Messinanic Judaism Needs to Change Some Methods Not the Message

I wrote a recent blog (read it here) and made the statement, "Messianic Judaism is not working in my generation". This generated a lot of comments mostly on Facebook. I want to flesh that out a bit...

Pastor Andy Stanley wrote, "The...leaders who are seemingly most concerned about the dropout rate of that demographic [18-25 years old] are the very ones who create the weekend experiences that this demographic finds entirely unengaging."

I go to a lot of conferences. I can't even count how many time Messianic leaders say, "We are losing the next generation." or "We have lost the next generation." or "We need to do a better job reaching the next generation." In recent years, I have made similar statements based on a large number of friends that I grew up with in Messianic Judaism who have left Messianic Judaism for a variety of reasons. 

As a Messianic Rabbi's son I have fought many times for certain methods that I was taught. I have fought for things I considered to be non-negotiable of Jewish ministry. For instance I have preached on the Torah portions for the last 7 years. Recently, I realized that I had become tired with my own sermons. The text lost some life for me because I boxed myself into a system. Understand me, I am not opposed to the Torah and Haftarah cylce. But I am opposed to not being inspired. I have preached my best sermons in the last six months because I made a change in something that I would never have done previously. 

My overwhelming desire is to share Yeshua my Messiah with my generation, specifically with young, typically secular, Jewish people. I have come to openly wonder if some of the things I have been doing, convinced of their importance, actually had become roadblocks to me sharing Yeshua effectively.
 

What matters most in my generation is authenticity. I want to be authentically me. This idea led me on a path of discovery that I would of never imagined. I'm not by any means perfect; simply ask my wife she will confirm that! But I noticed in my preaching and in the way that I dressed for Shabbat and for rabbinical duties that I didn't feel quite like myself. I am an open book, a New Yorker. If you ask me what I think, I will tell you. And I found getting dressed up for Shabbat was, for me (not for everyone), not being true to who I am. Of course there are many convinced that dressing up is essential for Jewish people hearing the Gospel. There are expectations of what a rabbi is and what a rabbi looks like that should not be messed with. My nature has always been to mess with such things. (I wrote about this a few years ago. read it here!) Nothing gives me more satisfaction than hearing "I've never met a rabbi like you." After all, if I am following after Yeshua's example, that is exactly what I am going for!

My latest experiment is not wearing a tallit when I preach. A tallit is a traditional prayer shawl and there would be an expectation that a rabbi would wear one in synagogue. As I do. I wear it from the start of the service through the end of the Torah service and then take it off to preach. I wonder if removing some of the religious elements from my method will open some

people to the message. Because of some of my favorite preachers, I sit in a chair, use a teaching table, have a cup of tea and use an iPad. The message has not changed but methods are transitioning into something more comfortable for me and for my listeners. Listen, the message is not comfortable. The message is the truth of the Word of God. The message is that Yeshua is the God of our fathers. That is not comfortable for many listeners. I want people to have an opportunity to be offended by what I am saying and not by anything else in the presentation. It won't work for everyone. Some young people won't like my presentation. Some in the generations ahead of me won't like it either. I am not in this for everyone to like my presentation. I am going for people that Messianic Judaism has yet to reach. I am attempting to reach people who will respond to a particular way that God has gifted me to share about Him. It's cool with me if you don't dig my presentation. But, if some young Jewish people come and hear what I have to say, it is all worth it. Because they are what I am in this for!

While connection to our Jewish past is important to me, I think we, Messianic Jews, have an obligation to mess with and change things. Pastor Craig Groeshel says, "if you want to reach people no one is reaching, you have to do things no one else is doing." I'm not talking about changing the message or even watering it down. The Shema is still the Shema (although I wouldn't mind changing the tune). The Word of God is still the Word of God. But traditions that come from men can and should be changed for new generations. No one can claim that they are reaching young Jewish people in such large numbers that nothing should change. Many of the current leaders of Messianic congregations and organizations came to Yeshua through the Jesus movement in the 60's and 70's. It was a counter-cultural movement that intentionally chose new methods of reaching people with a never-changing message. There has to be new methods for this generation and I am on a journey of discovering some of those methods.

It is often said "imitation is the highest form of flattery"...but...maybe not. What if the highest form of honor to the generations before us is to become the best of our own generation? After all, this is not anything unique to Messianic Judaism. It is the struggle of l'dor v'dor (generation to generation). Are we supposed to look, act and talk exactly like those who came before us? Or, did they raise us to be the best version of ourselves who walk after the God of our fathers with all of our heart, soul & strength? I think the highest form of honor to my parents is being everything that God has called me to be in my generation; not carbon copies of them, but walking in the dual identity they raised me in for I am entirely Messianic and entirely Jewish at the same time.  I am confident that a Messianic Judaism that honors our past and makes changes for the present and future is a Messianic Judaism that will work in my generation. Not changing for change sake but making changes in our methods to be more effective in sharing the message of Yeshua in this generation.
 

What if our services, events, and conferences were entirely engaging to 18-25 year olds. What would they even look like? What would have to change in what we do now to get there? How much more effective would Messianic Judaism be if the focus shifted to empowering our young people to the best of their generation in every field that they put their hands to? My dad says often, "I don't want my children to be like me; I want them to be better versions of me." What if we look at changes in our methods like that?

What changes would you make to services, events and conferences to be more effective in reaching young secular Jewish people?

The. Best. Trip (To a Church). Ever!

This past week I and seven of my Messianic Rabbi friends visited Beltway Park Baptist Church in Abilene, Texas.  I met Pastor David McQueen at the Jewish Voice Leaders’ Roundtable in November and asked him if I could come and hang out with him and learn about leadership.  He encouraged me to get a group of young Messianic leaders together to come and his church would foot the bill.  

I love leadership.  I love learning about leadership. I love reading about leadership.  I love being with people who are awesome leaders. David McQueen has seen his church grow from about 150 people to 4,000.  I know, you don't care about numbers.  But, numbers represent people, people who need God.  And if there is a place that is reaching people with the Gospel and changing peoples’ lives, I am game to hang out there. 

So we went to Abilene -- 8 messianic leaders under the age of 40:  Myself (Beit Messiah, Seattle, WA), Jude Caracelo (Kol Mashiach, Melbourne, Fl), Jesse (Fl), Tim Hyslip (Baruch HaShem, Phoenix, AZ), Cosmo Panzetta (Beth Yachad, Phoenix, AZ), S.K. (Raleigh, NC) Ari Waldman (Baruch HaShem, Dallas, TX), and Troy Wallace (El Shaddai, Frederick, MD). We went to watch and learn.  

What impressed me the most was how excellent everything was -- from the screens, microphones, iPads for the worship team, to the soundboards (yes, that is plural, as in several rooms had their own).  With large numbers comes lots of money and with lots of money comes great stuff.  Beltway has great stuff.  But more than all of that was the excellence of their people -- from the full-time staff, to part-time staff, to the people who attend on Sunday morning, to the Poormans who let us stay in a great little ranch that met all of our needs.  They really went out of their way to pour into us and treat us like kings. I hope to be able to do the same for people that want to come learn from me in 15 years.

I go to a lot of leadership conferences. I read and hear a lot of messages on leadership.  What I have not had the opportunity to do was be in the meetings or the back room conversations involving that leadership.  I see a lot of services and have planned many myself but to be in on the conversations of such a great congregation was a once in a lifetime chance (let's call it twice in lifetime because I plan to go back!).  Sitting in on meetings with the senior leadership team and the elders was awesome.  Watching how their sermon and creative teams worked to come up with different ways to present the message was inspiring. Seeing the kids’ service, the teen service, and the adult service was fantastic.  Even more, each service had a great ministry time that was not only purposeful and effective but geared to each specific group.  Of course I cried through all of the services because that's how I roll.  I felt the presence of God from the time we landed to the time we went home.  

Spending time with my young leader friends, the "future" of Messianic Judaism, was really outstanding!  It's funny when people refer to us as the future since we are all leading congregations right now.  It's also interesting to note that in our movement we are considered young when in reality the majority of us are approaching forty years old.  Not so young considering that almost everyone in leadership at Beltway Park is the same age as our group (Even the senior pastor is not that far off).  No one at Beltway looks at them as the future but rather just the leaders who are leading now.  But, I digress...

Probably the most significant part of the trip was the time the senior leaders spent with us and how they openly shared everything about their church with our group.  Pastor David and Pastor Keith really spent a ton of time with us and let us ask all kinds of questions and they really took the time to pour into us as leaders.  We walked away from this trip with a sense of how awesome it is when brothers and sisters gather together in unity and what it means to be a part of the larger body of Messiah!

We realized that during our time the Torah portion for the week was Yitro.  Yitro, the father-in-law of Moses, comes to Moses and teaches him all about leadership.  Man, did we learn from some amazing Jethros!  If you think I am implying that I and my friends are Moses you would be right.  In the end, as a group of 8 leaders, we committed to making ourselves better so that we can lead our Jewish people to Yeshua and to the salvation that He offers to all who call on His name. There were times where in the words of Cosmo we felt "like hobbits among the nephalim"!  Even their teenagers were giants! Ok, Maybe just me and Cosmo felt that way. We are short but we are confident in ourselves. 

Some Messianics have asked me, "Why go to a church to learn?"  The short answer is they are better than we are in so many ways.  Many in our Movement think that if an idea is not Jewish in its inception then it has no merit.  For me, I see great value in learning from our brothers and sisters in Yeshua (they call him Jesus ;).  They are Jethros for us.  Many in the Church use the language of older brother and younger brother.  As Jewish followers of Yeshua, we are "older brothers" in terms of faith and heritage.  But, in terms of building communities dedicated to sharing the message of Yeshua with all people, we become "younger brothers." The Jewish part and the Gentile part of the Body of Messiah have much to learn from each other and much blessing to share with each other as well.  And man were we blessed! (Yes, that is a fried egg on my TX Burger!)

Thank you Beltway Park Baptist Church.  Thank you Pastor David, Pastor Keith and the whole staff who showed us what a heart for Israel and young leaders looks like.  Don't worry we will be back!

Click here for more info on Beltway Park Baptist Church!