Messianics are praying the 'Shema,' but preaching Jesus as the Messiah

By Barry Yeoman
 

In a Southern Baptist church, there is part of the burgeoning phenomenon: Messianic “synagogues” that blend Jewish liturgy with a Christian message.  In the 1970s, no more than a handful of these congregations existed throughout the United States. Now there are more than 300 nationwide -- the Association of Messianic Congregations says 438 -- plus another 100 in Israel.  Congregations are found across the former Soviet Union and in countries as diverse as Argentina, the Netherlands and Zambia. Last fall, 1,000 people attended a fund-raiser for a new Messianic center in Berlin launched by the Chosen People Ministries and aimed at reaching Russian immigrants.  Many of these congregations sponsor Torah studies, b'nai mitzvot, klezmer concerts, kosher food pantries, Shabbat dinners, singles gatherings and Hebrew schools. They encourage Jewish-born members to maintain their identities and participate in events sponsored by the larger Jewish community. They call Jesus by the Hebrew name “Yeshua,” and the New Testament “B’rit Chadashah.” They welcome interfaith couples. The goal, movement leaders say, is to create an atmosphere where Jews feel more receptive to a Christ-centered theology.  “A lot more people are coming to faith in Yeshua through Messianic congregations than ever would through street evangelism,” says Mitch Glaser, president of the New York-based Chosen People Ministries. “It not only brings Jewish people face to face with the message, but it brings them heart to heart with people who have been impacted by the message.” 

Evangelists call this “contextualization,” presenting the Gospel in a cultural format that welcomes potential converts. In Muslim countries, Christian missionaries sometimes fast during Ramadan, prostrate themselves during prayer and refer to their churches as “Jesus mosques.” 

Though it is not a new strategy, missionaries have used contextualization with increasing skill and subtlety. To Jewish watchdogs this goes beyond old-fashioned “witnessing,” or sharing of faith. They say it smacks of fraud: the use of familiar practices and symbols to lure people away from their faith. 

“This is Jewish identity theft,” says Scott Hillman, former executive director of Jews for Judaism, a Baltimore-based organization that tracks missionary efforts. “What kind of witness is it for what you believe to be true if you have to use deception to sell it?”  Hillman says he does not oppose evangelizing per se, as long practitioners are upfront about their Christianity.  “But the moment you put up a sign saying ‘Yeshua’s the Messiah; fulfill your Judaism,’ that’s when I have a problem,” he says. 

Most mainstream Jews believe that Christianity and Judaism are mutually exclusive, no matter what evangelists claim.  “Belief in Jesus as the Messiah places you outside the Jewish community’s self-definition,” says Lawrence Schiffman, chair of Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University. “That is a fact.”  The theological differences between Judaism and Christianity are deeper and more complex than the issue of Jesus’ messiahship. For instance, Judaism says God forgives repentant sinners; Christianity describes an irreparable breach that could have been bridged only by Jesus’ death.  Judaism has the righteous of all nations as being saved; Christianity says heaven is reserved exclusively for those who recognize Jesus as Messiah. When the two religions diverge, Messianic Jews tend to side with Christians.  This is no accident. The Messianic movement is rooted in evangelical Christianity. Even today, many Messianic congregations are aligned with conservative Protestant denominations. The Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God, Seventh-day Adventists, International Church of Foursquare Gospel, Evangelical Church of America, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and Presbyterian Church in America all sponsor Messianic congregations.

Rabbi Sylvin L. Wolf