We are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the salvation of the Jews. There are so many views on what is and isn't supposed to happen in regards to Israel and the Jews. I was just interacting with a book the claims that present day Judaism is not really the direction that
Messianic Jews should go in because Judaism is no longer Old Testament Judaism and has become something cultic and apart from the true Judaism of the OT. If this is the case, then those who claim to be Messianic Jews and form their religious order and worship after present day Judaism are actually in danger of crossing over into sycretism and are not "completing" themselves by calling themselves "Messianic Jews" and not "Christians". The author explains that he happens to be a Christian who is a Jew and is in favor of worshipping like a Jew but will not cross over into cultic Judaism in order to be "Messianic". Something new for me - any thoughts?
I over heard a discussion Sunday about what it means to be a Christian and it got me thinking. The idea of receiving eternal life as the exclusive privilege of being a Christian is usually substantiated with John 3:16. However, the other gospels give different criteria for eternal life. Both Matthew and Mark use the complete devotion to Jesus and the renunciation of worldly wealth as qualifiers for eternal life (illustrated in the story of the rich young ruler). Luke uses the commands “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself” as qualifiers (which is more in line with the philosophy of the writer of Ecclesiastes). Luke’s requirements for eternal life have the same level of devotion as Matthew and Mark, (“with all your heart, mind, soul and strength”) but expresses faith through action (“love your neighbor as yourself”) similar to the letter of James. Because Luke uses the verb “love” instead of “believe” there seems to be a much larger gray area in who qualifies as being a Christian. I think it also reflects the maturing process of those who want to follow God; what constitutes love for me today is much deeper and richer than when I first believed. Luke’s qualifiers also take Christianity away from an exclusive cult of Jesus to an inclusive devotion of all who would love their creator whatever ethnic or religious background they had. It seems to me that the golden rule is the universal religion, (even atheists seem to acknowledge its validity!).
ReplyDeleteCults are defined by their devotion. If as Christians we are called to have cult like devotion to God what difference does it make what traditions those practices come from? Isn’t it merely an expression of culture?
Keep thinking and asking questions,
Maria Kirby