faith

Unity … not Uniformity

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Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” (Generally attributed to a 17th century Lutheran theologian).

On the surface, this saying sounds great! But what I’ve seen is that Christians can’t even agree on the essentials. Every church adds their own twist.

The ancient church (first couple hundred years after Yeshua’s (Jesus’) life) had it right. And they were known for the love and care for one another. What is the western church known for now?

John 13:34-35 (NASB) states, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Most people in a church, when asked what their church is known for, will respond, ‘this is a very loving church.’ They answer only about their own church, not in regards to the church as a whole.

When we read these comments and commands we invariably interpret them as to apply only within our small group or church. Yet the Bible was written with all the followers of Christ in mind, not just those in your group or church.

Paul writes, in Phil. 2:3-4 (NASB):  “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

This doesn’t just apply to our use of our physical resources (and it isn’t paid much attention to even in this regard), but it also applies to how we treat others from other churches regardless as to whether or not we agree with everything they say.

We will be following Yeshua’s (Jesus’) words when we can love those from other churches, and fellowship with them, without having to agree with everything!

This doesn’t mean you have to go to their church regularly, it just means accepting others as also brothers and sisters in the Messiah! What kind of message would that send to “the world” if we actually accepted one another and loved one another regardless of which church one goes to! That would be a fulfillment of Yeshua’s words – ‘the world will know you are my disciples.’

No, we’d rather stand on our ‘statement of beliefs’, and if you don’t adhere to (most of) them, then you aren’t considered as being worthy or fellowship, or even worse, as being a child of God. As if it is our job to judge another’s position with Yehovah (the LORD)! And we don’t even realize that the ‘statement of beliefs’ that we hold so dear are not presented as foundational in the Bible! (Okay, there may be one or two things in different church’s belief statements that is foundational, but it is actually rare!)

In the book of Revelation, chapters 2 to 3, Yeshua addresses churches and even says things like, “you think you are doing great!”, yet I will vomit you out of your mouth!

Its funny that when I think of this particular letter in the book of Revelation, I ponder the response I get from people of different churches when I bring this up. It is invariably a form of the answer, “that isn’t my church; we are not like that!”

Yet Yeshua took the time to say these things! So who does it apply to?

Then in Matthew chapter 7:21-23 (NASB), Yeshua gives a parable, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ “

Did you catch that? He’s addressing people who seem to be ‘on fire’ Christians, claiming to do wonderful things in His Name! Yet he tells them to go away; very reminiscent of what he tells the Laodiceans in the book of Revelation.

So, why do I write all this?

Because the church has a huge unity problem!

“Unity” does not mean uniformity. It is okay to view things of the Bible differently!

God Himself knew we, as humans, would tend to clique up and say, our way is the right way! So, He gave us His appointed times (His feasts, often inaccurately called Jewish feasts), and told the Israelites that they shall all come to worship Him together, 3 times a year! If you think that the Israelites were all uniform in all they thought and did, and in their traditions and rituals, you really need to go study some history! This is like telling independent evangelical protestants, baptists, Methodists, Mennonites, and …, that they should meet together 3 times a year to worship and praise God together!

Yet that is what He wants, and such behavior would be a wonderful example to the world!

I’m not saying that individual churches don’t get noticed by ‘the world’ when they do things, but what I’m saying is that it is on a very small scale. Why? Because the church is so fragmented and most groups don’t want anything to do with other groups! What does that tell the world? Do I need to spell it out? It is just like every other religion in the world where one sect doesn’t like the other. Actually, other religions often are better than the Christians in this respect. Example: Sunni and Shiite Muslims basically don’t get along and often fight one another, yet both groups will go to Mecca and mix with one another!

You can start small: invite a speaker from a different church & denomination to your congregation, and accept him/her, even if you don’t agree with him/her. Or, as one church in my town does, pray for a different, unrelated church each Saturday or Sunday. (And pray that the group would be blessed!)

So, think about it. When the Bible is talking about ‘you’, it very often means all fellow Christians (in the broad sense of the word: protestants, lutherans, messianics, … and on and on and on… )!

And if you are worried about the ‘essentials’, go through the Bible to discover what the essentials truly are! I’ll be doing a post about that very soon.

Shalom!

Yosef

Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets

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Most people don’t know of this feast as it isn’t acknowledged in Christianity, and in Judaism it is called by a different name, “Head of the Year”, or more colloquially, the “Jewish New Year” or “Rosh Hashanah”

I’m not going to get into why it is called and celebrated as the New Year in Judaism. Rather, what importance can it possibly have to Christianity?

First, you have to realize that God gave us a calendar that, among other things, shows a sequence of events. This calendar is His Feasts, or as He calls them, His Appointed Times.

It starts off with Passover, where Yeshua (Jesus) was crucified.

Immediately afterwards starts the week of unleavened bread, which is all about showing us what it means to not be “under the law of sin and death” and what it means to be “in His Kingdom!”

During this week of unleavened bread, the barley waving happens. The first fruits of the year, where, early in the morning, the barley is waved before God. Yeshua rose on this day! (And did you ever wonder about that odd story in the gospels where, early in the morning, Mary is at the tomb but she does not recognize Yeshua as He appears to her; When she does recognize him, she grabs on to him, but Yeshua answers, “Do not hold on to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father”? The answer is simple: Yeshua is keeping the feast of ‘barley waving,’ and as the first fruits of those risen, no one is to touch him until after he is risen to the Father, just as no one was to touch the new barley until after it was waved before Yehovah (the LORD). See Leviticus 23:14. )

Then, some weeks later, comes Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit is poured out, just as promised as part of the new covenant (see Jeremiah. 31:31-34; Joel 2:28-29). It is also, by ancient Jewish custom, the day that God spoke on Mt. Sinai as He was giving the 10 statements (called ’10 commandments’ in Christianity, but not in scripture). Do you see a connection?

Then, after many more weeks, comes the Feast of Trumpets. It is followed, 10 days later, by the Day of Atonement, and then 5 days later by the week of the Feast of Tabernacles. The day after Tabernacles is a single day, “the Eighth Day.”

To date, Yeshua has done nothing special on those days.

But what does Paul say in 1 Thess 4:16 and 1 Corin. 15:52? That Yeshua (Jesus) will return at the sound of the trumpet and a cry of command!

The Feast of Trumpets is, well, a feast where the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet) is sounded, and shouts of praise are given to Yehovah (the LORD)! Do you see a connection? The trumpet call is calling God’s people to prepare for what is coming! Prepare with praise, repentance, and joy!

Atonement and Tabernacles fit in to the events of the end times as well. Atonement can be viewed as that time when Yeshua finishes “removing the spots and wrinkles from the church” (see Ephesians 5:27), and also possibly when all of Israel recognizes the Messiah! Tabernacles is then a good picture of the “wedding feast of the Lamb!”

Another way of looking at the feasts is to see the full story of the gospel (see Exodus 6:6-7) and salvation! Yet another aspect is to see God revealing Himself completely through the events surrounding each feast! There is also a more ‘mundane’ meaning to the feasts, a giving of thanks for all that we have here on earth!

There are other ways of looking at these feasts. The facts about what Yeshua (Jesus) did on Passover, waving of the barley, and Pentecost are irrefutable though.

So why has Christianity thrown these feasts out, that are so full of meaning on different levels, and replaced them with feasts of man’s making? What are they afraid of?

So, take the opportunity to start enjoying the feasts God has given us, and at the same time learning what the gospel truly says and its impact on His followers! And know, that each time you do, you are completely in His will – a wonderful place to be!

Shalom!

Yosef