Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

Messianic Judaism: So what’s our Purpose?

The Messianic Jewish movement currently finds itself in the midst of a rabid identity crisis. From its inception, Messianic Judaism’s primary goal has been to be a home and way of life for Jewish followers of Yeshua. However, if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that our efforts have largely been a failure. In the decades since our recent inception, we have not yet succeeded at creating a JEWISH Messianic Movement. Where did we get distracted? First, let me clarify what I am not saying. I recognize there is a definite place for non-Jews who are legitimately called to Messianic Judaism. We applaud the efforts of those non-Jews who have chosen to sojourn among the Jewish people and who have sacrificed greatly in order to be a part of our communities. However, by our own fault, and the simple overwhelming number of non-Jewish followers of Yeshua, the result of Messianic Judaism has largely been reduced to being a Torah revival for Christians. Now – please hear me out before your start throwing rocks … I bring this up because it is detrimental to our future. We have largely missed why we should exist and for what purpose. We have been distracted, chasing controversies that only continue to marginalize those Jews we seek to embrace. Although there is a place for discussions like “the role of Torah for...