Wanted to mention earlier that as a black man myself and one who has grown up in both segregated churches and multicultural ones, I must say that the "Black vs White" dynamic was a bit bothersome to me....for it did seem VERY inaccurate on many levels when trying to argue that not treating Gentile as if they're Jewish when they desire to be live Jewishly is akin to saying blacks and whites cannot fellowship together. In my mind, many churches that're predominately black are for multiculturalism so long as the concerns of the black populatuions they're trying to reach are taken into account---and when white members seek to dominante a black church setting in the name of "we're all the same"...to the point that none of the songs are anything except what's sung in white churches and the liturgy is akin to what you'd see in white churches....something's gravely off. The same goes in reverse for black members coming into churches that're predominatly white (or any other ethnic group, for that matter) and saying "we must be the same"/having all of the songs and cultural dynamics consistently become what's seen mainly black churches while denying a true reflection for the majority group in leading when in predominately white areas
Moreover, it can be VERY insulting whenever you have whites come into a church that says it's geared toward black people/black culture (which can be something whites are apart of if they've truly grown up in the culture)--and yet many of the whites "act" black and then get upset when other blacks raise eyebrows at them in wondering "Why are you not glad you're white?" Saw it often growing up where it seemed people were ashamed of being white in a black church...and although being white didn't mean that they were either ignorant of black culture or cold toward it, many felt as if they had to speak/talk black in order to be accepted. In some places, sadly, it was reinforced by other blacks that being white in certain cultural respects was bad...but in MANY places, blacks were trying to be very accepting of whites by letting them know how much they appreciated different cultures---but the whites simply thought they had to try harder.
The same happened with those within black culture when it came to being in predominately white churches--and feeling as if they had to perform simply because they were "black", as if others were expecting them to act a certain way due to seeing a certain aspect of black culture....and then stereotyping people on that basis. When others were blacks in white churches and asked by whites on how to reach out to blacks, it was annoying for them to have whites ignore them when they shared on the vast dynamics of black culture/its variations....and then be told by whites what it REALLY meant to be "black" and have whites tell other blacks that they know how to be black more so than black people simply because they had a heart to "reach black communities." Having others that are indigenious missionaries within their culture is very big....
In a multi-cultural church, the goal is have every tribe and tongue and nation all together worshipping the Lord---and reaching all groups around them if it's within their power...and I'm glad to have been apart of that growing up. At the church I grew up in, known as
Liberty Church of Marietta, under Pastor John Ficthner, they literally had to FIGHT FOR BEING MULTI-CULTURAL (and this from a WHITE PASTOR whose congregation was predominately white and
HALF LEFT when he started preaching about practicing racial reconcilliation rather than merely theorizing/preaching about it. It truly blessed my mother and I since we had never seen a church truly like that to that degree back in the late 90's.....and it's something that has always been dear to my heart.....and to be honest, annoying when it seems people act as if it's not an issue...............despite the fact that for the couple living in the South and going into a "Waffle House" store and being sneered at for having children of a different race, America is anything but "Color Blind" and over it.
But what made a difference, be it for whites or blacks, was for understanding the cultures of both on BOTH SIDES.
On the series my mother and I first heard from our pastor called "Racial Reconcilliation":
Connecting it with Messianic Judaism, there are many Jewish fellowships where the focus has always been on trying to do outreach to those who are Jewish/wishing to see a Jewish expression of the Messiah. In the same way that it'd be insulting to have whites tell blacks that they can live more "black" than they when it comes to outreach into black communities---while making it out as if being white is a bad thing---the same can be seen when it comes to Jews having Gentiles tell other Jews how they're more "Jewish" than they are in their living and that Jews /Gentiles are the same when Gentiles seek to live Jewish/wish to be "ONE." For oneness doesn't mean CONFORMITY, nor does it mean ignoral of cultural differences...nor does it mean that those who are Jewish are not allowed to lead when it comes to outreach amongst their OWN people. Others can join in when it comes to outreach, but there's a sense of humility when people outside of a culture are humble in asking how other Jews within the culture would respond to seeing Non-Jews being the main face for outreach.
Moreover, many Jewish fellowships want to have Gentiles within who are proudly Gentile because they want to have diversity rather than a Jewish fellowship alone. For the early church had multicultural churches of both Jews and Gentiles---and not every Jewish fellowship that had Jewish leaders was automatically against Gentile leaders who were living Gentile.
On the same token, just as it'd be wrong for Black churches to not want any kind of intergration with whites or assume that whites cannot be apart of black culture despite how varied it is (especially with regards to BIRACIAL individuals/mixed people and whites who grew up within black culture), it is very ugly when Jewish fellowships despise Gentiles who have grown up with Jewish family/friends....and say they have no right to outreach amongst those who are Jewish since those Gentiles are essentially God-Fearers like the Gentiles of old whom the Jewish people loved (even though not all of them adhered to all aspects of Judaism..more discussed
here and
here ). For other Gentiles, they were mixed..and were KEENLY aware of their mixed heritage, just as many Jews have been today when seeing Gentile culture comes up ( #
11 ,#
21 ,#
40 , and #
56 ).
Many Gentiles who are like Ruth need to be accepted into the fellowship as they support Jewish believers in their heart for outreach amongst other Jews....knowing how many Jews came to faith because they saw Gentiles who truly had a love for Jewish culture and didn't fit their stereotype that all Gentiles were either ignorant or spiteful of Jewish heritage---and prominence in certain situations.
Moreover, just as both blacks/whites can have stereotypes of the cultures of one another and yet have no idea of the variations of both within the camp (more discussed
here ,
here,
here ,
here,
here and #
208 ), so it can be the case that many Jewish fellowships can be for outreach amongst others in the Jewish community...and yet be GREATLY unaware of the many Jewish individuals/communities that would not feel comfortable in their midsts when seeing Gentiles who were not treated as brothers/sisters or allowed to be in leadership of any kind. For many Jews grew up tired of Judaism in certain circles where Gentiles friends/family were treated as if they AUTOMATICALLY had nothing to offer to Jews simply because they were Gentile. There's no need nor room for that, for the Lord was not only the Lord of the Jewish people...but of all people. More was discussed elsewhere on the matter, as seen here in #
46,
here and here in #
208
In the Book of Acts, we see the first Christian churches coming to terms with this very issue even though ethnic and theological issues were intertwined in that context.
There were Greek-speaking widows/Hellenized Jews who felt that they were being treated as outsiders and not being given a fair shake. For those Jews, it was if they were being treated as "second-class" simply because they were not "Jewish" enough for the Jews who were not really connected with Greek/Gentile culture. This is what minorities often feel and oftentimes with good reason. The widows’ concerns were immediately addressed (Acts 6:1-3). And what we also see is how the gospel itself enabled the early Church to overcome its potential for racism. In obedience to Christ (Acts 1:9), it took the gospel to—of all people!—the Samaritans who were religiously deviant and with whom Jews had had uneasy, strained relations for a thousand years even though they were related by blood. And Peter was also to learn personally how hard it is to go beyond one’s own group (Acts 10:9-48).
I view Messianic Judaism as a Jewish form of Christianity.
Christianity, at its most minimal basic, believes the Jesus is God, clothed in human flesh, who came to the earth, lived a perfect life, died for our sin, rose again on the third day. And there is only one way to be saved, by faith alone in Yeshua.
Messianic Judaism teaches the same thing. These are the basic truths of both beliefs and the fundamentals of the faith. A person does not have to be Messianic to be saved.
When Judaism looks at Messianic Judaism and says, the belief in Jesus, as we believe is Christianity, they are right. But most Jewish people do not understand what that means. A Christian is a disciple of Jesus. A Messianic Jew is a disciple of Jesus/Yeshua. Why? Because He is the Jewish Messiah and savior.
Messianic Judaism started with two purposes. One is definitely to share the good news with the Jewish people. The second was to assist Jewish believers with their unique problems and cultural views. Messianic Judaism was a Jewish community of believers when the Jewish community ejected us and tried to deny we even existed. We exist, we are Jewish and we believe in the Jewish Messiah. That made us visible, and undeniable that we exist, and that in itself is making the good news for Jewish people visible.
Prior to the 1990's all Messianic Jews considered themselves also Christian. This denial of Messianic Judaism being Christianity is very very recent, and there has been some papers written about this issue.
Messianic Judaism is primarily an outreach by the Jewish believers to our Jewish people (and Gentiles who worship along side and love the Jewish people).
