Would Jesus Be A Christian?

Presented by:

David-Ari Fournier

Biblical Studies Department

Note: All information provided here is thesole intellectual property of the creator of

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INTRODUCTION
If ten years ago anyone would have suggested that I would

write an article asking the question, “Would Jesus be a

Christian?”I can answer with all surety that there would have

been a resounding “NO”! Why would there be a need to even

ask such a question? If the Jesus we see currently represented

in our Christian thinking is the Jesus of Nazareth, complete

with His Jewishness and His teachings on a social order that

promoted love, care and concern for all humans. Beyond that,

I was sure that the Church was doing a good job of pressing

His teachings into the fabric of the Christian community,

causing both growth and spirituality among His followers.

Sadly, the Christian community is looking less and less like

that Man from Galilee all the time. It is not a single issue that I

see as the struggling point, but on many issues and subjects

that have been around for quite some time. I am hoping to

look at some of these issues and perhaps address them in a

fashion that sheds light.

Those who desire to see the ruin of the Christian faith

surround us and I want to make sure thatI am not responsible

for contributing to its death. While some of the subjects are

very dear to me, and my passion is sure to get the best of my

efforts, I assure you in advance that my attempt here is to

promote a new wave of thinking that can assist all of us in

working together for the good of the Kingdom and to help re-

gain the footing in the marketplace that seems to have

minimized our importance.

Each one of the chapters will function independentlyof each

other, so feel free to read just the ones that interest you. If

you read something of interest to you, please read on. For

those “purists”, you can read the book from beginning to end

and not lose your need for order and reality in the universe.

Either way, I am honored that you are here.

Being willing to look deeply into our beliefs and practices with

a critical eye is not the mark of a lack of faith. When your faith

is introspective (a serious self-examination), it tends to line up

more congruently with the faith discussed in the Bible. The

Bible does not address faith as a blind following of doctrinal

assumptions, but a vibrant and often soul-searching

experience that is morelike a journey than a destination.

There should never be a sense of “arriving” in our faith. Faith

is not about comfort as much as it is about conviction.

While in the end we will all stand puzzled over the

unexplainable wisdom of God, there are many things that the

King of the Universe hasleft for us to discover.

As a matter of brief introduction, I would like to suggest three

areas of evidence that seem to indicate that our current reality

of the Christianity now being served up might be off-course.

These are in no way an indictment of all forms of the Christian

faith everywhere and are not in any particular order of

significance. Again, these are observations I have made

during the course of the last twenty years of living, serving

and believing in Jesus.

First, there seems to be a fear of spirituality among Christians.

Day in and day out God is revealing Himself and His desires for

us, butthere appears to be a lot of effort going into avoiding

His leadings. I encounter Christians who often tell me amazing

stories of actual contact with God, when they saw, heard or

felt His leading or direction in their lives. When asked what

they did or whom they told, their answers were varied. We

cannot be afraid. God is not confined or particularly concerned

with our doctrinal beliefs or denominational preferences. He is

speaking, leading and loving His people as He sees fit. Would

Jesus be a Christian if being a Christian meant not hearing

from God?

Secondly, there seems to be a planned avoidance of fulfilling

Matthew 25 and the needs of the poor. It a time of great social

and economic crisis;these are the times that Christians

everywhere can emerge from their churches and be a shining

testimony for Jesus. The gospel rings with the words of Jesus

mapping out social equality between His followers. Would

Jesus be a Christian if being a Christian means forgetting the

needs of those around you by spending millions of dollars

building churches when God says He does not live in temples

built with human hands?

Third, Christians today appear to be more known to the public

for their stance on issues than their own pursuit of spirituality.

As the Presidential campaign heats up, many of our current

candidates are attempting to capture the vote of the

Evangelical or Religious Right (a set of terms coined by others

than myself). Candidates are being measured more by their

apparent willingness to support Christian views and Christian

issues than bytheir ability to do the job they are being elected

for. Would Jesus be a Christian if being a Christian means an

allegiance to a political party? Jesus: Republican or Democrat,

you vote!

These are just a few of the ideas and issues I hope to bring to

the surface for us to examine. Hopefully you can see from this

introduction how I plan to address these issues as well. Please

believe me when I tell you that these are my observations and

opinions and not an attempt to create a new doctrinal or

denominational following. We have all of those we need and

then some. I will not use statistics and averages to blur the

points. Besides that, who would ever use a statistic that

proves them wrong?

I will refer to Scripture and quote different authors who have

spoken out on some of the subjects I am addressing. Again,

the idea is to shed light and encourage dialogue not dogma. I

also don’t highlight or bold certain words. You can decide for

yourself what really strikes you as worth remembering or

studying. I believe that reading should be educational and

informative with the reader having the final say in what

matters most to him/her.

Perhaps this would be a good time to suggest a few goals I

have for this project. Obviously I have personal goals

incompleting a work of this size, but I also have a few

corporate goals that I would like to share here so that in the

end, we can all examine how well I followed my own ambitions

and ideas. In all honesty, I have been a bit intimidated by

writing this article. I wondered about its overall value and how

it would impact the reader. I thought about the importance of

addressing issues and creating an environment of creative

thought in interpreting those issues. So, with that in mind, I

formulated these following ideas as filters for the entire

process.

To start off with, I am not onboard with creating a raving and

angry documentation accusing every one of mass moral and

doctrinal failures. Many of the pieces I previewed before

taking this on showed a lot of contempt that was particularly

aimed at opposing viewpoints. Looking back, they seemed

very angry and accusatorywhile not offering much in the way

of mending the fences that they were so upset with. I am

hoping to create an opportunity for us to look at some tough

subjects, address them and find a way that can bring glory to
God and active cooperation and unity throughout the Christian

community.

What would be simply amazing is the idea that the Christian

community, with all its differences of doctrine and philosophy,

would sit down together and dialogue over these issues. I

have learned so much from allowing people, students, fellow-

worshipers, pastors and leaders to speak with me and for us to

communicate in sweet fellowship.

I also find it non-productive to try and place the blame for any

observable failures on any particular faith, movement,or

generation. We all need to move past the “how” we got here

mentality to the how “we move on from here” mentality.

Because the Christian community is such a large body of belief

and believers, it would be simple to targeta few groups and

pick them off. But as we look deeply into our current course

and direction, I believe it will become less important to

determine whom to hold accountable for the past. It is of

much more relevance to decide who will accept accountability

for the future.

Worth noting, this article is written in the hope of attracting

the thoughts and interest of the individual believer. It is not

intended to be a corporate “flag” or a call to arms. The

corporate Body of Christ, comprised of denominations,

doctrines and ideals has shown itself to be rather inflexible,

even to the point that being inflexible is touted as an

admirable quality. But in our case here, might does not always

equal right.

There are thousands of people suffering with various forms of

cancer, but just because so many people have cancer doesn’t

mean that any of them wanted it. How long something has

been believed does not always equate to right doctrine or

practice. For many years, people of good Christian character

supported slavery, believed the world was flat and participated

in the efforts to suppress the rights of women, even the right

to vote in a free America.

The decision to evaluate the direction of the faith and make

the necessary on-course adjustments will not be accomplished

by denominations or mega-churches, but in the minds and

hearts of the followers of Jesus. It is individuals that will rise

to the needs of their specific communities, friends and

families. It will be you and I that live a changed life that will

result in change for others. Not as much a preached life as a

practiced life. It needs to be heard and understood that

following Jesus is not as much about following a team of

beliefs, as it is a person -the Son of God. If our focus became

less on the faith and more on our faith, progress would be

made.

A sweet fellow believer I know had serious questions about

this writing. He asked a great question. “Under what

authority do you write to the people of God about the church

and Christianity?”, he asked. My response was simple. I have

no authority at all. I am not a bishop, pope, grand master or

sage. My education is humble and my background is the same.

Most people would pass me on the street without feeling they

have brushed up against a celebrity. My words here are not

about authority because authority seems to change with

various winds of doctrine and beliefs.

My words are about authenticity. I have had real life

experiences in real situations that have led me to see the real

results. Maybe you won’t agree with what I will present, but

know in advance my heart is in it. These are the stories and

lives of people all over our Christian community. My efforts

here are not designed to get you to believe what I believe, but

to leave this writing knowing that I believe it. That’s when

the faith becomes authentic, it is the moment when we all

believe it ourselves without prompting or human command.

WOULD JESUS BE A CHRISTIAN IF BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS

CHOOSING CHRISTIANITY OR CHRIST?

It’s 9:00am on a Sunday morning. Worshippers from all 50

states begin their morning ascent to the House of God. They

will sing, pray, listen and learn. Then, right around the crack

of 12:00pm, they will return to their regularly scheduled

programs. It’s Sunday and its time to be kind to God.

“Men build ministries, ministries build movements,

movements build machinery, machinery builds monuments and

monuments become mausoleums”.

When I first heard this quote, I found myself offended by its

lack of respect. This statement cannot be true in all cases, so I

quickly dismissed it and went on with my spiritual life. But,

like most things, I found myself returning to it time and time

again. Deep in my soul I found myself longing for a closer and

more defined relationship with God. But I was struggling to

find that deepened relationship in the church.

I have known for a long time that I have issues and questions

that have gone unaddressed. They remain unaddressed not

because I asked and they were refused to be considered or

answered, but because my own fear and shame I never had the

courage to ask.
I was concerned because it seemed like I did not have the

same level of security and sense of confidence that my fellow

brothers in the faith always demonstrated. If I asked these

questions, if I pressed the matter and sought to resolve the

spiritual battle within me, if I expressed doubt at the current

evaluation of Christian practice and expression, would I be

considered “less of a Christian”?

Questions like, “Did Jesus come to earth to establish the

religion we now know as Christianity”? “If Jesus was to attend

our services, would He recognize our practices to be the ones

He dictated some 2,000 years ago”? Are we practicing

Christianity or Christ-likeness? Is there a difference?

It is my hope to entertain some thought-provoking ideas on

the next pages of text. I ask you to look deeply at what I am

asking and suggesting. If at the end of this writing you can

say there is no merit to my rambling, then I thank you in

advance for your time and consideration and hope you will

contact me personally so we can dialogue together. I love to

learn. (dave@restoringgrace.com)
But if you see shadows of your own walk with Jesus, your

church or challenges in your faith, cheer up. You are not

alone. Like the X-files told us, “The Truth is out There”. We

must be willing to struggle with it in order to find it. Many

people claim to be “seeking the truth”. But as we will see,

knowing Jesus as the Truth is the ultimate life accomplishment.

If there is a point to the salvation plan of God, it would have to

include restoration. God did not develop His plan of salvation

just to start a wrecking yard. Restoration is central to the

Biblical model and the Gospel message. We know from

Scriptures that God desired open and communal fellowship

with Him. We know that this fellowship was broken by sin.

Being saved from our sins is one aspect of the salvation story.

Living in this world as His devoted follower and spreading the

salvation message is the other.

It seems that Christianity has developed the ability (or, have

we?) to salvage or to save from the very grasp of hell, but we

seem to care little for true restoration. I say true restoration,

because we do make an effort to look saved. I compare this to

a raging fire that consumes thousands of acres of land.

Christianity will quickly work to get the fire out. And, praise
God, thousands of acres are saved. But the damage remains

untouched. The land becomes non-usable. It can even become

dangerous, susceptible to flash floods and other tragedies.

I have met countless numbers of clients, Christians and non-

believers that are chained to their past, with daily reminders

of past failures, false accusations and horrible events that

follow them with the same impact today as when they

originally happened. For Christians, it seems that we would be

free from these events. But unless the aim of our Christian

walk is not just regeneration but restoration, we will fall

terribly short of the mark.

Today’s version of saving faith is very different than the saving

faith that Jesus spoke of in the Gospels. Many people have

faith in many things, but saving faith is what is most needed.

The Church moving its evangelism efforts inside the Church

instead of outside in the marketplace where they belong has

caused part of this misrepresentation.

Salvation is not cheap or easy. Statements like, “Just a simple

faith in Christ” or “Just believe” fall way short of the true

message of Jesus. The most important thing that we must

consider at this point is that there is a price for following Jesus

in the way He taught His disciples to follow.

He paid the price for our entrance. Now we must count the

cost. Salvation includes not only faith, but confession,

repentance and a lifestyle bearing the fruit of repentance. It

leads us all to our own place on the cross. And, in time, to a

forward position in the battle right along side our Author and

Finisher, Jesus.

I offer this curious yet poignant illustration.

Everyone in country A is hungry. There is just not enough food

to go around. Country B is a hundred miles away. They have

more than enough food. To get from country A to country B a

person has to walk the hundred miles. The problem with the

hundred miles is that country C and country D are at war. So,

as you walk the hundred miles, bullets are flying left to right

and right to left.

A company starts selling bulletproof suits. It’s a great idea

and people start walking the hundred miles to the feast that

awaits them. As the company works to increase profits over

the years, they begin to cut costs. They start using cheaper

materials. They started with suits made of lead, but have

worked their way down to a nice looking plastic suit. Profits

are up. The company is adding employees and making great

profit. They have been told that profit truly identifies success.

People are entrusting their lives to the new plastic suits.

Now, because of the war, there are no phone lines. No one

calls from country B to say they made the trip safely. The

people in country A are entrusting their lives to what the

company is telling them. These people are dying as they try to

get to the land of promise, because they trust in a false

salvation (cheap suit) that someone else has handed them.

The problem is it is so much easier to sit back and trust what

someone tells us, than to have to go study these things out for

ourselves. The two strangest phenomenon’s in the Christian

world (and for that matter, religious world as well) are the

amazing amounts of “experts” on matters of the faith and how

quickly they became experts, coupled with most church-going

Christian’s ability to just accept or believe whatever they are

told.
All too often our Christian walk is as if we have gone straight

back to Egypt, but we pretend that we are living smack dab in

the middle of the Promised Land. The difference is that Egypt

is a picture of our lives in sin and the Promised Land serves as

a picture of us walking in full relationship with God.

On the night of the Passover, Egypt and Israel were

immediately aware that what God was doing would become a

life or death decision for both these nations. When we view

our salvation as a life or death decision and that every moment

of our life is ordered by the Lord and could end today, it is not

as difficult to take giant steps.

Deciding to leave behind our trust of self, and the pleasures of

this present world, to follow a King that we do not see with

human eyes, is not an easy thing. It will take more than a

simple faith. It will take a saving faith.

But what is the message of the Church? The concept of a

cheap salvation without the fruit of repentance was developed

I believe by men with a desire to fill buildings. Man desires to

fill buildings. But always remember, Jesus desires to empty

them. “Go ye into the entire world, and preach the gospel to

every creature”.

The idea of the post-modern church availing itself to reaching

the “seekers” by downplayingthe rich spiritual and scriptural

practices of the faith gives further evidence of a lack of

commitment to Biblical models of growth. It has been said

that most churches are a mile wide and one inch thick.

We are observing an alarming trend of changing music, dress

and reverence in the House of God to make it more palatable.

But the Bible makes no mention of softening the message of

the Gospel or playing to unbelievers.

Unbelievers (or “un-churched” as some leaders prefer to call

them) are to be reached in the communities where they live,

by Christians living out their restoration stories right in from of

them.

If Noah had listened to Rick Warren and had followed the

“Purpose Driven Ark” curriculum, there is no doubt the Ark

would have carried more than eight people into the deluge.

The problem here is that the Flood was about attitude and not
attendance, misbehavior and not membership. God called the

world into a righteous lifestyle and Noah preached

righteousness, but they failed to respond. And as seen earlier,

their response was a life and death decision.

I am sure Rick Warren is a great man of God. I have met

several members of his congregation and they speak very

fondly of him. I have read both Purpose Driven Church and

Purpose Driven Life. Both offered key insights into church and

personal growth. Where I differ is on the purpose he suggests

the church should fulfill.

There is no doubt that Rick Warren has captured the heart of

the emerging church culture and has placed these ideas and

concepts into a well-written book. But the model he presents

is completely inconsistent with the Biblical model.

Putting our Pastor into jeans and a T-shirt, playing worship

music in every known music genre possible, flashy media

presentations and low-impact Gospel (just a simple faith in

Jesus) with an available C/D after service is not what the

Apostle Paul wrote about.

The confusion appears to be the misunderstanding of the

purpose of the Church and the mission of the Church. Don’t be

surprised to find out these are two separate and important

functions of the New Testament Church.

The Scripturally based purpose of the Church is the growth,

maturity and development of believers for the work of the

ministry. This development is to be accomplished through

local assemblies, training and building believers to impact the

community there are surrounded by. I personally believe that

these assemblies of believers should be completely free from

any conference, denomination or outside governing bodies.

I believe and hotly contend that the local area Pastors are the

men with the wisdom and gifting to lead their congregations.

While opinions from denominational gurus 2500 miles away

sounds like a good idea, I place my faith in the on-site

leadership, gathered and directed by God.

Believers are to be built up in their knowledge and practice of

Godly values, to be trained in marriage and parenting, to

develop a deep understanding of God and to struggle with

their faith and it’s application to their everyday life.

When the Church is working hard at making its respective body

healthy, it is beginning to prepare itself for the mission work.

The landscape must be healthy, well maintainedand thriving.

As the non-believing world sees the health and vitality of the

Church’s landscape, it will create dialogue, which I believe is

the beginning of the discipleship process.

The mission of the Church is to reach their community. By

reaching out, I mean they are committed to living a lifestyle

and faith practice that brings glory to God. This is a practice

that needs to take place outside the walls of the Church.

Where the mission has been compromised is in two specific

areas. First, we are struggling to be the kind of salt that

creates a thirst for God in our communities. Often, the

testimony of God is simply stained by the condition of the lives

we live. Being salt means being different and maintaining the

elements that make us salty. We can’t be salt-producers while

trying to sweeten the message that makes us salty in the first

place.
Secondly, we have compromised the mission by turning it into

leader-led events/programs. There is nothing wrong with

crusades, programs and events. But when they become the

replacement for the active missional lifestyle that each

believer is called to live, they tarnish the Biblical model of

individual responsibility to “go into the world”. That was an

individual command Jesus made to individuals, not a corporate

admonishment to establish outreach programs and events.

We need to end the confusion. Changing our services and

practices in order to become more friendlytowards the non-

believer is a prescribed death sentence of the command to

mature the saints for the work of the ministry. The worst part

is this is done to “attract” the non-believer to make a

commitment to Christ. And it can work. But what are we

asking the un-churched to commit to? A watered-down and

less than accurate description to the kind of commitment it

takes to follow God, which is simply a false representation of

the greatest truth ever told. Why would we do that?

Jesus said that the identifying factor the world will see is our

love for each other, not our order of service. We seem to be

focusing on the elements that the flesh sees, while denying

the deep need of the spirit to be filled and strengthened. It is

a shame that our styles of worship and music are the most

common identifiers as to the type of Church we are instead of

our love for each other.

Maybe the lowering of standards of commitment and

involvement has hurt us in other areas too. When I look at the

drama (some of which I must sadly confess I have caused or

participated in) in the Church, it comes from people who do not

understand the commitment it takes to observe the tenets of

Christian conduct. So, we lower the standards, minimize the

commitment, dilute the message and then complain when they

act worldly rather than spiritual.

As we begin to walk through the wilderness, we learn to trust

Him and He begins to trust us. He doesn’t just hand His will

over to a stranger. He searches out those that have taken the

time to build a relationship with Him. It is a critical error in

our theology to promote an easy belief and moldable Christian

faith. We must walk with Him and walking with Him has a

price. We cannot focus on caring for all the business of this

life and develop all our provision, and then assign time to walk
with Him. God is a jealous God, and He requires the first

fruits.

It is in the Church that these lessons must be taught. Careless

teaching marks the Church today. Prosperity teaching, the

“hopeful donkey” prayer life and a general unwillingness to

face life as it is all betray the fact that we are not here for an

easy life, but a life that brings God the glory.

For a follower of Jesus, life is hard for every one of us. That is

why the reward at the end is so great. But it is all for God’s

glory that we endure. Lowering the standards of involvement,

not holding each other accountable, failing to examine the

fruits of repentance and not having an unswerving hold on the

Biblical models for fellowship does not bring God the glory. It

just brings the leadership heartburn.

The question is this: Are we missing the pleasures of this

present world, or are we implementing them into our

Christianity? Does our Christianity look any different from the

lifestyles of the world? Does our music center on God or on the

type of music it is? Do we dress up for the House of God with

our best or do we dress in line with the present culture to

make them feel more comfortable while they visit?

Do we condemn “R” rated movies, violent video games and

explicit musical lyrics and still have cable boxes in our homes

promoting and playing all the things that routinely diminish

Christ and make a mockery of His life? Why is it necessary to

have parental controls on our TV sets if we watch the right

kinds of programs? Did I mention we pay about $65.00 a month

for that service?

Many of the cultural practices and changes in our churches

today stem from not asking tough questions about them in the

first place. Did the Lord King of the universe say it clearly, or

is the practice/teaching contrived by man to uphold, or defend

an agenda?

Just because something is organized, incorporated and well

structured does not make it useful or non-divisive. As

denominations continue to exert their influence and control on

their congregations, they continue to guarantee that their

churches will stay at the same exact performance level and

spiritual accomplishment they have been achieving. This

might explain why in most “denominational” attached

churches, you can shoot cannon in their church and not hit

one-personages 25-40. This also could explain their rapidly

declining attendance and more scary to them, their financial

distress.

Aside from there being no possible Scriptural argument in

favor of denominations or any mention of them in Scripture,

denominations seemed to be focused on the continuance of

their representation and beliefs of the Christian faith. The

more denominations we talk with, the more varied opinions we

will get.

As a matter of fact, denominations have created so many

openly embraced divisions that we have a hard time talking

about the “church”. Its definition is too broad and

encompassing. And along with that, the definition of Jesus is

also compromised.

Is that the Catholic Church, the Christian Church or the

Mormon Church? Is that the Free-will Baptist Church, the

Southern Baptist Church, The Anna-Baptist Church or the

Seven-Day Baptist Church?

Is that the Evangelical Free Church or the Grace Brethren

Church? Is that the Apostolic Faith Church or the Assembly of

God Church? Is that the Church of God or the Church of God of

Prophecy Church? Is that the Church on the Way or the

Carpenter’s House? Is it Sandals or The Sheepfold? Is it

Calvary Chapel or The Vineyard?

But by lifting up denominations and conferences, by placing an

emphasis on pleasing and meeting the needs of the

congregants, by failing to teach and preach the whole counsel

of God, by choosing comfort over conviction, by diminishing

the historical setting of Jesus and compromising Scriptural

integrity to support and maintain doctrines and teaching of

men rather than God, then hasn’t Christianity become a

different religion, barely recognizable by its Founder and in

such, a false religion embracing a false God?

One thing that the denominational progress has brought us is

confusion about key issues shaping the landscape of

Christianity. The vast majority of those who profess

Christianity are not able to give a clear definition of just what

the gospel is. In the public view (which we seem to be

spending great amounts of effort and resource to impress)

Christians are considered to be intolerant and narrow-minded.

The fact is, we are and should be intolerant and narrow-

minded.

As a result of working to become more “Seeker-friendly”, the

gospel message has been de-tuned. I have even heard it

expressed that the gospel is somewhat outdated, having only

value and impact to the generation and culture that it was

originally written. But the truth is that we need to consider

that if God called it good news, then it should be complete

enough to transcend every generation and every culture. It can

reach all people for all time. After all, has de-tuning it helped?

Is what we are doing really working?

When we talk about the gospel, we must focus on the first

word of the gospel. The first word of the gospel is

Repentance. Read Matthew 3:1-2, Matthew 4:17 Mark 1:14-15

Mark 6:12, Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19. Repentance means that

you don’t have to live the old life any more. It means that

there is finally a chance for real and permanent change.

Now, you will struggle with it, fight against it and often be

beat by it, but you can have victory over the flesh. When we

share this message with others, we cannot look to find ways to

soften it. We need to stop looking at the person’s sin and start

looking at their desire to eliminate the fruit of sin from their

lives.

Even the mainstream symbol of the Christian faith has become

tarnished. The cross has become an internationally known

symbol of Roman Catholicism and North American Christianity.

There seems a strange romanticism with the cross, with many

people wearing the cross as jewelry.

I find it unusual; that we so widely broadcast the symbol of the

cross as a symbol of power and strength, such as it was

utilized during the Crusades. The army that hailed the cross

as their moniker seemed undefeatable and struck fear and

intimidation in their opponents.

To the Jewish people, both believing and non-believing, the

cross is a reminder of the death and destruction that hundreds

of thousands of Jews suffered at the hands of the Roman

Empire. At one point, Prince Titus halted the crucifixion of

Jews because they could no longer find any wood.

The romanticism of the cross is most readily visible in Christian

circles. I offer this observation. If my wife was brutally

murdered for her belief in God, and the people who were

responsible for her death used a knife to kill her, what would

be the chances that I would wear a symbol of a knife around

my neck to honor and remember her? How many people would

consider that morbid and offensive?

The romanticism and power symbol of the cross are simply

stripping the cross of its true meaning. The cross was an

instrument of death. It is a place of complete surrender and

absolute submission. While it became a place of spiritual

victory, offering freedom and reconciliation between God and

His creation, those that ascended to the cross died there.

There were no temporary crucifixions. You did not show up

when it was convenient. It was not a “show up at 9:45am on

Sunday morning, come down around 12:00pm, write a check

and go home” kind of experience. The cross shows us the final

atonement, the final payment.

Nobody wore one later.

The total submission of the cross stands against much of what

we see in Christianity today. We see marches and protests as

a way of expanding the Kingdom. Churches are handing out

sample ballots during services to influence their congregation

to vote for certain candidates based on their position on

“spiritual and moral” hot buttons, instead of voting on their

ability to perform the job. Just because a candidate has the

right ideas on issues does not make him/her qualified.

We are taught that we must demand our rights. We must have

vindication. We are taught that somehow, our opinion is always

valid and always valued. We must be heard.

Pride has replaced sacrifice. We feel the need to be experts,

to always be right. There is nothing wrong with becoming wise

unto the Holy Writ, provided we have spent the time struggling

to learn it and are living a lifestyle that supports our

understanding. We don’t need any more first-year experts.

The cross, an instrument of death, or place of death, is where

we come to lay it all down and follow Him. Everything in our

journey with God is about relationship. The cross is about

relationship.

Can you see why the devil would like to get a doctrine into a

church that can minimize the cross, that would make salvation

light, or cheap thing? Churches are splitting over the color of

the carpets or the type of music that they play because we can

no longer tell the difference between a Christian and a

churchgoer. If church politics and board process make us take

a year to do something that could have been accomplished in

two-weeks then the devil has stolen fifty weeks from us.

Submission to the cross is a life of moving away from anything

and everything that does not bring glory to God and honor His

words. If it does not qualify, if it does not stay consistent with

Scripture, we must dispose and disregard it and move back

into the reality of Scripture.

Softening the Word of God to make it more palatable only

creates a greater burden when a person becomes saved and

sees the much higher standard of the Word of God. It is unfair

and unscriptural to place this burden on them. It would be like

lowering the entrance exam score to your college and then

overwhelming the student with the material. What would be

the point? We can assume we will have a higher attendance

and lower achievement scores.

Much of the time, in their search for God, people find church.

Church is where many people stop in their search for God, and

they never do find Him. They figure just being at His house is

enough.

Part of the problem is we have the unique ability to accept a

doctrine, no matter how contrary it is to the wishes of our

Lord, or His written word. We accept doctrines, solely on that

they were adopted by church fathers somewhere in history,

without ever feeling the need to study and see what the word

is really saying. We don’t even consider the condition of the

church at the time the doctrine was adopted.

This practice drips with irony. So much of the depth and

beauty of the Bible is dismissed as “culturally irrelevant”. The

more difficult it is to understand a passage of Scripture the

more likely it will be “culturally irrelevant”. What of the

Biblical admonishment to teach “the whole counsel of God”?

Even more fascinating is blind acceptance. If we where to ask

the what and when of church doctrines, who would even know?

If we were to study the lives of the early church fathers, what

would we find? Allow a couple of brief (ok, I am never brief)

examples.

Martin Luther had a zeal to reach the Jewish people. He wrote

a book to them explaining how they could come out of their

darkness and see Jesus as the Messiah. When the Jewish

people did not immediately respond to Luther’s suggestion, he

became enraged against them.

Luther went on to write articles against the Jews, instructing

his followers to work on expelling them from Germany and

Europe, to burn their synagogues and their prayer shawls,

Torah scrolls and even their homes. A rather infamous leader

quoted Luther when he became Chancellor of Germany stating

he was going to perform the Christian duty that Luther taught.

His name was Adolph Hitler.

Origen has been much credited with the beginning teachings

on “church ages”, which would later become known as

dispensationalist thought. Origen later castrated himself

believing it would help him maintain sexual purity. He was de-

frocked by his church and later excommunicated. But, his

teachings are taught and studied in seminaries today.

There are countless examples that could be presented. I am

not suggesting that we dismiss all contributions to the faith

over the last 2,000 years. I am asking, however, that we look

deeply into why we embrace these ideas and doctrines and

how valid are they when laid against the Word of God and the

mission of the Church. Remember that the Church Fathers

were mortal men and no substitute for the Holy Father.

Why is this important? Because the fullness of the walk that

Jesus would have us attain to, is hidden behind a veil of our

religious culture. The Christian Belief System has become

more authoritative than the Word of God itself. People are

being taught to be followers of Christianity instead of followers

of Christ.

The Scriptures seem so deep to us, that we will gamble our

eternal well being (and eventually our eternal well-being) on

what a fairly empty and lifeless form of religion hands us. We

walk out of the buildings each Sunday morning feeling

justified. Then we go home and turn on our televisions so we

can learn how to live.

Following Jesus is only a life and death matter, nothing more

and certainly nothing less. How are we to navigate through

this world and find Jesus? What clues and information did God

leave us? He left us all we need in His word. Now, somehow,

we have decided in our religious arrogance, that we really

don’t need the information in the book.

Doctrines and teachings have crept into the church, some

through intentional efforts and some as continuations of other

doctrines needing more proof. Will doctrines that are contrary

to the teachings of Jesus be enough to save us on the last day?

Will they serve as a good excuse for a life not empowered?

An empowered life is an obedient life. If obedience is not an

important factor in following Jesus, than why do we call Him

Lord? Somehow, we have the strange notion that because of

grace, obedience is not necessary. To God, the word

“obedience” means a facet of our relationship. It is an act of

worship. It is the part of us that tell Jesus, “I am with you”.

The Church has developed a doctrine that says we are saved

by grace and there is nothing required of us beyond an initial

prayer and church attendance. The problem is that this line of

thinking and teaching does not promote a “saving faith”, but a

“simple faith”.

Grace is the instrument by which the door was opened to us

while we were sinners, but we are responsible to walk through

that door. We are further responsible to continue walking.

Seeing people operate with an empowered life and a saving

faith is the call and purpose of the Church. There should be

countless victories and measurable change in the lives of the

participants of Christianity.

We have endless books written on the subject of spiritual

warfare. But with all these books, why are so many people still

in bondage? Why is it that in terms of societal issues

(marriage, abortion, divorce, child abuse, domestic violence),

Christians do not fare any better percent-wise than other faith

groups or the non-believing population?

We have a common enemy. Whether you are Jew or Gentile,

African or American, slave or free, rich or poor, we all have a

common enemy. No matter what category you find yourself in,

Satan is your enemy. Satan desires our destruction, and where

he cannot secure our destruction, he will focus on robbing our

joy, stealing our enthusiasm and crushing our hope.

But this enemy is not busy at work outside the walls of the

Church. He is not busy demon-possessing Sponge Bob

Squarepants. He is not outside the Church. He is working from

inside her walls.

He is a slanderer. However, his slander is reversed from what

you would expect. The effective part of his job is not that he

talks about you. Although he does that too. His lies about us

fly in every direction like flaming arrows. He lies to God about

us and then turns around and performs his greatest and most

effective feat. He lies to us about us.

He gets us to believe things about ourselves that are not true.

He works very hard to get us to believe things about ourselves

that are contrary to the Word of God. And we know that if it is

contrary to the Word of God, then it must not be true.

But do we really know that? If we did, we wouldn’t believe his

lies. Yet, when we look at the Church as it is today, what do

we see? Divisions and degrees of separation seem to be the

core of what the Church is about. Satan is always out to divide

and conquer. Thousands of legally registered divisions exist in

the Body of Christ. We don’t call them divisions, we call them

denominations. Christ is cut into a thousand pieces, and the

Church is without effect in the world.

This enemy through his subtle lies has turned what should be

the most powerful entity in the world into a mockery. The

Church should be changing the world, but the world is

changing the Church. The world is on its way to hell and for

the most part, the Church doesn’t look much different.

The problem is some of what I am addressing is so

foundational and intrinsic to our practices it is hard to step

away and honestly evaluate our present situation. We build

doctrines, divide churches, destroy lives and say we are giving

all the glory to God. I don’t think any of us (I pray not) ever

wake up thinking about making the Church ineffective. But we

do wake up often thinking of how to preserve a Christian faith

and practice that I believe Jesus would not recognize and did

not command us to put into practice.

Different leaders have read some of my writings and have

commented that my ideas and thoughts “just don’t cut it”.

Perhaps the problem is not my thoughts and ideas, but the

fact is you are using a knife that’s not very sharp.

When doctrinal rightness and denominational correctness are

no longer the top priority, then we can begin to see things as

they are. Christ came to effect change in the world. We

appear to be happy to copy the world. Sharpen your tools.

Study for the approval of God.

Perhaps you just don’t see the issues and problems. You see a

happy family of churchgoers. The question is, do you have

enough light in your life to recognize the darkness that comes

along? Are we looking at the problems or simply looking

away?

We are at war. This war is unique, though, because some of

the rules of modern warfare apply and some do not. For

example, you are involved in this war whether you realize it or

not. You are a causality of this war whether you realize it or

not. God has a part and plan for you in this war, whether you

like it or not.

The devil is trying to keep us from our inheritance of eternal

life. Part of our “equipping” has to do with the world to come.

But another part of it is for the war down here. The outcome

of this war has already been documented and recorded. The

only thing left to determine is the amount of causalities both

sides will suffer. That is the biggest difference. We are not

marching to somewhere; we are not marching fromsomewhere.

We are marching through somewhere.

Christianity has become very comfortable here in the present

world and age. Offering occasional objections to moral and

ethical situations, the Church exists only to serve itself. The

Bible talks about weapons and strongholds. Today we don’t

call them strongholds, we call them comfort zones.

You know the line that you draw declaring your boundaries of

comfort. The place where religious zeal meets religious

zombie. Instead of being dead to sin, we find ourselves dead to

service.
A few years ago, anamazing and horrific event stunned

America. A hurricane called Katrina drove through the area of

New Orleans. The damage was unbelievable. The news

footage was more than the mind could comprehend. People

were homeless, stranded and dying.

Many Christian organizations went to the area, helped with

evacuation and relocation. Hundreds of Pastors were without

a home, a church or a job. In many ways and many cases

Christians rose to the challenge.

What struck me as odd was the clamor over Christian

involvement. It seemed like we were celebrating “doing the

right thing” when doing the right thing is our call and purpose.

It’s like when NFL players high-five each other for making a

tackle or dance when they score a touchdown. Isn’t that their

job? Can you imagine high-fiving your boss because you

showed up on time?

I am certainly not suggesting that we do not celebrate or enjoy

the success that God allows us. But our celebrations should

point 100% to the glory and provision of God, not as a “bullet-

point” on our latest church handout. They also should be

caused by the consistent way we live our lives and work in our

communities instead of isolated events.

Christianity must remember that it is to be the frame in which

the beautiful picture of God’s redemption hangs. Our job is to

create focus on the picture and not the frame.

I was recently asked what single change Christians could make

to help the Church become more effective and create a purity

of living in the lives of Christians. This was a difficult question

at best. But, not wanting to veer away from a challenge, I

gave it some thought and came up with this idea. Eliminate

being concerned about things the Scriptures don’t tell us to be

concerned about.

Today, in ways simply unprecedented in any other time of

history, the American news and media pump fear, dread,

sensationalism and hatred into the T.V. sets of millions.

Christians wake up to hear the news and go to bed watching

the news. The media had become a weapon of mass

distraction. And, it is working very well.

The news will put fear into your life. How is it that they are

able to make people live in fear when the cause of that fear is

in no way connected to their lives? We are told to fear Iraq,

Iran, terrorist attacks, oil shortages, fossil fuel shortages,

environmental collapse, one-world government, dictators, the

“killer next door”, the list goes on and on. Instead of

reporting on a storm, it is now “Storm Watch 2008”. Reporters

stand “live” in front of courthouses that have been empty for

hours to report atrial outcome.

Never before in the history of America and certainly in my

lifetime have we been so suspicious and wary. We watch

parked cars, unattended boxes and packages and we even look

differently at certain sects of people based on their physical

appearance or possible religious heritage.

What has all this done for the Church? How has the cause of

Christ been advanced?

Glued to the tube, our overactive fear-thyroids have paralyzed

our outreach and polarized our testimony. Christians have

become more proficient in the local newspaper than their own

Scriptures. And sadly, it shows.

Now after all this soapboxdrama talk, you must wonder what

the point is. Simple. I believe that the main reason why

sloppy doctrines, intolerable practices, asleep at the wheel

leadership, poor training and discipleship, no sense of

community, zero outreach efforts and inability to support

scripture as it is written in it’s cultural and spiritual

applications without making excuses for the parts that are

hard to apply, is the many levels of distractions to be found in

the church.

The amount of money spent on entertainment, newspapers,

periodicals and books to help us gain knowledge and

understanding of this temporal world rather than focusing on

understanding the Kingdom of Heaven, which is here at hand,

is mind-boggling. And what have we learned? Just to be afraid.

The mysteries of the Scripture are calling all of us out of the

darkness of a dry and canned religious belief. We settle for

the upper layer of our Biblical text, denying the beauty and

wonder of what lies beneath.

But we prefer to examine Wall Street, carefully observe CNN

Storm Watch 2006 and fill our minds with terror and fear than

to really search the Scriptures to become intimately

acquainted with the King. When Messiah comes, I want to

know Him so well I won’t miss Him.

 WOULD JESUS BE A CHRISTIAN IF BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS

IGNORING THE NEEDS OF THE POOR, SICK AND ELDERLY?

“Then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see

You hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give You something to

drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in or

needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or

in prison and go to visit You? The King will reply, I tell you the

truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers

of Mine, you did for Me”

Matthew 25:37-40 (NASB) (1)

Matthew 25 offers many chilling tales concerning the end of

the world and the final judgment, but the final discourse,

commonly referred to as “The Sheep and the Goats”,is of

particular interest to us. I promised not to quote statistics to

shame anyone into believing anything I might have to say, but

if I were going to use them, this would be the place. I don’t

see the need for statistics at this pointfor two reasons.

First, I believe that even the most marginally aware human

being can see the plight of the poor and needy all around us.
None of us have to drive very far or go a great distance before

we are confronted with the painfully obvious suffering of

human beings, so, we don’t need the stats to re-enforce

whatis easily observable. Second, if we looked at the overall

involvement of Christians in the life of the poor and needy, it

would be quickly noted that Christians are not that

overwhelmed by the need to help. Quoting statistics would

just be an adventure in missing the point.

Please note that I mentioned Christians and not the Church.

Christians are the Church,and the faster they work together to

regain control of the fellowship of believers and begin to

implement plans and practices that re-enforce Scripture, like

this example from Matthew 25, the better we all will be. It can

be a little too easy to off-load the accountability on the

corporate body of the Church. We are the followers of Jesus

and the written record of Scripture is given to us to observe

and practice as individuals. Throughout the course of this

writing, all the ideas that can be either conceptualized or put

into practice are about us as followers of Jesus. We are past

the point of relying on the mainline denominations and

religious formations to move from their deeply entrenched

positions. Change must occur in our hearts and transmit to

the people and places around us.

Being of a 21st century Western Christian culture, it must be hard

for us to envision the Church as the Body of Christ andnot as a

denominational or doctrinal formation. As a matter of fact,

many see it as a building that houses the Body of Christ. Even

harder is the idea that maybe the denominational or doctrinal

groups might be off the charted course. Remarks like, “Well,

the Church really needs to get it together” or “Our Convention

needs to re-think their position” are quaint ideas but don’t

create much change in the area of the needs of the poor and

disadvantaged. God has chosen people to be the agents of

change in this world. The responsibility lies squarely upon our

shoulders to live in respect of the Scriptures and the call to be

a follower of Jesus.

Matthew 25, is a story thatdeals with the final judgment. As

understood by all different forms of the Christian faith, all

mankind will face their day of reckoning. Staying consistent

with John’s teachings in the Book of Revelation, the story line

in Matthew 25 points towardJohn’s vision of the final

judgment. It is at this moment that Jesus identifies who

belongs in the fold and who does not. The criteria established

here by Jesus ultimately assigns the individuals eternal

destiny. This is a very important lesson to learn. Perhaps

what is most interesting is what this criterion doesn’t say.

As Jesus is explaining the qualifications for entering the

eternal Kingdom of God, He does not seem to address any

particular doctrinal issues. He doesn’t ask about the four

spiritual laws, baptism, speaking in tongues, women in

ministry or any of the topics that are such hard fought

battlefields among the denominations. His entrance exam

consists of the individual’s practice and lifestyle more than

their belief system. As it turns out, we might need the needy

and poor more than we think.

Matthew 25 echoes a thought of the Hebrew Bible that is

especially present in the Book of Psalms. The Bible gives many

reassurances that God is with the weak, the poor, the needy

and the disenfranchised. In Psalms, the Psalmist reminds us

that“Hashem hears the cries of the poor”. Jesus now says that

not only does God hear their prayers, but also many times it

was God Himself that we were serving. It appears from Jesus’

remarks that our earthly service directly contacts the Divine.

“As you did this for them, you did it to Me”, Jesus states. Their

response was one of dumbfounded amazement and inquiry.

“When did we see you like this?” In this statement lies one of

the major issues concerningChristians and the call to social

justice. Where are these suffering people? Where is this

need? We don’t see it. We see beggars, panhandlers and

bums. We see the mentally challenged andthe physically

handicapped. We see the single mothers just squeaking by

financially with no resources left over. We see the illiterate

struggling allaround us.

But where is Jesus in all this? Isn’t this simply a by-product of

the sinful world, that, by its actions and refusal of Jesus,

brings is brought upon itself? That would make it very simple

for us to dismiss the poor and needy by assuming their

suffering is deserved; but when we examine the truth of their

situation, the poor and needy are among us to create the

opportunity for us to perform acts of loving-kindness, and

throughour actions prove our commitment to the Kingdom

living that Jesus lived, taught and commissioned. Through

their suffering, our God can receive the glory when we react to

them as if it was the Almighty in their shoes.

Is it possible that the pain and suffering of those in need has

become below our vision line? As a community of believers, I

can see where the subject can be overwhelming; but because

something is overwhelming does not lend itself to ignoring the

problem or doing nothing about it. Later in this chapter I will

suggest some immediate action items, both long-range and

short range, which we all can put into practice.

Some of the practices of Christians stand in amazing conflict

against a minimal involvement with the needy. Worth noting is

the seemingly universal cry of Christians against abortion.

Many Christians will tell you that life is very sacred and no

human should deny the ability of life to happen. The problem

is that by looking at the most recent wave of Christian

thought, it appears that for Christians, life begins at

conception and ends at birth. Once you are born into whatever

hardships await you, Christianity doesn’t have much for you.

We’ll get you to the starting line and hopefully catch up with

you at conversion.

Again, caution must be applied at this point. There are many

fine people involved in the battle for sanctity of life and my

comments here are not to despair upon their efforts. It simply

reflects a prevailing attitude that a battle fought far away in

the courts and legislation is more interesting to Christians

than one fought in their own backyard.

Are Christians unjustly accused of not showing concern for the

poor? During President Clinton’s first term, reforms of the

welfare system were in the public eye; as bills were being

prepared and made public, author Tony Campolo writes, “At

the time, the powerful Christian Coalition was the most

successful religious lobbying group in American history.

Though it had brought Christians together to address the need

for government to support traditional family values, as it

defined them, it seemed to pass over the concerns of the poor.

The voter guides, whom the Christian Coalition distributed to

millions of Christians through churches, completely ignored

the needs of the poor”. (2)

When we look carefully at the concerns echoed throughout the

Christian community there are many valuable social issues at

hand, but a bit off the radar arethe concerns for social justice

for the poor and needy. The very fact that a child can get a

better education based on the economic advantages afforded

him by where he lives should shock us into reaction. Even

larger and more looming on the horizon is the question of

universal health care. I cannot understand why an

organization like Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition put up

over one million dollars to oppose then First Lady Hillary

Clinton’s health care initiative. I guess that “No Child Left

Behind” starts at the $50,000.00 a year earnings per year club.

Eric Sanders writes, “We begin to see others as commodities

and soon are unable to bless what God is doing in them

because it interferes with what we might be able to get from

them. It’s more natural for me to see people for what they

have, what they are wearing and what they do than it is to see

people for what eternity holds for them or what God is doing in

their lives.” (3)

I would like to personally applaud Eric Sanders for his open

and honest remarks; Ihave found myself thinking along the

same lines. Instead of seeing people in need, or people in

general for that matter, as people that God has a vital interest

in, I often see them for their circumstances and absolve myself

of any possible responsibility or influence in their lives. They

must be in their situation as a result of their choices and God

knows what to do for them. Who am I to interfere in God’s

plan?

But what if the poor and needy have been placed in our path

for our benefit and not just them? Hebrews 13.2 states “Do

not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some

have entertained angels without knowing it.”(4) The Apostle

Paul was very aware of angels contacting humanity and even

the Divine Presence being served through our acts of loving-

kindness. The teaching of Jesus in Matthew 25 is very clear

that service to the least of these was direct service to the King

of all Kings, Jesus.

Part of the understanding needed to grip this teaching of Jesus

deals with our ability to see Jesus in others. Not just acts that

appear to be Jesus-like, but finding Jesus in the souls of those

that isn’t always Jesus denominationally correct. To see the

hungry, naked, imprisoned, thirsty and poor as Jesus, and to

perform acts of loving-kindness for them,is to walk a spiritual

line much greater than a once-a-week Sunday come-to-meeting

faith will provide. It means to take off the blinders and truly

see and experience the conditions and suffering of others.

It is rather easy to turn our heads away from even seeing the

conditions around us, buta heart that burns with the love of

Jesus cannot separate itself from those around it anymore than

Jesus did when He walked the earth. With Jesus, time, money,

spiritual condition, physical condition, gender, race or past sins

were never more important than people. He modeled a life

that touched people where they lived and ministered to their

needs, and it was their needs He first filled, then brought the

message of the Kingdom to their lives.

When I discuss the poor and the needy with my students, they

bring up a very good point: they envision the efforts of

helping poverty and illiteracy as so overwhelming that their

own efforts would be comparable to a drop of water in the vast

ocean. I can see their point,and it is well considered. Perhaps

you have felt the same way, wanting to contribute, but the

problem seems so large that even finding a reasonable entry

point is impossible.

Take courage, as you are not alone. There are several

contributing factors to your sense of being overwhelmed.

Some of these obstacles are truly just that:obstacles that will

be difficult to navigate. But some of this apprehension

though, is a result of bad training. Let’s look at one of the

leading obstacles.

In our Western Christian,cultured mind-set, everything is seen

as an event. Men’s events, discipleship conferences, women’s

gatherings, Pastor/Elder retreats and the list goon. There are

conferences about having conferences. The Christian life and

experience starts with anevent (conversion) and ends with an

event (death). It almost appears to be result-driven and not

relationship driven.

The positive element of this is that people are taken through a

well-developed and well-thought out event schedule that leads

them from cradle to grave as to what they should practice,

understand and believe about their faith. The negative

element of this is that people are taken through a well-

developed and well-thought out event schedule that leads

them from cradle to grave as to what they should practice,

understand and believe about their faith.

What if the faith is not about an event but istruly about a

process? We all feel overwhelmed about what to do about

solving the needs of the poor, the disadvantaged and the

suffering; but our event-type mentality could be getting in our

way. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He healed many people

that went on to lead productive and happier lives. But in the

end,all the people He healed eventually died.

He offered a temporary solution to their pain and suffering.

Eventually the permanent solution took hold and all those

people went to the World to Come; but He stilloffered a

temporary solution. Perhaps they lived for another ten years.

Possibly they lived for just a short time. Some of those people

that regained their sight or the use of their limbs were

butchered by the invading Roman Army, and most died

between CE 67-72.Jesus healed them anyway.

While we cannot circumvent all the suffering for those in need,

we can help one person at any one moment. Maybe it only

lasts for one meal or one hour. We need to ask ourselves this

question. How much is it worth to restore a person’s dignity,

even if only for an hour, a day or a lifetime? Is getting results

that achieve a sense of permanence more important than

meeting an immediate need that is not so easily placed on a

spread chart for later evaluation? What if we performed our

acts of loving-kindness without a scorecard?

The acts of loving-kindness performed by Jesus were not only

powerful but also random. The central theme of the acts and

miracles of Jesus was to promote the glory of His Father. He

expressed His love for the Father in His words and His deeds.

He operated with a sense of urgency that I believe was a

model for how we are to interact with the community around

us. Perhaps we can’t solve it all in one moment.

We can shine the Divine Light that burns in each of us moment

by moment and eventually create a constant light of

improvement. How about starting one person at a time and

one act at a time? In the end, it will add up.

So, with a task so large and right in front of us, where do we

start? In this section I would like to offer a few ideas for social

action that can be an immediate benefit to those in need

around us. Some of the ideas might be different from

conventional thought. Some may head towards short-term

progress, whileothers look at long-term solutions.

When I begin to dream of ways we can help those in need, one

point of clarification needs to arise. Feeding people, training

people, teaching people and loving people cannot be

performed under the guise of their eminent conversion.

People in need will go along withjust about anything for an

evening without hunger. When we offer a service or benefit

with a particular goal in mind, we are missing the point.

It seems that the church’s mission and the mission of the

community have often been two separate places. We need to

practice our acts of loving-kindness without concern fora

future payback. I believe that by blessing and providing for

the needs of the poor, plenty of opportunities will prevail to

share our faith and the reason why we care; and along the

way, it will be our love forpeople and not results that will fuel

us to greater heights.

One of the great challenges and potential limiters of economic

growth for individuals is the ability to communicate in the

English language. Not just speaking English, but reading

English as well. Also along those same lines, a solid

understanding of basic math values would be very helpful. So

here is thought number one: Why not open English as a

second language classes in our church buildings? Imagine

churches everywhere opening their halls to a nationwide

Monday evening class on English Grammar and Speaking Skills.

We could even offer to assist in obtaining GED completion and

help in enrolling into local community colleges. Very few

offerings could help enhance a person’s ability to not only

move forward, but toalso protect them from people that would

take advantage of their minimal English skills. Imagine the

personal satisfaction for someone to work at learning the

language and improve their situation on their own merit and

abilities. I can even envision addressing other skills like

interviewing preparation and telephone skills. That leads us to

point number two.

With all the talent and gifting in our churches, or within us,

rather, there is an incredible range of potential occupational

training that could go on. Even beyond that, each church

could begin to develop “cottage industries” for the purpose of

in-house needs and then later for full-time work away from the

church. We so often have all the resources available to solve

the problems before us, butseem to lack the will.

A Pastor friend of mine in Seattle has developed a novel and

yet extremely practical idea. He took two issues and combined

them into one resolution. His church is in an economically

struggling area with many single parents attempting to

balance work and raising children at the same time. The cost

of day-care for two kids full-time averages at about$380.00 per

week. An average minimum wage job pays around $318.00 per

week before taxes. The math speaks for itself.

He decided to take action. Gathering all his empty nesters and

godly grandparents, he put together a day-care workforce

completely compiled of volunteer servants. These people offer

four to eight hours of volunteer time per week. Their job is to

watch the children being dropped off by their parents as they

go to work. Also, to make sure that no one rides for free, the

day care costs $1.00 per hour. Accepted by donation only, of

course.

He found a way to provide meaningful involvement to the

elderly and meet the needs for a struggling segment of the

community. This is the Kingdom of God in action. A little bit of

thought and a lot of action can bring meaning and purpose,

dignity and pride to so many lives. It is what Jesus would do.

I have another friend here in Southern California. He is a

Christian counselor. I say he is a Christian counselor because

the major difference between a Christian counselor and a

secular counselor is thatthe Christian counselor handles many

more pro-bono cases. It must come with the territory.

He started noticing that even though people were getting the

spiritual help they needed, which eventually filters into the

mental and emotional help they need, they lacked significant

accountability in their relationships. This wouldhelp hold them

in line. Many of their pressures were financially related,

leading topoor decisions and causing additional stressors in

the relationship.

His answer was to create financial planning classes and

training at his church. He utilizes members of his church to

function as “accountability partners” to ensure that

participants stay on course. A side note worth pointing out is

that since the inception of this program, church offerings have

been on an upswing.
I know after all this shared knowledge you must be thirsty for

more and can’t wait to charge out into the street andmake a

difference in your community. But let’s add a few other areas

we can all participate in.

• Faith-based after-school programs that could reach out to

hundreds if not thousands of children across the nation

and could provide the tutoring and support systems that

are so vital for academic achievement in disadvantaged

communities.

• Church-sponsored mentoring programs for those coming

out of prison can provide some of the best insurance

against recidivism.

• Faith-based job placement programs and

entrepreneurship enterprises that can provide some hope

for the hard-core urban unemployed.

• Initiatives from groups such as Habitat for Humanity and

the Pittsburgh Project can make decent housing a reality

for the first time for tens of thousands of needy people

• (Special thanks to Tony Campolo’s book “Speaking My

Mind” for this list)

In the final analysis, or as a good friend of mine always

reminds me, “at the end of the day”, each of us will be

measured by the King. From a biblical perspective, a major

component of the evaluation fromthe King comes to this two-

fold participation in the lives of those in need. First, how

willing and active were we in helping when help was needed.

Second, how obvious was it to us that these acts of loving-

kindness were being performed not only for the King, but to

the King.

I’ve heard the question posed, “where is all the money

supposed to come from to help all these people?” Sad to think

that it all comes down to the money, butthere is a valid

question being tabled here and I would like to respond with

another valid question. Rather than showing concern for

where we would get the money, how about considering how we

currently spend our money?

Here in Southern California where I live, churches cover large

plots of land and are equipped with the most modern

amenities. Air conditioning, paved parking lots, modern

delivery systems for worship music, recording devices for DVD

and CD sales and beautifully designed sanctuaries line the city

streets of most towns. In a recent conversation with a real

estate developer, I asked if he had an idea how much real

estate value churches owned in a typical Southern California

community. He thought for a moment and told me there was

no particular measuring device that could accurately answer

the question. So I asked for a professional guess.

He estimated that at least 18 church properties in Orange

County were worth over 1 million dollars. That’s an easy 18

million dollars per town in facilities. When we add up the 34

cities in Orange County,the conservative estimate lands

around 614 million dollars of property and facilities. All this

dedicated to a God that says He does not dwell in temples built

by human hands.

The point here is simple. We must measure our comfort

against their suffering. Jesus won’t be asking any of us how

comfortable or newour facilities were. He will ask if we knew it

was Him that we served when we ministered to the needs of

others.
 WOULD JESUS BE A CHRISTIAN IF BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS

EMBRACING HIS WESTERN CULTURED VERSION WHILE AT THE

SAME TIME NOT EMBRACING HIS JEWISHNESS?

“On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between

Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met

by ten lepers, who stood at a distanced and lifted up their

voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he

saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the

priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

Luke 17.11-14 ESV (5)

“And the time for their purification according to the Law of

Moses, they brought him (Jesus) up to Jerusalem to present

Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “every

male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the

law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2.22-24 ESV (5)

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.

And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the

Sabbath day, and he stood up to read”

Luke 4.16 ESV (5)

“Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the

Sabbath”

Luke 13.10 ESV (5)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the

Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not

an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is

accomplished.”

Matthew 5.17-18 ESV (6)

I would like to preface this chapter with a note of fair

warning:Because of the passionate and vibrant feelings I have

on this subject, I find it very hard to not exercise extreme bias

in the communication of the material you will read in the

paragraphs ahead. Aside from the salvation offered to me

from Jesus and His life-changing entrance into my life, the

second most spiritually fulfilling and nourishing element has

been my participation in the Messianic community of faith.

I grew up as a Baptist. Our church was a member of the

Baptist Bible Fellowship and our Senior Pastor (named the

Senior Pastor because of his age, not title) was a founding

member of the BBF. I remember seeing his signature on a copy

of the original formulatingdocuments. Through this upbringing

I was taught that the Jews were responsible for the death of

Jesus, had been dismissed as God’s chosen people and that

Jesus had debunked the Law of Mosesupon His visit here to

earth. There were many other things I was taught as well even

though to this day I don’t remember them all.

I don’t believe that all Christians were taught the same things I

had been; I just know what I was taught. I grew up not

knowing all the details of why the Jews killed Jesus, but I did

know enough about them to see them as outcastsfrom God and

a provoking enemy of the Christian faith. I have heard

Christian people say they are okay with the pain and suffering

of the Jewish people because they asked for it by killing Jesus

and denouncing His Messiahship.

All through the 80’s and into much of the 90’s, end-times

theology was quite the rage in Christian circles. Over and over

again I kept hearing about the importance of Israel in the

grand scheme of the Last Days, a theme that is still widely

taught and accepted. This was confusing to me, as I had

always believed that Israel had been written off 2000 years

earlier. Sowhich one is it? How can a group of people written

off years ago for their open disobedience be of any

consequence to the Christian faith (the clear replacement for

the nation of Israel) here in the future?

There should be a deep concern was the Scripture talking

about the Gentile believers being “grafted in to the

Commonwealth of Israel” and becoming “children of Abraham

by faith.” If the deed is done and Israel is out, why was I just

grafted into an obsolete faith group? There were many other

questions I had but I was having tremendous difficulty getting

answers. This was not because different ministers were not

willing to answer the questions. It was mainly because the

answers they were providing only seemed to provoke more

questions. It became a personal pursuit for me. Time and

space would not allow a descriptive analysis to be presented

here, but suffice it to say much thanks to Rabbi Y. Hilbrant and

his willingness to work with me on these many questions.

Perhaps the issue most centered on the Jewishness of Jesus,

and by far the most hotly contested problem,is the Law of

Moses and the Age of Grace. I have seen very few

conversations pass between myself and other Christian leaders

without this coming up. I want to take time to address this,

but first I have a question that begs an answer.

Regardless of your belief, either in the validity of the Law of

Moses, or the belief that Jesus jettisoned the Law and replaced

it with Grace, how does that change the fact of Jesus’ very

Jewish expression inHis life? In fact, the Law being sent away

makes it even more difficult to understand why Jesus would

fulfill the requirements of His Jewish forefathers if He fully

knew He was about to send it all into space.

The truth is the debate about Law vs. Grace has never been

about scriptural authenticity. It is clearly about scriptural

authority. Christians have long posed themselves as the new

chosen people. This idea lends itself to a practice that

expresses itself as a “replacement” of the old guard (Israel).

Messianic Jews believe that their expression of faith has been

enhanced by their commitment and understanding of Jesus as

Messiah and see no need to change any of their practices and

traditions.
Jesus was Jewish. Not only was He Jewish, but also He was and

is the only perfect Jew. It was His perfection in His

observantand sinless life that made Him the acceptable

atonement for all nations. The evidence of His Jewish lifestyle

is littered throughout the Gospels,and an open debate that

follows into the apostolic letters shines even more light on the

subject. There is an overwhelming series of verses, parables

and dialogue that points toward His Jewishness, but I want to

address the verses I have listed above as a point of reference

for us.

In Luke 17.11-14, Jesus offers healing to some lepers that have

come to Him calling His name. As a side-note, it should be a

point of interest that they would call Him the Son of David.

Jesus makes an unusual request by non-Jewish standards. He

tells them to go show themselves to the priests. The priests,

as outlined by the Torah, wereresponsible for ensuring that

any person infected with leprosy was clean and ready to return

to the general population. Getting clearance from the priest

was of the utmost importance.

So here we find Jesus not only personally observing a mitzvah

of the Law of Moses, but also instructing others to be obedient

of the Torahas well. Jesus does a strange thing considering

that many Christians see Him as an open challenger of the

Law.

In Luke 2.22-24, the parents of Jesus follow the Law of Moses

to the very dot by bringing Him to the Temple for His

circumcision. They bring Him to the right place, on the right

day following His birth and bring the right sacrifice. Many

Christians observe this moment as a fulfillment of prophecy

concerning the coming Messiah, and,in all honesty, the

scriptures lend themselves to that interpretation.

What would be the reason for this type of ceremony? It

brought Jesus clearly and without doubt into the full physical

line of the Jewish people. No prophecy could ever be more

importantly understood and fulfilled than this one. If Jesus is

not born a Jew, according to the Bible, He cannot be the Savior.

In Luke 4.16 and Luke 13.10 we find Jesus participating in

Sabbath practice in the Temple,performing teaching duties and

reading from the scrolls. Jesus’ participation is yet another

alarming difference of thought between the prototype

Christian faith and Messianic Judaism. As we read all the

gospel accounts of Jesus, His participation in Sabbath and His

rulings (halacha in the Hebrew) on the Sabbath were

considered by some of the current religious leadership as

unauthoritative and unwanted.

If Jesus planned to end Sabbath observance and create the

current trend of Sunday-come-to-meeting-day, why take so

much time addressing the Sabbath and the correct pattern for

following it? This appears to be yet another stroke of the pen

that marks Jesus’ Jewishness in His Sabbath observance. Not

just any stroke of a pen, but the writers and transmitters that

eventually would be accepted into the canon of the Holy Writ.

And on that note, another question comes to mind…..

With the canonization project occurring during the late 2nd and

early 3rd century (other attempts were made earlier, around

the end of the 1stcentury forward) why was the issue of

Sabbath observance and the historical record of the

Jewishness of Jesus not just written out of the picture? It

seemed that the idea of a formal canonization of scriptures

was heavily influenced by the desire to fight against

reoccurring heresy. If the Jewishness of Jesus was such a big

offense, how did they miss an opportunity to squash it by not

eliminating all trace of it?

While one could argue that an attempt to write out the

Jewishness of Jesus would be a daunting task because of the

overwhelming scriptural evidence (a point I would agree

with),the next question that needs an answer is why has so

much doctrine been written, often at times in contradiction of

the scriptures, to minimize or downplay His connection to the

Jewish people?

Prophecy predicts it; the scriptures certify it and Jesus Himself

becomes the embodiment of it. Aside from the ongoing debate

about the Law of Moses and the Age of Grace, Jesus is the

Messiah, hand delivered by God in the human wrapping of the

Jewish nation, born from the line of the kings of Israel.

Worth noting: I chose to use the verses (so far) concerning the

issue of Jesus’ Jewish identity from the book of Luke. It is the

Gospel of Luke that many credit a Gentile authorship to.

In Matthew 5.17-18, we find some of the most discussed words

of Jesus. Sermons, articles, lesson series and books have been

written covering the words of Jesus recorded here. I often find

that when much discussion appears, much disharmonysoon

follows. The dialogue about this portion of scripture usually

brings out the worst in people of which I have been an

eyewitness to. It seems in this case, the added dialogue

serves only to cloud the obvious meaning and expression of

His words.

Jesus starts with a warning when He says, “Don’t even think

about it!” A core issue is at stake here for Jesus and He plans

to resolve it. Often Jesus was aware of what His opponents

were thinking before they even got it out of their mouths. The

common mistake that is made concerning Jesus’ discussions

with the religious leaders of His day is the idea that He had a

problem with the Law. It was not the Law He wrestled with,

but the way in which the religious leadership was laying the

Law on the shoulders of the people. The burden was more

than they could bear.

The many challenges Jesus had expressed concerning their

practice of the Law frustrated the religious leaders of His day

since they were not used to being questioned. They brought

many questions to Him concerning His practice and what He

was teaching His disciples. He told them not to consider or

think about the idea that He was here to do away with the Law.

During the time of Jesus, many disputes and vigorous debates

surrounded the proper practice and observance of the Law.

There were specific schools dedicated to just this issue. So

when Jesus begins to teach His message of social justice and

lays out the road to the Kingdom of Heaven, they had their

doubts about Him.

Jesus knew that many religious leaders had claimed to be the

embodiment of the Law of Moses. They would explain that the

Torah was a well full of the water needed for life and that only

they had the knowledge to plum the depths of it. Through

strict observance of their instructions, one could become much

closer to Hashem than the other schools could bring you. It is

odd to hear so much condemnation against this type of

leadership by the Christian populace considering that most

churchgoers desire to be told what to believe rather than

search it out themselves.

With this in place, it is no wonder that the religious leadership

was not happy when Jesus stood up and announced He was the

Living Water. This was a direct challenge to their teachings;

but what Jesus was about to say was even more challenging to

them. He tells them He has not come to abolish the Law, as in

make it of no avail, but to “fill it full”. Jesus was preparing the

way for His embodiment of the Torah. He would become the

“Living Torah” and they all knew exactly what He was pointing

toward. The Law was about to make its face known and it is

the face of Jesus.

Jesus would go on to address the projected lifespan of the Law

when He said that heaven and earth will pass away first,

before any of the Law, every little jot and title, passes out of

use. This is a direct reference to the actual writing of the

Hebrew language, which use small dots and under-scorings to

signify changes between words.

Regardless of the reference He uses, make no mistake about

His words, the Torah, the Law and the Prophets will be here for

our remembrance and observance until the end of this world.

More importantly, to dismiss the Torah, the Law and the

Prophets is to dismiss Jesus, who claims to be the Living Word.

We don’t get to pick what part of the Word we think He is. He

made no distinction as to being any part of the Word. He

claimed to be the Living Word--from beginning revelation to

the end revelation.

Any attempt to jettison the Torah and the Law is a direct

attempt to limit the Living Word to a selective representation.

By reducing Jesus to a “New Covenant” only view is to remove

Him not only from His cultural environment, but also His status

as the complete Living Word,and in doing so, violate His claim.

In other words, we can make Jesus out to be a liar by

distancing Him from the Law.

For example, I have always wondered why as Christian

ministers we call the Ten Commandments viable for today.

Across the boards, Christians believe in the Ten

Commandments and teach them to their Sunday School

classes. Christians will protest and demonstrate any time an

effort is discovered to remove the Ten Commandments from a

courthouse or civil building. It is a bit ironic that Christians

would fight for an image or symbolic portrayal of the Ten

Commandments when the Scriptures forbid graven images.

But,back on the point, one of the Ten Commandments deals

with the observance of Sabbath. It is the only commandment

that has a verse-by-verse explanation. Looking at the Sabbath

observance as outlined in the Ten Commandments, one thing is

very obvious. There are very few organized churches that still

follow its principles. So why not refer to them as the Nine

Commandments? The problem is symptomatic of years of

dismissing piece-by-piece of the Hebrew Bible (The Old

Testament) and moving on to the Age of Grace. As this trend

has been happening, the truer image of Jesus has been

chipped away at to the point that Jesus is hardly recognizable

to His Jewish brothers.

One of the paramount reasons that the Christian witness of

Jesus is completely offensive and unattractive to the non-

believing Jew. It has to do with the Christian stance on the Law

of Moses. No God-fearing Jew will ever believe in a non-

observant, non-Torah compliant Messiah. This is one of the

reasons that Messianic Judaism is doing better than the church

in terms of reaching the Jewish people. Messianic Judaism not

only embraces Jesus as Messiah and Lord, but they also

embrace the very practices that make Him Jewish. This creates

the opportunity for dialogue and learning among the non-

believing Jewish community.

Dr. Ron Moseley writes, “Despite the multitude of volumes

written about the history of Christianity over the past two

millennia, there has long existed a profound void concerning

the Judaic nature of Jesus. This is due, in large part, to the

changes each successive culture, from the first century on, has

made to the image of Him to meet their needs. The practice of

altering the image of Jesus has been so prevalent that one

scholar lamented, ‘We are casting God in our own image.’ (7)

Dr. Moseley makes an interesting point. If we were to look

historically into the growth of the Christian faith, several

contributing factors would come to mind. According to the

World Bible Society, seventy-fives times as many different

translations of the Bible have been produced in the last two

centuries than the other eighteen centuries combined. So as a

result, our understanding and proclamation of the message

has diversified.

There are countless numbers of different denominations of the

Christian faith, each with its own unique viewpoints on

baptism, end times theology, faith practices, communion,

doctrines and beliefs. They are rapidly growing in number

here in the United States, while the average church

attendance is dropping. Much of the differences and the

deteriorating condition of the Christian faith are due to

inconsistent and often contradictory ideas and teachings about

Jesus.

As the denominations battled each other for supremacy, the

historical Jesus is lost in the shuffle. It greatly pains me to

think that many people believe that Jesus came here to start

another brand of religion. He did not. He came to unify all

religious practice from spiritual and traditional bondage and

point all people, Jew and non-Jew alike, to a defined practice of

faith that glorifies His Father and builds a loving relationship

between Jesus and the person.

David Bivin writes, “In fact, had the Church been provided with

the proper Hebraic understanding of the words of Jesus, most

theological controversies would have never arisen in the first

place.”(8)

Understanding the perspective that Jesus taughtwould have

ended many of the debates and poor understanding of His

mission we see in almost every branch of the Christian faith.

The value that Hebraic understanding brings is of paramount

importance in viewing Jesus, but it alsocan help us understand

the counter arguments He faced. I think a brief example can

help better explain what David Bivin is hinting at.

In Luke 7, an amazing condensed version of the miracles of

Jesus, one of the miracles He performs is raising a widow’s son

from the dead. He was so dead that Jesus catches the funeral

procession on its way out of town. This story is dripping with

deep symbolism and a proclamation by Jesus. Let’s look at it

from the perspective of the Hebrew people that watched it go

on.

When a funeral procession was heading out of town and a

Jewish person was to happen upon it, it became incumbent on

that person to join the procession at least until it left town.

The Jewish people deeply feel for each other’s losses in a way

that is often difficult for us to get our arms around. Their long

history of suffering has brought a heightened sense of value to

life.

Life has its challenges though, and when a funeral procession

is heading out of townthere are two exceptions to the rule.

First, when a funeral procession (going out of town) meets up

with a wedding ceremony (heading into town), the funeral

procession must pull over because,in Jewish thinking, life

precedes death. None of the wedding participants would be

required or expected to join in the funeral procession.

The second exception is by far more powerful. The only other

reason that a funeral procession would stop is for the King of

Israel to pass. The King of Israel had the right of passage

wherever He would go. It was obvious to all gathered that

Jesus was not getting married that day. When He stopped that

procession He was proclaiming to all present His Kingship over

Israel. Then, to silence those that would question His

authority, He copied the miracle performed by Elijah years ago

in this same region. What was this miracle about? Jesus was

establishing His Kingly heritage over the people of Israel. As

Pilate would later comment, “Behold your King”.

There are many other examples that are easily seen through

the lens of Hebraic understanding. Other examples require a

much deeper dive into the scriptures. The point is this: Jesus

did not invite us to a “scratch and sniff” understanding of Him

that merely hints at who He really is, but a banquet table that

we can all dig into and learn as much as we can hold.

Perhaps a quick reminder of the nature of this chapter would

be appropriate. There has never been, to the best of my

knowledge and research, an attempt to dismiss the Jewishness

of Jesus or to openly deny He was Jewish. That is not the

point. What each of us must face as individual believers in

Jesus and also in our corporate expression of our faith is how

much His Jewishness affected His teachings and the

understanding of how He wanted us to practice belief in Him.

It is my conclusion that these two are inseparable.

Some people would argue that the Church has done its part in

totally removing the Jewishness of Jesus from the practice of

Christianity. D. Thomas Lancaster writes, “Dan Brown (author

of The Da Vince Code) is right about one thing. Throughout

the ages, the church has endeavored to conceal certain truths

about Jesus. The embarrassing secret about Jesus that the

historical Christian church would have preferred to leave

behind long ago is the Jewishness of Jesus. From the earliest

church fathers, to the popes and reformers, to the great

artists of Christian history, to the very architecture and

iconography of the cathedrals, the clues are everywhere.”

“The church wants to deny the Jewishness of Jesus. If it were

possible to erase it, Christianity would have done so long

centuries ago. The historical Jesus was a Jew. His early or first

followers did not consider themselves Christians. They did not

even imagine a religion called Christianity. They were Jews

practicing Judaism, just as their Rabbi had taught them.”(9)

There are leaders in Messianic Judaism that fully believe

thatthe Jewishness of Jesus is still part of the Christian faith

out of total necessity. There are pastors and teachers that

fully embrace the complete dismissal of the Law of Moses and

any need for the expression of anything Jewish in the Christian

faith. The shots are fired over both of the fences whileboth

sides sit hunkered down in a defensive posture.

This defensive positioning by both faith groups is not helping

in advancing the Kingdom work leftto us by the Master. When

Jesus claimed, “They will know you are My disciples by your

love one for another”,He did not have ten thousand different

denominations and expressions in mind. More to the point, we

could never and will never accomplish His directive of love as

long as there are different faith groups promoting a certain

degree of “rightness” over the other groups.

The Scriptures make no claim that diminishing a Jewish

practice of faith or a Jewish practice of lifestyle (oddly, Jewish

people see their life and faith as the same thing) needs to

happen in order to build the Kingdom that Jesus taught about.

All the parables, idioms and illustrations are completely Jewish

in their understanding and areaimed at a Jewish thinking

crowd. This in-fighting of what to do with the Jewishness of

Jesus is not only turning away non-believing Jews, it is also

creating the need for Jewish followers of Jesus to either

assimilate and become “Christian” in order to fit into the

church,or strike out and join a Messianic Synagogue.

The opportunities for church and synagogue to work together

are endless. The beauty of the church liturgy, the amazing

expressions of Jewish feast and festival, shared musical

traditions and an uncompromising love between the brethren

could cause an overwhelming element reaching deep into the

needs of all cultures.

Having spent the first twenty years of my life growing up in

the church, from both Baptist and Pentecostal backgrounds, I

can confirm the teachings that minimize the Jewishness of

Jesus and at times promote a hatred for the Jewish people

based on the past event of the crucifixion of Jesus. Many

leaders teach that the Jews killed Jesus and deserve to suffer

their fate generationally. Often these are the same people

that believe that,even though their great-grandparents had

slaves and endorsed slavery, they should not be held

responsible for the poor decisions of their families. I am not

sure how you can say that without choking on the obvious

hypocrisy.

The last five years I have spent much of my timeat a Messianic

Synagogue. I openly admit that my range of knowledge about

Messianic Synagogues is limited to my experience here. My

words about the synagogue and its community way of life are a

picture of what has transpired for me personally, and I have

reason to believe that there are many synagogues operating

with this same standard of excellence in place.

I was drawn to the synagogue after a long period of dialogue

with the Rabbi who serves as the spiritual leader of the

congregation. I was curious after all I had heard and read

concerning Messianic Judaism to see how it was actually put

into practice. Some of their practices seemed strange to

me,but others were very familiar. Beyond the different

expressions of their faith and some of the theological

differences that existed, I was primarily interested in one

thing: was the practice of their faith in Jesus having a life-

changing effect on the congregation that was evident and

contagious, while at the same time holding to a format

consistent with the scriptures.

Arguably, there are points of contention that can arise from

viewing any church or synagogue from an outsideposition.

That is why I found it important to spend time in personal

involvement. What I found was a warm and loving group of

people dedicated to their love for Jesus and a deep

commitment to each other. Their commitment knows no

bounds, from helping each other move into new homes,

visiting the sick, sharing financial burdens and educational

support, they are tireless in their pursuit of a communal way of

life.

They hold fast and firm to their beliefs and train disciples into

mature followers of Jesus. These able-bodied disciples become

builders of the Kingdom working along side the more

experienced veterans of the faith. They do not point to a

conversion experience but work hard toward a lifestyle of

observance and remembrance. Embedded deep in their souls

is the well-taught principles of “The eye of Hashem is upon us”

and “Know before Whom you stand”.

Would Jesus be a Christian if being a Christian means erasing

His Jewish identity and Jewish practice? I don’t think we can

find any reason why He would. As Christianity wrestles the

Jewishness of Jesus to the mat, it also secures the ineffective

witness of Jesus to the non-believing Jewish community. The

Jewish community will never embrace or believe in a non-Torah

observant Messiah. They will never open their minds to

consider the wisdom of Jesus of Nazareth as long as their

perception of Jesus includes Him being Romanized and

Hellenized into the Emperor and Philosopher Jesus.

Beyond that, the minimizing of the Jewishness of Jesus is

greatly affecting the non-Jewish followers of Jesus. If the goal

of the Christian life is to a walking example of Jesus, how can

that goal be achieved without understanding how He walked

and lived? Can we accept separating Jesus from who He was

and shaping Him into a culture He was never meant to

represent? Jesus came to tear down the partition between God

and us. He never intended to destroy the Torah, the Law or

the Prophets. He came to bring the Law, Torah and prophets

to their ultimate fulfillment and embodiment: Jesus of

Nazareth.

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,

alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to

the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God

in the world.” (10)

It appears from this verse that being separated from Jesus is

to be separated from the commonwealth of Israel, which in

turn makes you a stranger to the covenants of promise. Truer

words have never been spoken. Many Christians have asaved

soul and a lost life. By endearing ourselves to the Jewish

people, by learning the feasts and festivals, by studying the

time-honored and proventeachings and traditions, we can start

to see the fullness of knowledge and relationship that God is

offering His children.

We are doing a great a disservice when we are not willing to

extend or offer all of the counsel of God and the many learning

opportunities that the Hebraic perspective can provide. We

cannot paint Jesus ina lighter or darker color so He better fits a

culture or belief system. He is the Jewish Messiah that offers

life and liberty for all who desire to pursue Him.

Where do we start to come to terms with our Hebraic roots? I

have always been a fan of starting at the beginning. As we

look at the Jewish Apostles we can see the formation of the

Way. Instead of piling a Western cultured mindset on top of

the Jewish roots of understanding Jesus, we need to pull

alongside our Messianic brothers so we can hold hands and

lock shields. I believe that opening up honest and accepting

dialogue between Messianic Judaism and Christianity can start

the healing process. Dialogue does not mean compromise or

conversion, but a simple willingness to sit down and share all

the things that bring us together as believers in Jesus.

There needs to be a home where a non-Jewish believer can find

an expression of his faith and be taught the ways of the

Master. There also needs to be a home for Jewish believers

that do not require them to forsake their Jewish roots and

assimilate into a Christian church setting, but ratherwill

encourage their brave move in the pursuit of Jesus and

strengthen their understanding of their heritage as a Jew.

Then we can create opportunities for crossover projects where

the two groups can serve and bless each other.

I am currently serving as an instructor of Hebraic Perspectives

at a couple of local seminaries and schools of ministry. I also

have the honor of teaching a Messianic Bible study as well.

The primary background of the students is a Gentile believer in

Jesus that have been grounded and trained in the New

Testament church. I thank God for these opportunities and the

students that are so amazing and inspiring with their ideas

and input.

Sadly, when the classes begin to roll, there is a sense of

disappointment from the students. They have often

commented on the idea that they feel like the church has

intentionally withheld the Jewishness of Jesus and His Jewish

practice. They want to know why this is the first they have

heard about it. They often, more times than not, begin to

search out ways to learn more about the Hebraic Perspective.

I do my best to be gracious and inform them that the chance of

an all-out church conspiracy against the Jewishness of Jesus is

doubtful. I re-enforce the importance of being cooperative

with their Pastors and Leaders and to show respect for their

involvement in the lives of the students. Then I encourage

them to search out what the Spirit of God is doing in their soul

and pursue it wherever it may lead.

I can’t help wondering though,why there has not been a

greater emphasis placed on understanding Jesus in the climate

and culture of His times. Has there been an intentional de-

tuning of the Jewish Messiah? Many authors and scholars

would suggest this is true. More significant than determining

the past course of events, though,is our effort to chart a

different future. I believe that the life of Jesus, the words of

Jesus, the mission of Jesus and the desire of Jesus can only be

fully understood and appreciated through the guidance of the

Holy Spirit, personal involvement and through the lenses of a

Hebraic perspective.

WOULD JESUS BE A CHRISTIAN IF BEING A CHRISTIAN MEANS

THE DENIAL OF WOMEN INTO SIGNIFICANT MINISTRY ROLES

AND EQUAL FOOTING WITH THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS?

This subject truly haunts me. I think about it quite often and

on numerous occasions I have sparked a rather vigorous

debate. Many different pastors and leaders that I have had the
opportunity to talk with represent a wide diversity of thought

concerning the issue of women in ministry. Those leaders on

both the side of pro and con express different ideas for

supporting their viewpoints. There is not a prevailing sense of

direction on this very intense and sensitive matter. One thing I

can offer is that as I move away from pastors and leaders and

make my way into the pews, the objections for women in

ministry seems to settle down. This is a subject making noise

among us as leaders.

As much as I would just like to take the conservative position

on this and take my rightful place in the “good old boys club”,

I find I cannot in clear voice and conscience support the denial

of women holding ministry positions on equal footing with

men. While I understand and feel compassion for those

leaders who oppose women in the ministry, I find the real issue

much deeper than a handful of scriptures that make a loose

association with this subject.

As a Messianic minister, I find myself listening over and over

again to pastors (God bless them, I do love them) remark how

the Bible clearly speaks that “In Christ Jesus, there is no Jew or

Greek”. This is primarily pointed to in order to prove the point

that the Law, and the Prophets and the Jews for that matter,

has lost its identity Christian faith. I say all this not to revisit

last chapter’s subject material, but to make the following

observation.

If the verse claims there is no Jew or Greek, how do we

interpret when it says no male or female? Clearly, according to

the flesh, there are males and females, Jews and Greeks, bond

and free. So Paul must have been pointing to another

dimension of relationship, as in the operation of the Kingdom

of God on earth where culture, social position and gender do

not create barriers but breaks down barriers.

So which one is it? If the Jews and Greeks are not Jews and

Greeks, but a single identity in the Spirit of Christ, isn’t the

same qualifier true about the same comparison in the same

verse? Aren’t men and women equals in the Kingdom?

Even though I was raised in a Baptist church, I never really

understood what the fuss about women in ministry was all

about. I grew up with women Sunday school teachers, women

VBS directors, women leaders of women’s ministry and we

routinely had missionary families come from the foreign field

talking about teaching and preaching to “pagans” that always

included women doing the work in the field. In fact, our

denomination would not allow a man that was not married to

go to the mission field.

Tony Campolo says, “Denying women the right to preach

affects more than just those who are gifted and called to do

so. This denial sends a message to all women, and especially

young girls who are trying to figure out who they are that they

are inferior to men. But I argue that when they tell women

that they are barred from the high calling of God to preach

because they are women, these leaders have made a sexist

statement that drowns out any theological tap-dancing they

may do on this reality.” (11)

Campolo has been a long-time advocate of the equality of

women in ministry and his wife, Peggy, has also been

outspoken on the issue. His observation here is one worth

examining. While he briefly mentions the scriptural arguments

that exist both pro and con, he brings to the plate a reality

that is often compromised by the aggressive rhetoric that

accompanies this theological battle. What does the standpoint

of women not being equal to men in terms of service say about

the attitude of Jesus’ followers,and more importantly, what

does it say about God? There again seems to be a

contradictory element here.

Many would argue that there are fewconvincing spiritual

presentations that favor women in ministry. But I have read

several amazing articles, letters and blogs (God save us) that

speak to the contrary. Here are snapshot of some of those

ideas. I think that careful analysis of the scripture shows that

in order to hold a hard position against women in ministry

means holding on to a position because you can. But what we

hold onto should be in line with the entire wisdom and

teaching of the Word of God.

If we have to pick between verses like Galatians 3:28 and

others when deciding what the general principle is and what

might be the exception, clearly “In Christ there is not male and

female” is the general principle to which other verses would be

the exception. For example, we would not say, “A women is

not to teach or have authority over a man, but in Christ thereis

no male or female.” The first statement relates to earthly

administration, the second statement to heavenly or spiritual

identity. Clearly the heavenly and spiritual have decisive

precedence over the earthly and temporary. “In Christ you are

all sons of God” (Galatians 3:26). Any earthly subordination or

earthly distinction in role would be exactly that: earthly and

temporary. We have no reason to believe that in heaven such

differentiations will exist in role or authority.

Galatians 3:28 says, “In Christ there is not male or female”.

Paul’s wording here alludes to Genesis 1:27 where God created

us “male and female”. After he has used “neither-nor” several

times (neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free),he

switches when he comes to the male-female distinction. In

Christ there is not “male and female”. He makes the change in

order to allude to Genesis 1:27. Therefore, in Christ there is

not “male and female”. Jesus undoes the distinctionmade at

creation. Indeed, the subordination of husband and wife will

not exist because in heaven they neither marry nor are given

in marriage. (Mark 12:25-26)

For the purposes of comparison, we might note that the books

of the New Testament teach with the assumption that the

institution of slavery is legitimate. While there were

individuals in the first century who did not practice slavery on

principle (21), the New Testament never argues for the

abolition of slavery. Even in Philemon, Paul never tells

theslave owner to set his slave free, and the accompanying

letter of Colossians reinforces the traditional slave-master

roles (Colossians 3:22-4:1).

Nevertheless I would argue that the world moved closer to

heaven when slavery was abolished. Similarly, the world

moves closer to heaven when we enact as much as possible

the equality of men and women on a spiritual plane. You might

argue that the female body has implications for their possible

roles, 1 Peter might imply this idea when it refers to the

feminine “vessel” as weaker (1 Peter 3:7), but the Christian

gospel has no room for anyone who would subordinate the

female spirit to the male spirit.

Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 predicted that Christian daughters

would prophesy. Indeed, we see the seven virgin daughters of

Philip the Evangelist prophesying in Acts 2:19. 1 Corinthians

11:5 refersto married women prophesying as well. We know

they are married because their lack of head covering dishonors

their head, which 11:3 defines as their husbands. There is

nothing in these contexts that indicates that these women only

prophesied to women. Indeed, since the spirits of women and

men are undifferentiated “in Christ”, we would be surprised if

such a distinction were made. Christ conquered the limitations

of the earth and the sin of Eve. Any lingering traces of the

limitations of earth will fully disappear in the Kingdom of God.

We need to distinguish husband/wife issues from the issue of

women in ministry. You can fully believe that a wife is not to

teach or have authority over her husband and that the

husband is head of the wife without negating the possibility of

women ministering to men in general. Remember, a man and a

woman decides to be married and live under the state of

relationship known as marriage. No one enforced these ideas

and rules upon them. Neither should we enforce any rules on

anyone, male or female, that the Word of God does not

require.

Both 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-15 use the

word “gyne” (women/wife) in the presence of “aner”

(husband). In such contexts the word refers to wives in

relation to husbands rather than women in relation to men in

general.
The 1 Corinthian 14 passage is difficult to understand in the

first place because 1 Corinthians 11 has already implied that

women did prophecy in Corinthian worship. The very dynamics

of 1 Corinthians 11 are created largely because of a situation

in which a man’s wife is doing something prominent in the

presence of other men. In that light,1 Corinthians 14:34-35

cannot be an absolute statement, otherwise Paul would

contradict himself. Regardless of what you think on the

husband/wife issue, we do see women in the New Testament

ministering to men.

Priscilla helps instruct Apollos in Acts 18:26 and she is

mentioned first before her husband in this instance. Phoebe is

a deacon of the church at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1). This is the

same exact word (it is not deaconess, it is the masculine form

of the word) used in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8 for

church leaders. The church meets in the homes of women like

Lydia. The Junias of Romans 16:7 is addressed by Paul as an

Apostle. Oddly enough, some modern translations have

changed the name Junias to a more masculine-gendered name

(the New International Version has done this). What would be

the necessity of doing this unless removing the female

implication was deemed necessary?

I personally don’t even think God wants us to insist that the

husband always be the head of the wife, although the issue of

women in ministry doesn’t stand or fall on this debate.

Unlike today, there was nothing distinctly Christian in Paul’s

saying the husband was the head of the wife. Aristotle says

the same things: “The head of the household rules over both

wife and children, and rules over them both as free members

of the household. His rule over his wife is like that of a

statesman over fellow citizens. The male is naturally fitter to

command than the female, except where there is a departure

from nature” (22)

In other words, Paul is talking like any old non-Christian when

he speaks of male headship. These comments sound distinctly

Christian in our world, but they were not distinctly Christian in

Paul’s day. In other words, it is when Paul moves toward the

equality of the sexes in Christ that he is being uniquely

Christian. Here is the spiritual trajectory in contrast to that of

the earths.
We certainly would not want to make 1 Timothy 2:12-15 the

key verses in our theology of women. These verses must be

considered somewhat extreme, since if we take them as

absolute statements, they would imply that Christ’s death did

not atone for all sins. A literal translation of the Greek of 2:14-

15 reads, “The woman/wife, being deceived, has come to be in

transgression. But she will be saved through childbearing, if

they remain in faith and love and holiness with self control”.

(23) Do we really argue that women today are still “in

transgression” because of the sin of Eve, a state of

transgression from which childbearing “saves” them?

1 Timothy is making a point to the Ephesians here, but it

cannot negate the fact that Christ atoned for all

transgressions, including the sin of Eve. To say otherwise is

nothing short of blasphemy. This is scarcely a verse on which

to base our theology. It likely reflects the issue of false

teaching with which the Pastoral writings are so strongly

concerned. The statement of 1 Timothy 2 is heretical if we

take it absolutely.

Nor can we make much of the order of creation: “Adam, first,

then Eve” (1 Timothy 2:13). We’ve already mentioned that

Galatians 3:28 negates the differentiation between male and

female on the spiritual plane. The birth order of Adam and Eve

relates to the earthly and physical--clearly a less significant

element in the equation.

Nor are all wives/women more gullible than all husbands/men

(1 Timothy 2:13). Such a claim would be simply false. If we

don’t view 1 Timothy 2:12-15 in light of specific problems at

Ephesus, it leads to tremendous theological problems and

falsehoods--not preferable destinations by any means.

Another reason why women should be involved in ministry is

not only because they are gifted and able, but also

becausemany of them feel and continue to feel called to the

ministry. Many of these women have gifts and graces to go

along with such calls. Given that women prophesied and

ministered in the New Testament church, by what authority

could any Christian validly oppose these women who feel

called, simply because they are women?

Now I believe that many of those who oppose women in

ministry do so sincerely and because they think such a position

is God’s will; but Paul also talks about individuals who have a
zeal for God without knowledge (Romans 10:2). Paul’s Jewish

opponents had good biblical basis for opposing his message

too;probably better Old Testament proof texts than Paul had in

fact. After all, things like circumcision and purity rules were

clearly taught in the Old Testament. Paul’s opponents were

more literal and fundamental in their use of Scripture than he

was.

However, Paul was not a man of the letter. He was a man of

the spirit. Paul said that his “letteral” opponents took pride in

their flesh rather than in thespirit (Galatians 6:13). The same

is true of those who oppose women in ministry; this is earthly

and fleshly thinking. They are focusing on the physical vessel

of the women rather than her fully redeemed spirit. The

gospel boldly claims that women “in Christ” are spiritually no

different from men. Those who preclude women from equal

spiritual ministry are thus thinking with their flesh and not the

Spirit.

Whether we like it or not, women are just as smart as we are

(often they have been found to be smarter). Women mature

more quickly then men as a rule. Women tend to be more

loving than men (and thus more Christian in their behavior,

since love is the fulfillment of the law). The men of Paul’s day

more often than not would not have accepted these claims, but

no one today can seriously dispute these things unless they

avoid a lot of women.

If a woman has gifts of leadership, gifts of speaking and

spiritual insight, there is no logical reason why we shouldn’t

actively seek for her to be leader and authority over men who

are less gifted, less insightful andhave less spiritual

discernment. This is just good sense, bottom line. To place a

less competent male over a more spiritual and gifted female

simply because of the presence of a physical organ not known

for thinking or spirituality is pretty hard to make sense.

We can rationalize our opposition, but it’s just bad thinking.

Surely God does not promote bad thinking. Sometimes God

stoops to our weakness, like when He allowed divorce in the

Old Testament (Deut. 24:1 and Matthew 19:8), but ultimately

He works His people toward the ideal. We live not only in the

Age of Grace, but also the Age of the Ideal.

Jesus and Paul regularly teach us not to put God in a box with

our interpretations of the rules. The New Testament authors

consistently interpreted the Old Testament spiritually more

than literally. So if a woman senses God’s call, if a community

of believers sees the evidence of that call, if the woman

demonstrates leadership ability, why would we oppose this

woman ministering? It would make no sense to oppose her.

No rational argument can be made against the possibility of

women in ministry other than the fact that people often don’t

accept a woman minister. So what, we push the lowest

common denominator because of the shortsightedness,

ignorance or even sinfulness of our people? Does God want us

to accommodate ignorance in the church? When God is

pushing us toward heaven, do we just acquiesce to earthly,

fleshly thinking?

If some men feel intimidated by a woman God has called, we

need to help them work through it, not reinforce their

insecurity. If a woman feels like her comfort zone is called into

question by another woman taking leadership, we need to help

her grow, not support her weakness. Obviously everything

must be done in love and God even accommodated the

weakness of the early Christians on these issues from time to

time. In the times of this ignorance God winked at these

things, but now He calls us to repent of our earthly

mindedness and move further in the fulfillment of the gospel.

An obstacle hinders many female souls from trusting in Jesus

as their hope for this life and the next. Many modern women

have felt the anguish of being treated as second-class citizens

in a man’s world. They have been stereotyped and

marginalized by men who fail to see their real abilities and

understand their real desires. Due to the fact that many

women have been discriminated against unfairly because of

their gender, they justifiably complain of the sting of sexism.

Christians should be sensitive to these problems, since God

calls us to respect everyone equally on the basis of the truth

that we are all created in the image of God (Genesis 1:28), to

love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 19:19), and to

recognize our unity and equality in Christ (Galatians 3:26-29).

Yet sadly, many women see the Bible, as it is being taught

today, as justifying the mistreatment of half the human race.

As a result of the position of most Christian denominations

against the role of women in the church, many women are

seeking their spiritual fulfillment in recent developments in

the sacred feminine and goddess worship. Years ago, a young

goddess worshipper named Lia Salciccia wrote an amazing

article titled, “Christianity Fails to Honor Women”. (12) Her

article claimed that scores of people reject the gospel because

they believe the Bible is sexist.

Several charges are often leveled against the God of the Bible.

Many non-Christian feminists claim that the God of the Bible is

male. If God is male, then men are more like God than women

are. Therefore, men have a God-like authority over women in a

way analogous to God’s authority over His creation. This

devalues and disempowers women who, because of their

gender, will never have the privileged status of men.

Salciccia wonders how Christian women put up with it. “Do

they enjoy following a religion governed by a book that says

they are inferior?” she asks. “When these women pray to God

is it a man’s face that they see?” Some feminists also

complain that since the Incarnation of God occurred in the

form of a man, Jesus, this God cannot properly relate to the

women’s experience. Because of these problems with

Christianity, they say, women must turn to a feminine

understanding of the divine, the Goddess. Hence the bumper

sticker “Thank Goddess”.

Goddess religion takes on many forms. “Generally speaking, it

rejects male-dominated religious practices and centers on

ancient and pagan practices that revere the earth and its

energies, often drawing on unreliable prehistoric sources to

fashion a suitable spirituality for women today”. (13)

Goddess religion rejects the notion of God as a distant Creator

who sends His male emissary (Jesus) into the world. Instead,it

worships the goddess as the divine power and presence that

permeates the world. Salciccia says, “If I can choose my own

deity, I will choose one I can relate to, one which is reflected

by all living things, including my very female self”. The

goddess mentality is not about a personal God or deity.

Despite the references to “She” and “Mother”, this deity is

nothing more than an impersonal force, principle or source

that is embedded in nature. The goddess of this belief system

is more of a metaphorical or poetic idea than a literal or actual

being.
A great question at this point might be why these women feel

the need to disconnect from the God of the Bible and hook up

with a belief system that bears its power from the forces of

nature and other mystical ideals. Can it be that the male-

dominated ideals of the Christian faith,and the staunch

criticism of women in ministry has taken these women from

the unwanted shores of the Christian faith to a belief where

their abilities and ideals are welcome? And, if this is the case,

can we blame them for leaving?

Can this goddess religion bring them the satisfaction they once

may have sought with Christianity? I found the answer to this

in further research of the goddess practice. For a great

resource on this subject, see The Goddess Revival, by Aida

Besancon, Donna F.G. Halison, Catherine Clark Kroeger and

William David Spencer, Publisher Baker Books. (14)

In looking into the charges that the goddess religions place

against the God of the Bible, I want to highlight several points

that pertain to Jesus. Those drawn to the goddess must first

come to terms with the real Jesus, not a sexist caricature.

First, the God of the Bible is not male in any sense. God is not

a sexual being. Jesus taught that God is a spirit (John 4:24)

and not one who brings things into existence through

procreation. God is not to be represented as either male or

female (Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 4:16).

The Bible does refer to God as our “Father” but as theologian

Alister McGrath explains, “To speak of God as father is to say

that the role of the father in ancient Israel allows us insights

into the nature of God, not that God is a male being. Neither

male nor female sexuality is attributed to God. Indeed,

sexuality is an attribute of the created order that cannot be

assumed to correspond directly to any such polarity within the

creator God Himself”. (15)

Scripture refers to God as “he” and Jesus called God His

“Father”not to emphasize masculinity against femininity, but

to highlight that God is a personal and powerful being. Unlike

the idea of the goddess, the biblical God is a knowing, willing,

holy and loving personal agent who reveals himself in the Bible

and through becoming a human being in Jesus Christ. In the

cultures to which the Bible originally came, men had more

authority than women. Although the Bible does not sanction

sexism or the marginalization of women, it used terms and

concepts that would best communicate God’s position of

prestige and role as our protector and provider.

Nevertheless, the Bible uses feminine imagery when it speaks

of God as giving birth to Israel (Deuteronomy 32:18) and the

Christian (James 1:18). Jesus said He longed to gather

rebellious Israel to himself as a mother hen gathers her chicks

(Matthew 23:37-39). These kinds of metaphors reveal that

although God is not a sexual being, He possesses all the

qualities that we appreciate in both men and women, because

God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

Second, Jesus did not set up a male-dominated religious

system in which women would be permanently subjugated. He

surprised His followers by teaching theology to women in

private and public (John 4:7-27, 11:21-27; Luke 10:38-42) at a

time when women were excluded from such affairs. Although

He esteemed the family, Jesus stipulated that a woman’s

principal purpose in life is not reducible to motherhood and

domestic work but is found in knowing and following God’s will

(Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28). Jesus also appeared to Mary after

His resurrection, and appointed her as a witness to His world-

changing event in a time when the witness of a woman was not

respected (John 20:17-18; Matthew 28:5-10).

His model of leadership was based on mutual service and

sacrifice, not hierarchical authority and structures: “You know

that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high

officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your

servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave,

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,

and to give His life as a ransom for many”. (16)

In addition, in the early church the women served as prophets

(Acts 2:17-18; 21:9) and teachers (Acts 18:24-28). Paul clearly

articulated the equality of believers when he said, “You are all

sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who

were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, salve nor free, male or female,

and you are all one in Christ Jesus”. (17)

Third, the incarnation of God in Jesus does not imply that God

is male or that God excludes or devalues women. For God to

manifest Himself in person as a human being, he would have to

be either a male or a female. He could not be both

simultaneously. However, the most important fact about Jesus

was not His maleness (although maleness enabled Him to gain

respect in ancient and patriarchal Jewish culture), but His holy

humanity and identification with the entire human race. As

McGrath says, “The fact that Jesus was male, the fact that he

was a Jew, all these are secondary to the fact that God took

upon Himself human nature, thereby lending it a new dignity

and meaning”. (18)

Jesus understands us all from the inside out: “For we do not

have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our

weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every

way, just as we are, yet without sin”. (19) Although Jesus lived

in perfect harmony with the Father and the Holy Spirit, when

He joined the human family He knew what it was like to suffer

and feel pain as we do.

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers

and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one that could

save Him from death, and He was heard because of His

reverent submission. Although He was a son, He learned

obedience from what he has suffered and, once made perfect,

He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey

Him”. (20)

Those who gravitate toward the goddess because of the

problems they perceive with the God of the Bible should

realize that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world,

including the sins that men commit against women. Jesus

neither endorses nor excuses any sin, but calls everyone to

repent of sin and accept Him as her Savior, Master and Friend

(John 15:15). An impersonal principle, power, or presence

romantically called the goddess can be no one’s friend, let

alone Savior. Despite the sentimental use of feminine

language, one cannot relate personally to an impersonal

power.

While the goddess religion is speculatively reconstructed from

the dark recesses of prehistory, the drama of Jesus is

enshrined in datable, space-time and humanhistory. God has a

human face, the visage of Jesus. His story has spoken to

countless millions of women and men worldwide for the last

two thousand years, and continues to speak to us today.

When I began the undertaking of this chapter, I knew it would

provide the opportunity for some dear friendships to end. This

subject is a volatile one and many mainline denominations

have suffered wildly for it. For years now, deep in my heart

but afraid to speak the words out loud, I have held silence and

become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. I

met with a dear female pastor in my preparation for this and

the insight and love she extended is partly to credit for my

open response. I thank her from the bottom of my heart and

acknowledge that this whole chapter could have been

dedicated to her accomplishments, but her humility would

never have allowed me to do so.

The ultimate irony here is thatthe discussion is not about the

85% of the Body of Christ that won’t come out to serve

regardless of the many appeals of leadership. This issue

addresses the countless women who are equipped, ready and

prepared to enter the fray and make advancements for the

Kingdom of God. With the situation we find ourselves in today,

we need all the competent leadership we can muster without

prehistoric male dominance getting in the way.

People often ask me who I think should be in charge of the

local bodies of Christ. Do you think it should be men or

women? How can you read the Bible and come to the

conclusion that women are the spiritual equals of men? The

problem here is thatthe question is wrong. If you were a

Christian, you wouldn’t ask a question like that. The Christian

never asks who’s going to be master. Instead, the Christian

asks who’s going to be the servant.

What are some suggestions to remedy this problem? Right

now, as with many issues in Christianity, denominations seem

divided on the matter of women in ministry. The widespread

overarching belief by the outside observer of Christianity is

the rejection of women in leadership roles and ministry

operations. But the fact remains that many women currently

are serving the Body of Christ not only in the same duties and

responsibilities as men, but without any of the members they

serve seeming to lack any spiritual direction or leadership.

With that being said, since the practice is already in place, and

there are no clear-cut scriptural arguments that rule out

women in ministry and being that denominations are split on

the matter, what is the possible gain from delaying the obvious
outcome, which will be women authorized, recognized and

ordained to serve along side their male counterparts.

Not too many years ago a subject like this reared its ugly head

and began the process of dividing the church as it had already

accomplished in dividing the nation. In the end, slavery was

abolished. The churches that supported slavery all the way

through its eventual and well-deserved defeat had a lot of

explaining to do. Perhaps we can prevent that same sense of

despair and shame by joining sides with the women who desire

the high calling of God in ministry.

WOULD JESUS BE A CHRISTIAN: A CONCLUSION PLUS A COUPLE

OF POP-TORTS

Would Jesus be a Christian? Perhaps a ridiculous question to

ask. Just on the three subjects we looked into, there seemed

to be a very different set of viewpoints on each. Such has

been the track record of today’s Christian movement.

Doctrines within doctrines, teachings within teachings and

churches within churches. The very design of the buildings

can sometimes give us a hint as to what kind of Christians lurk

inside.

Beyond the shape of the building, we could observe the kind of

dress the people heading in and out of the sanctuary might be

wearing. There are many trains of thought in Christian circles

as to how people should dress when coming to the house of

God.

Once inside, perhaps the fastest and most obvious factor in

determining what kind of fellowship we have entered into is

the worship music. From five flats on a piano to high-tech and

drum-driven music, worship has become a battleground in

allowing a church to express what kind of worship they feel

best represents their style. Sadly, “worship wars” will be with

us for a long time.

Some churches welcome all to participate in the sacred act of

communion. Others limit it to believers only, with some

closing their door to believers and non-believers alike,

claiming scripture only authorizes members to partake in the

communion rite.
Some churches utilize a congregational government, with each

member having the right to exercise their opinion on church

matters by a vote. Some churches call the ministers by the act

of voting, while othershave ministers sent by denominational

headquarters. Other churches operate by elder boards that

represent the membership kind of like how Senators represent

their home states.

Membership in the churches is different as well. Some have

open membership; others use a series of prerequisite classes

to secure membership. Some don’t even offer membership,

believing that every believer is already a member in the Body

of Christ.

None of these above mentioned issues are any kind of an

indictment on my part or an accusation of wrongdoing. These

are just some simple observations of our overall situation.

When the question is asked, “Would Jesus be a Christian”,

these issues make it very hard to determine exactly what kind

of Christianity we might be referring to.

From Baptist to Pentecostal, Methodist to Nazarene, Church of

Christ to Church of God in Prophecy, the list goes on. Some

leaders and professors have estimated that there are over

26,000 denominations in the Christian faith practice. This does

not lend itself to a unity of the Body of Christ that Jesus spoke

clearly of in His understanding of His mission and the mission

He would pass on to us. Not only do we find unique

separations between different Christian denominations that

are Biblical challenges, we also have differences that have

leaked out into the marketplace and have caused the un-

churched public to have a despairing view on Jesus. Let’s look

at a few of these issues that have unfortunately become the

public face of Christianity.

For the course of the last 15-20 years, abortion has been a

spiritual hot spot for many Christians. Let me first start out by

saying that all life is sacred to God. The Bible, andwhile not

specifically addressing the practice of abortion, makes a

strong case against the termination of any life. Abortion has

taken its place among the battlefields of Christian thought and

practice to the point that Christians are advised to select

candidates based on the candidate’s position on this issue.

Christians have been known to host rallies and protests. Some

of these protests are done in front of the clinics that perform

abortions. Posters and banners proclaiming God’s hatred for

the act of abortion are displayed. Doctors are called murders

and the women going into the clinics are met with hostility and

verbal confrontations. Sometimes pleas for reconsidering the

act of abortion and options for possible adoptions are made as

well.

I cannot imagine for the women entering the clinic the

pressure and emotional trauma she must be feeling. Couple

that with a bunch of strangers makinga public display of this

horrific event, I wonder what possible good this can be. I have

heard pro-life protesters make the claim that, by their

presence at the clinics,women have changed their minds. They

claim, “We saved another one”. The “saved” baby becomes a

statistic instead of a person. If any “saving” went on, it was

the touch of God in the person’s life and not a banner of

hatred.

One of the problems I see with the pro-life Christians is that it

seems like the interest for the sanctity of life starts at

conception and ends at birth. With millions of children here in

the United States without health insurance, where are the

protests by Christians to secure health insurance for them?

With many classrooms all across America without textbooks,

some sharing textbooks but not allowing the books to go

home, where is the Christian outrage?

Homelessness, poverty, illiteracy, domestic violence and a

myriad of other problems are readily available for Christian

intervention. I believe that the community would welcome the

support. Perhaps by reaching the people where they live is a

better approach than trying to legislate the morality we want

them to live by.

For years Christians have battled with the homosexual

population. While the homosexual population is only about 2%

of the entire population of the United States, they have

received 100% of Christianity’s hatred. The word

“homosexual” is almost always followed by the word

“agenda”. We have all been told to watch out for the

homosexuals, as they plan to infiltrate our schools and media,

training the younger generation to fall into their evil plan.

Remember, we scare because we care.

As the public watched the homosexuals they found out they

were not really on a crusade forworld dominance. Eventually,

the flame of anti-homosexual rhetoric spewed out by the

Christian guardians of public safety burned out. Just when you

thought it was safe to hold hands in public, the next great

debate fired up. Same-sex marriages headed to the voting

booths.

The Religious Right decried same-sex marriages as an

abomination. We were told that same-sex marriages would

destroy the sanctity of marriage and bring down the American

Family Value that is the very fiber of this country. They said

the days of Sodom and Gomorrah were upon us and if America

did not repent, we were all soon to face the blast of the wrath

of God on our country. First of all, same-sex marriage is not

an“American” problem. It addresses the hearts and souls of

people on an emotional and spiritual level. Second, if America

ever did cease to exist, it would not disturb Biblical prophecy

one bit. So, remember, we scare because we care.

In terms of Christians giving advice on marriage, perhaps we

should slow down a bit. Our marriages don’t last any longer or

divorce less because we are Christians. In sociological pairing

groups, there are no marriage indicators that we stand out in.

We look just like the world we are trying to correct on this one.
What stands out to me here is the amazing double standard

that we projecting on this subject. For years we have been

told of a clear separation of church and state. Marriage is an

institution ordained and granted by the wisdom of God. He

called marriage into being and it has nothing to do with the

laws of the state. While it is easy to denote what the Bible

speaks of when it addresses a marriage, is it not also easy to

see what a same-sex marriage addresses?

These people are not asking for a church blessing or a “get out

of hell free” card, they are asking for a basic set of rights and

privileges that come from two people establishing a communal

relationship. Currently under the laws of the states, they are

denied any basic rights.

One such case included a partner who had lived with his male

domestic partner for 15 years. His partner was killed in

combat in Iraq and has been denied all military benefits due

spousal partners. What possible benefit does this bring to the

cause of Christ? How do we claim the highest regard for

human life on one hand, but work hard to ensure the

marginalization of rights of others who feel or live in violation

of the rules we live by?

Allowing the states to grant civil unions to same-sex marriages

will have zero impact on the God-given institution of marriage

as understood from Scriptures. To say that it will means that

we believe eventually all anti-gospel or non-biblical behavior

will completely drown out the power and validity of a life lived

for God.

With such a diverse system of beliefs and many life-changing

issues being decided in the court of Christian opinion, I

conclude that Jesus would not be a Christian. At least not one

as defined by the terms we have presently addressed. I am

also confident that Jesus had no intention of establishing a

new religion when He came to be here with us. As we already

explored, not much He did makes much sense outside of its

Hebraic perspective and value.

What would He say to us today if He were to visit our

sanctuary, listen to our music, and observe what we march

against and what we march for? How would He relate the

importance of our doctrinal positions when He can readily see

the neglect of the poor and needy? How would He feel with

our sing three songs, grab the cash, share the word and

dismiss in prayer services? Would He judge the effectiveness

of our outreach based on the physical attendance and tithing

percentage of the membership? Would He require us to join

His denomination?

I want to believe I know the answers to all these questions,

and in my heart I believe I do. What I am most concerned

about is in the course of knowing the answers that I do not

attempt to force my belief onto others. I want to live my

Christian faith in an honest and attractive way that brings out

the questions of others. I could spend my entire life answering

people’s questions about Jesus.

For your part, I can only encourage to keep seeking answers

that you find consistent with the life and teachings of Jesus

Himself. Asking questions about your faith and practice is not

about questioning authority. It is all about questioning

authenticity. Does this belief or practice hold up against the

commission and understanding that Jesus sanctioned as the

Christian faith? If not, throw out this baby and the bathwater

as well.
In the final Lord of the Rings movie, The Return of the King,

there is a moment when it appears that the forces of evil will

prevail in battle, thus ending the time of men on earth. They

are marching quickly upon the final battleground for Middle

Earth. In a desperate attempt to gather forces an ancient

warning system is invoked. These giant fire-pots are lit, one

right after another. In a powerful scene, they light one after

another summoning the kingdoms of men to join in the battle

for Middle Earth. In an amazing show of solidarity, the

kingdoms of men respond and the forces of evil are

overthrown at great cost of life.

I wonder if the Christian faith, if ever challenged for its very

existence, could light the fire-pots and call for help and if the

end of all ends was upon us, would Christianity rally to defeat

the forces of evil? Or would our divisions, doctrines, diversity

and denominations rest in a false assurance that whatever

wave of evil should impact us, God would never hold us

accountable for our absolute lack of unity.

Jesus taught that a house divided couldn’t stand. Perhaps

there is a false sense of security in being a Christian in the

Christian Church. Maybe we believe that God can’t get along

without us. Remember, while Jesus is the only way to God, we

are not the only way to Jesus.

POSTSCRIPT THOUGHTS

Multitudes in the Valley of Decision. What a true statement for

all of us to hear. Every action and thought of a Christian has

importance and value. We live in the warmth of today. This is

the day of salvation. There are many people, right here where

we live, that have never felt a true expression of love. God has

given us this day to share His love and warm the soul of those

without warmth.

Over the course of this report, we have been examining the

question, “Would Jesus be a Christian?” I must tell you that I

have not sought to prove if He would be a Christian or not.

The point is that we need to carefully examine whether or not

our actions prove us to be a follower of Jesus. I posed the

question to show a fundamental problem with our faith. There

is no putting God or Jesus into the forms of modern Christian

practice. They refuse to take our shape or our image.

Following Jesus is not about conformity to a religious system. I

heard of a pastor that was responding to a challenge to one of

his teachings. He told the person that was asking the

questions, “You don’t understand, I have a degree in

Systematic Theology.” A degree in Systematic Theology has

nothing to do with your ability to determine proper

interpretations of scripture. It does show your ability to focus

in on one particular discipline of the faith.

For me, I cannot think of a more important opportunity than

when people are asking questions. If we have them talking we

will findour degree program accomplishments pale in

comparison to seeing a human being begin to understand the

gospel.

Following Jesus is understanding just how much of a daily

struggle it will be. Being a Messianic minister and

participating in Sabbath observance, there is a very different

mentality applied to corporate gatherings. I have heard all my

Christian life dear saints say, “I am so glad to be here in

church today. My week in the world was so tough and I needed

to get my spiritual batteries recharged so I can go out for

another week.”

What if the point of gathering together was to leave our

worldly battles outside the congregation and to embrace each

other in a spirit of love and acceptance? What if we could

corral all our selfish impulses and seek first the kingdom of

God?

I am a Christian that will spend my entire life in process. I

don’t seek a reward or an event, but just the daily affirmation

that God is on my side. And for that I offer Him…..