Something has been grieving my spirit for quite awhile, and I had to repent of my wrong attitude towards those who are in the Body of Messiah and truly love God but are not Torah observant the way we think they should be!
First of all what is the greatest commandment in Torah according to Yeshua?
Mat 22:34 But the Pharisees, when they heard that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in one place.
Mat 22:35 And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked,
Mat 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”
Mat 22:37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
Mat 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mat 22:40 The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” TLV
So according to Yeshua, who are the real Torah observant believers? The ones who are arrogant and prideful and spew hatred and ugly mems at their brothers and sisters in The Body of Messiah (I prefer to use Body of Messiah vs. Church) or those in the Body of Messiah who do not have the revelation yet of the Blessings of Torah, yet are walking in Torah Principles?
Recently we were led by the Ruach to go to a Word church midweek service, the worship was beautiful and teaching was scriptural! We also are Rabbis who have our own Congregation and have gone through many ups and downs because people who are coming into the Messianic walk come in with bitterness, pride and have thrown out the baby with the bath water! We also were guilty of this, but have come into a Spiritual Balance in the Word.
First, I was not brought up in a Jewish home or a Christian home, but I did have a Bible believing grandmother, who kept Shabbat and taught me the Word whenever we visited her. Yes I am a Messianic Jewish Believer, but did not discover my heritage until much latter. It is Yeshua who brought me back to my Heritage and His Torah.
All I hear from people coming into this movement is "I was deceived", 'They lied to me"! Blaming others because they never cracked open their Bible to find out the truth themselves. I do not believe that most Pastors are intentionally lying to their people about "The Law", they truly believe that what they were taught was correct, however many are coming out of this misconception and teaching the truth. Sometimes it takes time to turn a huge ship around when it is off course.
What did I learn from the Church?
- From the Baptists I learned that preaching salvation and reaching the Lost was important.
- From the Pentecostal, I learned the importance of Holiness, Sanctification, Obedience and the Power of the Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit and Gifts, along with Healing.
- From the "Word of Faith" Church, I learned about walking in Faith so I can do what God called has called me to do, who I am in Messiah, and yes Prosperity because guess what, it takes money to help people and to the work of ministry etc.
- From the Messianic Walk I have learned that Torah is important, it is in my heart and that His Feasts are about Yeshua.
And yes, everything we learned prepared us for ministry.
Now when I refer to The Body of Messiah, I am talking about those who truly love God, Yeshua and His Word and are trying to walk in obedience.
Yes there are a lot of bad "Christian" teachers who have compromised the Word, but there are also bad' "Messianic" teachers as well who are perverting the truth as well. So do we lump everyone into one judgmental category because of a few sour lemons??? NO!
This Church I went to have many programs to help people because their people tithe and give offerings and support the vision of the leadership. This Church has a Business School, Youth Group, Job placement service, Ministry School, Continuing Education so people can learn MS skills, Prison Ministry, Inner city Ministry, Mentoring Program, Conferences, Missions etc.
So those of us "Messianic s" who think we are better than our brothers and sisters In the Body of Messiah, who happen to not have the understanding of Torah yet, are doing more works of the Torah then those I see in the Messianic Movement. Again, I am not lumping everyone together because there are some Messianic Congregations that are able to do these things as well because people tithe.
So before we start getting all prideful and patting ourselves on the back because we feel like we have arrived, WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
Yes there are "Kooky Christians" and "Messy Messianic s" but there are also Believers both Christian and Messianic who are doing what the Bible says to do, and they are the ones who are making a difference in this world.
Why would they want to listen to what we have to say, if we are being ugly, portraying them as deceived and demon possessed and stupid!! Before you start criticizing someone for what they teach, maybe you should find out what they teach first, you might be 100% wrong in what you thought they were about! Most of the time you are just parroting what someone said about them and passed judgement without finding out the facts first! Many wonderful peoples reputations have been destroyed because of Lashon Hara/Evil Speaking and spreading Gossip and lies!
Don't be spouting off Torah principles if you can not live THE Torah principle that Yeshua upheld and that is LOVE.
Mat 22:37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
Mat 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mat 22:40 The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” TLV
And yes I had to repent of my attitude as well because it was not helping me to walk in His blessings but dragging me down. There is just as much good Christian teaching that is solid in the WORD as there is Messianic teaching and also Jewish Teaching. My plumb line for TRUTH is the WORD and the commandment that we all need to perfect is LOVING GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART, SOUL AND MIND AND LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES AND TO WALK HUMBLY BEFORE OUR GOD.
Rabbin Deborah Brandt M.Div Judaic Studies
Deborah's Messianic Ministries Training and Messianic Worship Center Beit Midrash Tefillah Hallel
Judaic Studies Institute, Vice President and Student Advisor
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