Do This... Not That

Recently, a good friend asked if I could sit down with her sometime and share my faith journey and how I have landed in the "Hebrew Roots" stream. As I thought about it, I did what I normally do - jotted down some thoughts, took a look at how others have processed their own journey, and came up with these points:

Do This:

• Read the Bible
• Trust that God loves us and knows what's best for us
• Find out what Jesus said and did
• Question "tradition"
• Imagine what it looks like to do life in obedience to God's word

Don't Do This:

• Tell other people how they have it all wrong
• Think you have it figured out
• Argue about how to pronounce YHVH
• Get all weird about doing everything perfect
• Try to "act Jewish"

To borrow some points from hebrewrootsmom,

* Few Christians are familiar with Jewish culture. Understanding or even practicing Jewish feasts and festivals brings rich meaning to the Christian faith. Most Christians believe in the authority of the Old Testament but reject Jewish culture because they either don’t understand it or don’t want to compromise their identity as those who recognize the Messiah versus the Jews who don’t. Because of this, a huge divide has formed between the two groups... Over the years, some Christians have realized that the two faiths weren’t meant to diverge so drastically. They take Jesus literally when he says that he fulfilled the Torah (or Law – Matthew 5:17) but didn’t abolish it.

* In the Hebrew Roots, most “members” are Christians, who recognize their need for Jesus as their savior from their sins but desire to enrich their faith by incorporating biblical Jewish customs... the Hebrew Roots Movement differs from Messianic Judaism in that its constituents are not Jewish. When a person of Jewish heritage recognizes Jesus as their Messiah, they are then referred to as Messianic Jews. Gentiles are non-Jewish and stay non-Jews even when they embrace Jewish customs.

* The main source of doctrine in the Hebrew Roots Movement is simply the Bible itself – both the Old and New Testaments... It is practiced differently in every Hebrew Roots family I know but they all have one thing in common: They seek to mature their faith and pass it on to others by illuminating the Gospel and the God of the bible through practice of Jewish customs.

* While there are many ways the Hebrew Roots Movement is presented, I have yet to meet a constituent that believes that salvation occurs from keeping the Torah. We fully embrace salvation through Jesus as the sacrifice worthy of payment for our sins. Since we’re unable to earn our salvation because of our sin, we embrace Jesus, who kept the Torah to the letter, as our only way to approach a Holy God. Following the laws of the Torah is a result of our devotion to and love for our God and our Messiah.

With the exception of calling The Feasts "Jewish feasts", as so many people do, (scripture calls them God's appointed times - they are GOD'S feasts, not the sole property of Jewish people) I would say that I couldn't have said it better and I really think that about sums up where I'm coming from.

Do I have it all figured out? Oh, please... I don't even have today figured out, but I take one step at a time as I begin to grasp the concepts of trust, love, and obedience.