Picture this with me, if you will:

Imagine that when any Christian converted to Judaism, they were still not called ‘Jews’. Instead, imagine that Jews would only label them as ‘completed christians’ or ‘christians without jesus’…

Can you envisage the sheer rage – justifiably – that Christians would direct at Jews and Judaism..? The accusations that Christians were not being treated ‘equally’?

Can you picture how Christian leaders would respond to Jews insisting that Judaism was ‘christianity perfected’…?

Virtually unthinkable, isn’t it?

And yet, of all the strange ideas about Jews, one of the most common is this:

  ’a jew who embraces Christianity, remains a jew. He becomes a  completed jew.’ Or a ‘jew for jesus’.

In other words, some people believe: a Jew who adopts beliefs and rituals that violate Torah, that are contrary to all which Judaism holds sacred, and that amount to blasphemy for Jews, becomes a ‘better’ Jew by doing so…

Let’s apply this ‘logic’ to other faiths, shall we…?

Does a Hindu who converts to Christianity become a ‘completed hindu’, or a ‘hindu for jesus’?

Does a Sikh who converts to Christianity become a ‘completed sikh, or a ’sikh for christ’?

No, of course not!

 It is only when Jews become Christians that many in the Church irrationally insist that they retain some form of ‘jewish’ status.  Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of this is that *some* Christians are adopting the Nazi definition of ‘jewish’. That is: if you’re born Jewish, you can never stop being Jewish.

Of course, it’s nonsense. Jews are not a ‘race’. We’re a faith, and a nation. And just as Gentiles can convert into Judaism, so too Jews can convert out of Judaism.

 As for the notion of a ‘completed jew’:  it’s one of the most offensive things ever to come out of the Evangelical Christian movement. Put simply, it states that only a Jew who adopts worship of Jesus, and Christian ideology, is ‘complete’.

Or:  in order to be a proper Jew, a Jew must become a Christian…!

Talk about lunacy.

Unsurprisingly, the arrogance of claiming that becoming a Christian ‘completes’ a Jew, hasn’t convinced many. It’s too transparent.

Thus in the late 1960s, the Evangelical movement went away and rebranded.

Out went ‘hebrew christianity’ and ‘completed judaism’.

In came… yep, you’ve guessed it: ‘jews4jesus’ and ‘messianic judaism’.

For instance, the “Hebrew Christian Alliance  Of America’ officially changed its name to…  “Messianic Jewish Alliance of America”  in the 1970’s.

“messianic judaism”

The “messianic jewish” movement seeks to make Christianity more appealing to Jews, by appearing ‘jewish’.

The basic premise is that a Jew who becomes a Christian doesn’t have to give up their Jewish identity. No – instead, they become a ‘messianic jew’.  (or ‘completed jew’, to be more obviously insulting)

And the fact that Judaism itself says this is not true? Oh, well, that’s irrelevant.

Messianics claims that they – not Torah, not Judaism, not Halacha – now get to REdefine who is and is not a ‘jew’.

Currently, the “messianic jewish” movement is funded by Christian denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the Church of the Nazarene, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Assemblies of God (Pentecostals) and many others.

So let’s call the Messianic movement for what it is.

It represents the most dishonest attempt ever created to convert the Jewish people.

Martin Meyer, the founder of ‘jews4jesus’ and ‘messianic judaism’ has been revealed as a Christian Missionary out to convert Jews:

In a document ‘What Evangelical Christians should know about Messianic “jews” , Martin Meyer reveals:

‘We consider ourselves an arm of the local **Church**. We are Evangelists. We are accountable to the Church. As we win and ***convert*** Jewish people, we urge them to take their place in a local Evangelical **Church**, or establish a congregation. Our duty is to aid the **Church** at large and to gather in the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.’

Messianic ‘logic’

Messianics usually argue:

‘Jesus was and is the Jewish messiah. Thus a Jew who worships Jesus is a real Jew’.

Many of you will spot the folly in this ‘logic’ at once. The belief that Jesus was the messiah is a purely Christian belief. It’s nothing to do with Judaism and never has been.

Visit any Messianic congregation. You’ll soon find that few if any of the members were ever Jewish to start with.

They are not and never were Jews via birth, nor via conversion.

And just because a small number of Jews convert to Christianity, that does not turn Christian worship of Jesus into something ‘jewish’!

A Jew who adopts purely Christian beliefs, doesn’t become a ‘messianic jew’.

They become an EX Jew.

What determines this?

Answer: Judaism.

No Christian group gets to decide who is Jewish, nor what is a genuine Jewish belief. Judaism alone gets to make that call.

“jews4jesus”

With it’s catchy name and million dollar ‘behold your god’ campaign, ‘jews4jesus’ is probably the most infamous Messianic group out there.

Contrary to popular belief, this group wasn’t started by Jews. In fact, it was founded by Martin Meyer – an ordained Baptist Minister.

There are so many people who mistakenly state that ‘jews for jesus’ is a ‘jewish’ sect, I thought it would be helpful to list the facts about this group. They prove, beyond all doubt, that ‘jews4jesus’ is a Christian Evangelical group.

Martin Meyer

Martin Meyer, founder of ‘jews4jesus’ is an ordained Baptist Minister. This is an objective fact that is stated openly in his biography on the ‘jews4jesus’ website.

It seems pretty obvious that a real Jewish group would not be founded by a Baptist minister!

From his own website, his qualifications:

He’s also a graduate of two Christian colleges; Northeast Bible College and the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary:

“Trustee Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, Portland, Oreg., 1979-85, 86-91, International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, Oakland, Calif., 1979-89; board of directors, Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, 1987-91. Received Hero of the Faith Award from the Conservative Baptist Assoc. of America on July 7, 1997.”
It’s blatantly obvious that these are the qualifications of a Christian Minister, and not a Jewish leader.

Look again at where Martin Meyer studied. The Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, for instance, is a school geared to producing Church leaders.

Meyer enjoys Church, which is wonderful. It’s also proof that he is not Jewish:

“I love my church! I find it sad when I meet other Christians who do not seem to love theirs. Maybe they don’t know they are supposed to love their churches
I feel great loyalty to my own church in downtown San Francisco. When I am not out of town preaching, you can find me there in the pew. I like the pastor and the preaching, but I also find other elements of equal importance. Though our congregation is somewhat small, we carry on an extensive missionary program. We sponsor a Christian school. We have a Sunday morning bus ministry.

‘other christians’???
‘extensive missionary programme’????

Does anyone out there actually think that a genuine Jewish leader would help and work with Christian Missionaries whose stated aim is to convert Jews to Christianity?

Meyer is also on the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Christian group, Artists In Christian Testimony. No Jewish leader would be part of this!

Meyer’s second in command is also an Evangelical Christian.

David Brickner

David Brickner is the Executive Director of ‘jews4jesus’. He’s also a Baptist Minister. This is from their site :

“Meet Our New Executive Director
by Moishe Meyer, Founder

“It is with joy, a bit of apprehension, but mostly delight that I introduce David Brickner as the new Executive Director of Jews for Jesus! …David has pursued an education in Jewish studies since 1978 when he enrolled at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago (note: this is a Christian School-)

Most recently he graduated from the Fuller School of World Mission in Pasadena, California ( this is another Christian School), with a master’s degree in missionology with concentration in Jewish evangelism. During his time in San Francisco, David was ordained through the Baptist General Conference. “

Would a Jewish group be led by someone who studied “missionology” at a Christian School?

Would a Jewish group be led by an ordained Baptist minister like Reverend Brickner?

No, of course not!

Look more closely at the places where Reverend Brickner studied. Read the mission and vision sections of the Moody Bible Institute-this is clearly NOT a Jewish group.

Not suprisingly, the President of the Moody Bible Insitute is thrilled with the word of “jews4jesus”  in trying to convert  Jews.  He states:

” I am convinced that sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our Jewish friends is of utmost importance in god’s plan for the world—and all the more as we draw closer to the return of Christ. By supporting “jews4jesus” you are doing that in one of the most effective ways possible.”

Clearly, this is someone out to convert as many Jews as possible to Christianity. Any doubts that he believes that ‘jews4jesus’ can help him achieve this?

 All “jews4jesus” Staff Members Are Evangelical Christians

Regarding their Board of Directors, ‘jews4jesus’ states:

” Our independent Board of Directors is comprised of people whose Christian character is evident, whose hearts are burdened for our work and whose unique insights enable them to carry out their considerable responsibilities.

Our Board includes members of the clergy (two pastors and the leader of another Christian ministry), educators (a past president of one seminary and the head of the New Testament Department from another), business professionals (a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant and an actor), as well as a mother who formerly served with a well-known campus ministry. “

 

 

Nothing remotely ‘jewish’ about this board.

And check out what ‘jews4jesus’ requires of its staff:

“We require every staff member to belong to a local Evangelical congregation. We encourage our staff to give generously to the local congregations and to be involved as much as is practical in light of their ministry commitments. “

Christian Membership

“jews4jesus” admits that it has membership/association with several Christian organizations on its own website:

World Evangelical Alliance

Evangelical Alliance of South Africa

Canadian Council for Christian Charities

Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association

Evangelical Alliance of Great Britain

Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability

Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism.

All of these groups are committed to the conversion of Jews to Christianity.

Here are some other Christian groups that ‘jews4jesus’ belongs to. The links beside them will take you to the website where they are listed as members:

National Association of Evangelicals 

Australian Evangelical Alliance Inc.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

World Evangelical Fellowship

Global Connections (UK) (Notice that the UK Director is referred to as Rev., short for Reverend, designating him as a Christian minister)

Similarly, Jews for Jesus is listed Mission Profiles section of the Career Development Center of John Brown University.

What is John Brown University? It is:

“John Brown University is a Christian university committed to providing top-quality academics within a distinctly Christian university community.”

 

It is crystal clear that ‘jews4jesus’ is a Christian Evangelical group – just like ALL “messianic jewish’ movements.

So next time someone tries to insist that ‘jews4jesus’ or any other Messianic group is ‘jewish’, do feel free to stand up for Judaism, and share all these facts. Because no Christian group has any right to masquerade as ‘jewish’.

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