Trying to Catch Flies With Vinegar — Let’s Stop Bashing Christians!

I’d like to take this opportunity to make my dear readers aware of some important facts about our Christian brothers and sister.

Close up of a man hand pointing at camera on a white background

First, let me say that I’m not angry at Christians, I don’t hate them, and I try not to speak disparagingly of them. There for the grace of YHVH go I. Until YHVH opens their eyes to the truth of the rest of Torah, they will remain where they are, even as most people reading this blog post once were smugly blind in the Christian church to the deeper truths of the Torah until YHVH opened their eyes. So let’s have mercy on them! Please!!!

Next, the ones I have a real problem with in the Christian church are the hireling leaders. They should know better, since they purport to be Bible experts. However, many of them are trapped in a harlot, secular humanistic religious system that has elevated the mind of man over that of the Creator. This is a classical definition of secular humanism. Go read Francis Schaefer. He’ll confirm this. Better yet, go read the Humanist Manifesto I and II and hear it from the humanists’ own mouths.

Finally, I want to make this point and pound it home. I am very adamant about what I’m about to say! True, according to the Barna Research Group, only 10 percent of Christians in America meet the biblical criteria for being born again. I have the published book with the facts and figures, and I agree with them.

Next, of that 10 percent, are you aware of the fact that a good born again Christian, contrary to the misinformed, and might I say, bigoted opinions of many Torah-observant Messianics, will be keeping about 25 percent of the Torah’s 613 commandments? Are you also aware of the fact that the best Torah-observant Messianic will be able to keep only about 66 percent of the Torah’s 613 commandments, since the rest of them pertained to the Levites, sacrificial system and Tabernacle service, which is no longer happening. Therefore we can’t do them. In addition, if you’re a man, you can’t keep those Torah
commands that pertain to a woman, and vice versa. Additionally, many others you can’t do if you’re not a farmer. Many commands we can’t do, since we don’t have our own country with a judicial and penal system. Others only apply if you’re in the land of Israel and so on. All this is to say that we do the best that we can in our time to keep the Torah, but no one can keep it completely.

Now let’s take the 25 percent and 66 percent idea to the next level. If you remove all the Torah commands that were fulfilled (or brought to the higher level) in Yeshua as per the Epistle to the Hebrews and skew the stats so that the very best Messianic is now keeping 100 percent of the Torah that’s possible for us to keep today, what does that do for that good Bible-believing Christian who is keeping 25 percent of the Torah? It means that they’re keeping about two-thirds of the Torah that’s possible to keep nowadays. Imagine that! Do these facts change your view of those “knuckle-dragging, whoremongering, sun-worshipping, devil-worshipping” Christians that too many of us love to boost our sagging egos by bashing all too often? I hope so!

How do I know these stats are correct? Well, one day a few years ago I got tired of Christian bashing in the Hebrew Roots Movement because first, I sensed it was misguided, and second, I was concerned it was coming out of spirit of pride in too many cases. Third, Christian-bashing isn’t exactly the best tactic to use to woo the lost sheep of Israel back to their pro-Torah Hebrew roots now is it? So I sat down with a list of all 613 Torah commandments and I went through each one and did the statistical analysis. It took me a while, but that’s how I came up with the numbers. Others have done the same analysis and come up with almost identical numbers. I challenge you. Do it yourself and prove me wrong!

What it all boils down to is this: A solid, Bible-believing and obedient Christian (I realize this is only a small minority — according to Barna Research Group, at least) actually follows much of the Torah even though they are taught by their false teacher leaders to believe it was abrogated. For example, just look at the ten commandments. They pretty much keep them all except the fourth one (the Sabbath).

So this brings me to my final point. When all is said and done, Christians mostly struggle with the Sabbath, the biblical feasts and the dietary laws. The rest of the them, they more or less follow with a number of exceptions (e.g., wearing beards and tzitzits, putting up mezuzahs, etc., etc.)

So let’s all have a little more grace for our Christian brothers and sisters. I think a long time ago that a very wise man said in the Book of Proverbs that it’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar. Please take this to heart.

 

2 thoughts on “Trying to Catch Flies With Vinegar — Let’s Stop Bashing Christians!

  1. Natan………….Boker Tov! So according to Barna Research, what IS the Biblical criteria for being born again? (I am not missing your point and can agree, but this caught my eye so I wanted to ask). Thanks! drb

  2. Natan, I think you make a very good point. We must remember the words of Joshua in Joshua 24:14-15:

    “Now therefore fear YHWH, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye YHWH. And if it seem evil unto you to serve YHWH, CHOOSE you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.”

    Serving YHWH is a freewill choice and gift given to every single person ever born. Bashing others will not cause them to make a freewill choice to serve YHWH. Blaming others, guilt-trips, peer pressure or a gun to the head are not very effective methods to stir-up a true heart change to follow the ways of our Maker and Creator. By doing so, we are making hypocrites… people who do all the right things on the outside to please people but their hearts are not right.

    I believe the desire of YHWH Elohim is for people to CHOOSE to follow Him with their whole heart. If there is a true heart change then their actions will automatically begin to align with His Word. A true change of the heart is a FREEWILL CHOICE and our obedience is a RESULT of this fountain flowing out of our hearts. I think the following passage in the Torah gives us insight as to how our witness to the nations as well as to the individuals who cross our path should look like in Deuteronomy 4:6-8:

    “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath Elohim so nigh unto them, as YHWH our Elohim is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Torah, which I set before you this day?”

    People will see the wisdom in following the Torah and the great blessing through our living examples each day. We just do the best we can with what we have been given and try to show people the beauty, the blessing and the value in obeying His commandments. If others can see what we see, then it is possible they would make a freewill choice to follow the ways of YHWH Elohim.

    For me, following the Torah stems from a true desire to obey. People tell me, “You don’t HAVE to follow the Torah.” I tell them, “I know I don’t HAVE to follow the Torah. I WANT to follow the Torah.” Bashing Christians, arguing, placing guilt trips upon others, blaming them or even putting a gun to their head is not going to change a “No Way” or a “HAVE to” to a “WANT to”. I think our aim for true discipleship is to kindle a desire within a person who WANTS to follow the Torah.

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