One New Man

“One New Man” and “Unity between Jew and Gentile” have been battle cries for some time now. An increasing number of believing Jews and gentiles now realize the importance of unity between the messianic community and the traditional gentile body of believers. I certainly add my hearty “ahmain” to that!

But what about unity between different communities within the messianic arm of the body? How dedicated are we to building bridges between organizations, practices, fellowships and congregations within the messianic community with all of our myriad of beliefs and the sometimes raucous voices we use to defend them?

Four years ago we endured a mutually painful separation from the congregation through which we had learned about messianic practices. The reasons for the separation were of substance and the separation was necessary, but the parting of the ways was more than painful for all concerned.

To add to the difficulty, we are in a small town with a tiny Jewish population. Gentile believers and Jewish non-believers alike had their eye on this very public ministry. So besides being personally painful to all concerned, there was this huge rift of disunity when part of our message was about the unity of all believers, Jew and gentile alike!

Of course, it’d be great if we never had divisions. It’d be great if we never had disagreements we couldn’t settle in an amiable discussion over dinner. It’d be great if we could at least have outside reconciliation counseling. But in this instance, none of that worked. We had a painful split, and in a relatively short period of time HaShem raised up a second congregation in this corner of Appalachia.

However, prayers for reconciliation never ceased. I give credit to the other congregational leader involved for making a huge step forward. At the close of Yom Kippur, 2007, both congregations ended up at the same restaurant for dinner. He came to our table, asked our forgiveness, and accepted our eager apologies as well. That night, he paid for our entire party’s meal. That gave real substance to his words, and we were delighted.

That doesn’t mean that we were reunited, though. For that matter, we still aren’t, and I’m not entirely sure it is in Adonai’s plan to do so in the near future. But today we reached a real, wonderful, encouraging, uplifting milestone.

Today, through a third-party host, we came together for the Global Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem. Our congregation did music, they danced, he gave a message, we led prayer, and we were all blessed with a spirit of reconciliation.

As messianics we have often had to clearly define what we believe and stand our ground to be faithful to our peculiar calling. It would be naïve to think that differences rooted in firmly held doctrine or core cultural values will suddenly disappear. We can’t pretend that there are no differences, or that the differences aren’t important, or that we suddenly agree on all things.

So how can we define real unity within the Body of Messiah, and particularly within the arm of the Body of Messiah known as messianism without assuming a Pollyanna posture of ignoring the realities of our differences?

I believe the answer still lies where it has always lain: right at the foot of the sacrificed Lamb of God. If Eph. 2:14 tells us that He is the source of peace between Jew and gentile, how much more between Jew and Jew?

Eph. 4:2-3 tells us all to walk lowly, with meekness, endeavoring, or striving, to keep the unity of Yeshua. Please note that we are not told we can just slide easily into a spirit of unity. It takes genuine hard work, and much of that in prayer.

Will there be separations and difficulties? Yes. Sometimes one side is primarily at fault, but even when there is clear error on one part or the other, we almost always can see error on both sides. Our own pride, incomplete understanding, insecurities, competition, and erroneous habits blind us to our own failings.

Far, far, far too many separations and divisions occur within the messianic community. Far, far, far too few of us are willing to sit down at the table of reconciliation to work out our differences in a loving way. And far, far, far too few prayers for Adonai to show His will and our own errors are offered up in the process.

But if or when a separation occurs, we must be ever seeking a fundamental unity, even when maintaining our diversity as expressed in different congregations or organizations.

I challenge each congregation or ministry, and especially each congregational leader or organizational leader, to take concerted time this year to pray for peace within the messianic movement. If we can challenge gentile pastors to reach out to messianic rabbis and congregations, then we can challenge one another to reach out to other messianic rabbis, congregations, and leaders within our communities.

We need not be afraid that we will somehow lose our identity or integrity in doing this. By seeking reconciliation and cooperation we are not stating that our counterparts are without sin or error—any more than we can say that we ourselves are! Rather, we can say we have singleness of purpose on many issues: peace for Jerusalem, salvation for all believers and special outreach to the Jewish unbeliever, unity within the entire Body of Messiah, and the full realization of the One New Man.

One of the rather charming aspects of British politics is how the non-ruling party describes itself. Not simply “the opponents” or “the opposing party”, they instead call themselves “the loyal opposition”. They want there to be no confusion in anyone’s mind that they are also working for the good of the entire nation. Disagreement is never to be confused with disloyalty to the Crown.

For us as well, we must never let disagreement overshadow our loyalty to His Crown. Let us seek to lay aside differences whenever possible to unitedly promote the message of Adonai.

John 17:20-21 records Yeshua’s prayer for all of His disciples. That includes us. He prays that we may be united. That is not just so that we may receive a blessing. Rather, the purpose is stated right there in scripture: “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”.

Do we truly want the whole world to be saved? Then we had better be about our Father’s business and be seeking true unity in Yeshua Messiah with all of His disciples, both Jew and gentile, but perhaps especially fellow messianics. The fields are ripe for the harvest. It’s time we stopped squabbling about how we’re going to reap it. Let’s just get out in the fields together and get it done.