Jews for Jesus and the Struggle of Multi-Faith Work

A liberal Jew and an Evangelical Christian walk into a Franciscan bar in Bethlehem.   That is not the start of a joke but a decade long friendship.  Some people think this is an unusual friendship but in fact I believe there are many such friendships in the world.  How is it possible?  We both respect each others vision of the Divine and how we practice that vision.  Do we clash at times?  Sure, but we work through them and acknowledge our own shortcomings.  This is what living in a multi-faith world.  My friend has reached into the interfaith community of Indianapolis, bringing a much needed evangelical voice to the diversity of faiths seeking a better world.  So when confronted with someone who mocks true multi-faith expressions things become difficult.

Earlier this week a Michigan rally for a House Election invited the Vice-President to speak.  In the wake of the anti-semitic attack in a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 dead they wanted a Jewish voice to share prayer.  They sought a man who calls himself Rabbi but is a Christian.  A Jewish man who converted to a form of Christianity called Messianic Judaism.  When Noah was little he asked about a congregation of messianic Jews we would drive by daily, I said they are Christians who pretend to be Jewish.  That is how I feel about them.  They are clearly Christian, celebrating Jesus as not only the messiah of the Jewish people but as part of the trilogy of the Christian God.  But their practice uses Jewish ritual and language in services.  Which wouldn't bother me so much if they didn't also include in their approach a rejection of classic Jewish understanding of text, call traditional Jews incomplete and wrong minded, and pretend to be a Jewish congregation to young people and in many reports tricking them into their sphere of influence with the idea of converting them.  They look at people like me in a negative fashion and as less than them.  So when trying to dialogue with people who see me as second-class it is difficult.

I have worked in multicultural and multi-faith communities my entire adult life.  I have had people put me on prayer lists at churches for my very soul.  I had a friend tell me that her preacher preached that Jews were going to hell and it hurt her so much that I am going to hell that she couldn't be my friend anymore.  I understand that people look at the world differently, but when it comes to their worldview including looking down on me inviting them to the table means there is someone there who wants me or what makes me me gone.

The reason that the man who gave the prayer and spoke along side Vice-President Pence is a problem also goes beyond just what group he associates himself with in his religious faith.  In fact he was defrocked by the messianic movement over some libel and apparently theological issues.  He didn't really pray to the healing of the survivors and the souls of the dead, he prayed the Republicans win in the midterms.  He appeared more a costumed prop than a man of faith.  The candidate and the Vice-President could have easily found a thoughtful Rabbi to do a prayer and a moment of ministry for those reeling from horror.  They didn't and the criticism is warranted.  I would have also been critical if they had brought in the Orthodox Rabbi who didn't see Tree of Life as a synagogue or the one who said  the shooter was God's retribution for the fact a brit milah was happening for the child of a same-sex couple. This is not about being anti-Christian or anti-messianic.  It is about how you act for people who are in pain.

And thus the series of questions that always come up when you reach across faiths, cultures and nations.  How to you sit down with someone so different?  So here is what I say.  Meet people, not their faith tradition.  Just because someone comes from a particular branch of a particular faith doesn't mean you know anything more about them than where they go to get fed spiritually.  On any given day of the week, rooms in houses of worship are filled with people, all singing from the same hymnal but hearing the words differently.  Don't let the stereotypes block you from adding someone wonderful to your life.  Simply having a meal with someone might change the way you see them.  Might change you whole world view.

But in the same token, if you do encounter someone who is hurtful to what and who you are, it is okay to reject them.  I am always struck by people who question my tolerance when I speak out against bigotry, lies and hate.  The goal in life is not to tolerate differences, I tolerate the fact that I can't get buy decent kosher meat in Indianapolis, that doesn't mean I like it nor do I order from St. Louis.  I embrace who, even if they are different, find God in places I can't and read the poetry of scripture with a different tune can acknowledge that their view is theirs and my view is mine and neither is better or worse.  That is how you be a human being.  That is how you approach the vast and wonderful diversity that is our nation, one of the highest and most important values that we share.

Tonight, synagogues across the country will be filled with people coming from a variety of faith traditions to stand in solidarity with Jewish communities.  As they hear the words of psalms we sing as we invite Shabbat into our homes they may see God differently in the words or not at all there.  But that is not the point.  The point is, they share a human connection to their neighbors, and that is Godly in any language.