issue it seems for Americans is not as much being a believer as it is being Jewish as a believer.
Yeshua often prefaced his proclamation with the phrase, “Verily, Verily.” We know that this is the translation of the transliterated Hebrew phrase that expresses veracity, faith, and belief. I believe it could be translated “genuinely.” What Yeshua communicated was genuinely from the very depth of his being. It was not a costume he wore on Saturday mornings. It was not religious language that he spoke on religious occasions. Yeshua expressed himself with a genuineness that none, not even the religious scholars, could refute.
If the American Messianic Jewish community will focus on genuinely and forthrightly giving expression to that which is real, that which comes out of their faith encounter with Yeshua deep within their beings, then whatever form, symbol, or style that is adopted will carry with it the genuine power of God to salvation.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Rom 1:16)
Notes
[1] “We have to get over all this stuff of complaining about what Christianity has done that we don’t like and get on with Kingdom living.” Scott Rubin, pastor of Teferet Israel, San Francisco, interview by author, 5 March 1997, Philadelphia.
[2] There is a historical basis for criticism of the Church’s behavior concerning the Crusades and Inquisition. Most Jews and many Messianic Jews blame historical Christianity for the Holocaust as well.
[3] Messianic Jews who are the most dogmatic about Torah observance in Israel are transplanted Americans.
[4] As “proselytes” Gentiles are to keep the “Seven Noachide Laws”: no idolatry, no sexual immorality, no blasphemy, no bloodshed, no theft, no eating of non-kosher food, and establish just courts. Synagogue of Yeshua the Messiah, “The Seven Noachide Laws” [Online], available http://www.usa.net/~shalom/gentiles.html, 22 May 1997.
[5] Only 11 of 62 survey respondents came from Conservative or Orthodox backgrounds. Another 20 were not raised in a rabbinically-observant home, but as Reform, secular, or Messianic Jews.
[6] Yosi Shulam, Messianic pastor, interview by author, 28 January 1997, Jerusalem.
[7] This is actually a recent Jewish development that has its origins in the Hasidic movement. Although vowels are not found in the Hebrew of the covenant name “Yhvh,” they are used for other divine names like “El” and “Elohim.”
[8] The Jews for Jesus Messianic Ingathering in 1996 featured a debate on this issue. The debate between Loren Jacobs, a Messianic pastor from Detroit, and Steve Cohen, a Lutheran missionary to the Jews and former staff member of Jews for Jesus. Audience responses were heated and occasionally vitriolic. Although the formal debate itself was limited to one hour, the issues were argued forcefully by other Messianic attendees throughout the entire weekend.
[9] The continuing Arab-Israeli conflict poses a serious challenge not only to the future of the Israeli nation, but also to the future of the Messianic body of believers in Israel, Jewish and Palestinian. There have been a few attempts at joint Jewish and Palestinian congregational life in the Haifa area. Recently, Palestinian and Jewish believing women have explored reconciliation. Lisa Loden, “Jews and Palestinians—Identities in Crisis,” in Jewish Identity and Faith in Jesus, ed. Kai Kjær-Hansen (Jerusalem: Caspari Center, 1996), 107-12.
[10] A. Tavor, “The Dahaf Report on Israeli Public Opinion Concerning Messianic Jewish Aliya,” Mishkan 10, no. 1 (1989): 79-90.
[11] Michael Schiffman, Return of the Remnant: The Rebirth of Messianic Judaism (Baltimore: Lederer Messianic Publishers, 1992), 163.
[12] The Jews for Jesus 1986-1991 survey indicated that 6% of Jewish believers came to faith through the agency of a Messianic congregation. Since these surveys were distributed through the Jews for Jesus organization and also through Messianic congregations in communication with that organization, there may be some bias in these numbers in favor of Messianic congregations. Nevertheless, the percentage of Jewish believers who have been evangelized through American Messianic congregations is small.
[13] Stuart Dauermann and Fana Spielberg, “Contextualization: Witness and Reflection, Messianic Jews as a Case,” Missiology: An International Review 25, no. 1 (January 1997): 20.
[14] Ibid., 30. He implies that the purpose of adopting a Messianic style is evangelism, and therefore, worship should be modeled on that of the synagogue. But, in the same article he notes most Jews are won through Gentiles in regular churches. This suggests that Gentile churches are much more successful at Jewish evangelism than are Messianic Jewish congregations.
[15] My survey reflects 60% Gentile membership with 50% Gentile leadership.
[16] Yosi Shulam, interview by author, 30 January 1997, Jerusalem.
[17] A related question is whether a Gentile affecting Judaism for evangelism is contextualization or packaging. Who should determine what is contextual, the preacher or the recipient? Shouldn’t the concern be to allow the recipients of the gospel message to determine and shape their own contextual expression? Contextually-sensitive evangelism means allowing Jewish believers to develop their own models for worship and evangelism out of their own faith understanding.
[18] Dauermann, “Contextualization,” 33.
[19] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Hebrew Christianity: Its Theology, History, and Philosophy (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries Press, 1983), 96-98.
[20] Rabbi Chester Diamond, Reform Jewish rabbi, interview by author, 20 June 1995, Louisville. Diamond expressed these sentiments when I told him that I would be starting a congregation across the street from his own.