[First posted 2012. —Admin1.]
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Image from www.stepupleader.com
Perhaps the title should be the other way around: Christianity’s “Good News” is “Bad News” to Sinaites. Either way, it applies, here’s why.
When we were Catholics, some of us were good Catholics, others so-so. I belonged to the so-so: Sunday church was an obligation; sometimes communion made me feel really “holy” especially if i managed to go to confession first and do minimal penance; praying the rosary was a chore. I felt guilty most of the time.
When we became “Christians” [oh, I thought we already were that as Catholics], relationship with God was emphasized. Bible study was educational; some worship was like going to a rock concert, not solemn and ritualistic. We were inspired to take every opportunity to declare the good news that ‘Jesus is Lord‘ and the whole gospel package about original sin, our need for a Savior and be ‘born again’.
More. Christians are fueled by the absolute truth of the message that the rest of the unsaved world needed to be told before the end of the world or individual death. The missionary zeal to evangelize grasps at every opportunity, since every circumstance that places the saved and unsaved together is strategic; in fact, divinely arranged. Realizing that, we could talk of nothing else and sometimes became religious bores or nuisances to those who were tired of hearing the same phrases we picked up from bible studies and Sunday preaching. The more New Testament we swallowed, the more we were absolutely sure Christians were right [saved!] and everyone else was wrong [unsaved!]. Admittedly, even if we made the effort to read through the “whole” bible, especially the “old testament”, going through that earlier thicker section was done out of duty, with hardly a sincere interest to understand, just so we could say we’ve read the WHOLE bible. After all, OT is for Jews, it doesn’t apply to us under the “new” covenant. We were the ‘New Israel’, the
‘Spiritual Israel’!
When we moved on to the next trend, Messianic theology, it wasn’t as easy a transition which was rather strange, since we were still declaring the same message, that “Jesus is Lord” . . . though this time, Christian living had a Jewish flavor. Our own former colleagues would call us “legalistic”, brand us “Jew-wannabe’s”, as though we suddenly changed our stripes from white on black to black on white. Think about it, is a zebra striped black on white or white on black? Does it make a difference in its appearance or its animal constitution? Or is it simply in the perception of the beholder?
Messianic Judaism [MJ] is a fairly ‘new’ movement arising circa 1960s; its name alone is suspect because of the 2nd word: Judaism. To Jews, Messianic Judaism is anathema! Because of its appearance on the Christian horizon, Jews who usually have a ‘live and let live’ attitude found it necessary to combat what they perceive as threatening to Jews because MJ was part of the fairly recent evangelistic efforts to get Jews to believe in the Christian Jewish Messiah. ‘Jews for Jesus’ is one such, a wolf in sheep’s clothing! Hence the rise of anti-missionary Jewish websites.
Mainstream Christianity on the other hand, considered MJ as yet another “cult”. Understandably, because MJ worship started looking as though you were in a syngogue: men wear kippas [skullcaps], prayers and songs mix Hebrew and English, the menorah replaces the cross, some even have replicas of a huge Torah scroll, you get the picture.
Offensive to Jews is the mix in symbolism promoted in MJ accessories [religious jewelry] such as cross on the Star of David, fish-cross-menorah, etc. The ultimate insult to Israel’s God: the Name revealed on Sinai by the Almighty assumed an additional Name: from YHWH to YHWH-Yeshua!
Still, with Messianic Theology, we felt we were even closer to the truth . . . and in a way we were. At least it introduced us to more in-depth and serious study of the “Old” Testament; suddenly it was not just a ‘let’s-get-it-over-with’ required reading. We started seeing the relationship between prophecy in the “Old” and fulfilment in the “New.” We did see Yeshua all over the OT: the Rock, the Lamb, the Blood, the Bronze Serpent, 300+ “messianic prophecies” that fit, a truly euphoric experience! We felt finally, we had arrived and weren’t looking any further for yet another shift in belief and commitment.
Well, unexpectedly as messianics, we got the ‘religious weirdo’ treatment. Among our 2-decades old bible study group, suddenly heated arguments with our former christian colleagues arose over conflicts in beliefs on biblical basics such as: Sunday vs. Sabbath, Kosher diet of Leviticus 11 vs. ‘all foods permitted’ as declared by Jesus in the gospels;, the ‘feasts of the Lord’ in Leviticus 23 vs. Christian feasts, among others.
Imagine our shrinking social religious circle! And as if Messianic Judaism wasn’t alienating enough, can you imagine the reaction we now get from those who have heard of the UNBELIEVABLE, the UNEXPECTED— our shift from Jesus of NT, BACK to YHWH of OT. “WHAAATTTT? A Christ-less faith???!!!”
Alienated from Catholics, Evangelical Christians and Messianics, where is one to go? What is one to do? Some considered Judaism. The rest? Simply go back to Sinai and relearn. How does one do that?
- RESTUDY the Hebrew Scriptures but make sure you read only a Hebrew version/Jewish translation, not the Christian “Old” Testament.
- Check the Jewish websites and learn from them but continue to be discerning because Jewish rabbis have their agenda as well.
- Mind your own business., don’t be tempted to evangelize.
- Be respectful of all others you left behind.
- When asked, think before giving an answer.
- Look at all others as travellers along the way, looking for the right path;
*some simply got stuck and pitched their tent at that point;
**others took the wider road well travelled since there are more travellers there;
***some backtracked to the fork on the road and are thinking . . . thinking . . .still thinking . . .this one, perhaps you can signal “follow us” on this unbeaten pathway long neglected except by Torah-keeping Israel.
While that sounds simple enough, in practice it is not. Hard as we try not to, yet we get sucked into what begins as friendly conversation. The simplest question triggers a pattern.
“So, are you a [catholic, christian]?” “No.”
“What is your religion?” “None.”
“Do you believe in God?” “Yes.”
“Do you attend church?” “No.”
“So what are you?”
Sometimes it ends there; especially if we hold our tongue! But sometimes that progresses to more questions because really, who has heard of a Sinaite? Where does it fit in the spectrum of world religions? We’re not into Judaism, although that’s usually a foregone conclusion by the time we explain that our God is YHWH, we accept only the Tanach as divinely inspired Scripture. We are not a religion.
That eventually elicits more questions:
“So you no longer believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?”
“Why not”
“Are you saying the New Testament is not divinely inspired Scripture?”
“Who do you think you are to challenge 2 millenia of religious authorities and bible scholars . . . ” and so on.
At some point, you start regretting you even answered the first question. The other guy thinks you’re deluded, you’ve lost your salvation, you don’t have the ‘Holy Spirit”, and feels sorry for you.
What makes some people receptive while others resistant or unresponsive? To this day, that question baffles us Sinaites—how any one of us could have made it to where we are today. Most of us were not even looking for another direction, we were quite content where we were, within Christianity. What made each of us take a radical step to disengage ourself from our lifetime commitment to Jesus Christ and turn to a neglected God, a forgotten God, a forgotten Name, except to the original chosen people, many of whom [secular Jews] have long abandoned the God of their Scriptures and their legacy as His chosen people!
Two Sinaites have written their journeys —-please read —
- Wings of the Wind
- My life of faith in the LORD.
- The rest of us simply agree with the general article that expresses our collective experience:
We encourage others to share your experience if you’re in the same boat, so to speak; just send to:
There is comfort in numbers, even small numbers, because as we say on Shabbat worship,
“if there are two of us plus YHWH,
LORD of the Sabbath, CREATOR,
MASTER of the universe,
GOD of all humanity whether Jew or Gentile,
two +HIM adds up to a MAJORITY!”
Meanwhile, take our cue. It is our experience that the best thing to do when caught in a situation where we have to explain ourselves is—to direct others to this website, especially if the conversation becomes uncomfortable. Do not lose the friend, the relative, the new acquaintance.
How to win friends and influence people? Keep out of religious topics and just live the Torah. But if the other is genuinely interested, suggest this website. It takes time, not instant shock, to redirect any person from something he/she is totally convinced about.
This website is a gentler way [specific for gentiles] to introduce the message that the good news he has known will lead him to the best news of all. But what’s really important is that the person takes that first step himself . . . when he’s ready for the Truth and nothing but . . . He himself [and God] knows when he’s ready, we don’t.
The true gospel is:
YHWH is God!
He is One, and there is no other; none before and none after.
He has been speaking to all humankind through the Hebrew Scriptures and specifically the Torah.
The opening statement in Updated Site Contents should be an eye-opener for the searching heart and the questioning mind:
No knowledge is more important than the knowledge of God.
The beginning of wisdom is reverence for God. (Proverbs 1:7)
Knowledge of the True God, reverence for the Only God.
The True and Only God has declared His Name as YHWH;
He has revealed Himself in the Torah.
There is no more reason to be ignorant of Him in this day and age, except when one suffers from ‘intolerance of the mind’. . . and alas, that seems to be the blockage.
In behalf of Sinai 6000 Core Community,
Postscript:
Sinai 6000 is the non-religious ‘movement’ for gentiles who are seeking or are in transition, who do not wish to affiliate with any of the three major world religions that trace their roots to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.