Jun 10, 2010
Posted on Jun 10, 2010 in Current Events, Miscellaneous, Torah | 22 comments
I recently read an interview with Christian artist, singer, songwriter Jennifer Knapp in which she not only announced her comeback to her music career after a seven year hiatus, but that she’s “come out of the closet” as a lesbian who has been in a same-sex relationship for the last eight years. This may come as a shock to Christian music fans, but this news is actually a few months old and is all over the internet.
I am not writing this post to condemn Knapp or spread lashon hara or to gay bash. The reason for this post is to show how traditional Christian interpretation of the Bible can be used to justify any sin, behavior or lifestyle. The traditional Christian perspective on the Bible and its focus on grace being opposed to the Law has provided the ammunition for tens of thousands of people around the globe to justify sinful lifestyles (not in the least bit limited to homosexuality).
Over the last decade I’ve heard of many Christian musicians “coming out of the closet,” (many of which hit you out of nowhere), many scandalous lifestyles, many countless adulterous relationships, divorce, drug addictions, etc. Why should one more be newsworthy? The reason Knapp’s confession makes the top of my news is because she was honest. What do I mean by that? Let’s listen to her own words.
Have you ever felt like you had to choose between your faith or your gay feelings?
Knapp: Yes. Absolutely.
Because you felt they were incompatible?
Knapp: Well, everyone around me made it absolutely clear that this is not an option for me, to invest in this other person—and for me to choose to do so would be a denial of my faith.
What about what Scripture says on the topic?
Knapp: The Bible has literally saved my life. I find myself between a rock and a hard place—between the conservative evangelical who uses what most people refer to as the “clobber verses” to refer to this loving relationship as an abomination, while they’re eating shellfish and wearing clothes of five different fabrics, and various other Scriptures we could argue about. I’m not capable of getting into the theological argument as to whether or not we should or shouldn’t allow homosexuals within our church. There’s a spirit that overrides that for me, and what I’ve been gravitating to in Christ and why I became a Christian in the first place.[1.This interview with Jennifer knapp can be found on the Christianity Today website: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2010/jenniferknapp-apr10.html]
Notice her reference to Torah (the Law given to Moses):
“I find myself between a rock and a hard place—between the conservative evangelical who uses what most people refer to as the “clobber verses” to refer to this loving relationship as an abomination, while they’re eating shellfish and wearing clothes of five different fabrics.”
This is where she’s completely honest. If I were to put it in more plain terms, she’s saying, “If you can pick and choose what you want to obey in the Bible, so can I.” There it is. Hypocrisy in full swing. Unfortunately, the Evangelical Church has so much demonized the Hebrew Scriptures and their application to the Believer, that we no longer have a moral compass by which we are directed. We have reverted back to the days of the Judges in which “every man did right in his own eyes.”
What Jennifer Knapp is saying here is the truth of the matter. If we can justify living lives contrary to the directives of Hebrew Scriptures, saying that they are no longer authoritative, why should the New Testament Scriptures be any different? The Hebrew Scriptures were valid for the world for around two thousand years until Christianity decided they were no longer valid. Now the Christian Scriptures have had their fair shake for the last two thousand. Why should they be relevant any longer either? If God can abrogate his Word once, why can’t He do it again?
What makes a Christian any different from a “moral pagan” these days other than a creed? This is why Torah is invaluable, and the missing component in our walk of faith. If we want to stop justifying our sins, and truly become the people of God by which the Scriptures speak, we need to wake up and smell the coffee and allow the whole of Scripture to inform our life of faith.
Thoughts?
Aug 25, 2009
Posted on Aug 25, 2009 in Judaism, Torah, Yeshua | 1 comment
Recently, someone started a discussion on Facebook as to whether followers of Yeshua should follow either a rabbinic (Pharisaic) path verses a more Karaite path in their Torah observance. I’ve got a lot of thoughts on this, but unfortunately am nearly always short on time due to pressing deadlines with my work. I would like to share, however, the brief response I wrote for this discussion:
It is natural to think that the Karaite way of doing things would be a better way of doing things. However, the Karaite interpretation is actually anti-Scriptural. Let’s think about it. If we were to go to a Karaite interpretation of Scripture, we would all being living out the Scriptures as we interpret them. Which means, we would not be in any kind of unity. Which means we would be celebrating the feasts at different times, celebrating them in different ways, trying to fulfill the commandments in different ways. In short, this is chaos and anarchy. The Master (Yeshua) was a Pharisee among Pharisees, in that he was in agreement with the Pharisees in all but one point: hypocrisy.
Here are 3 short examples of the many that can be sited to show his Pharisaic affinity:
- He & his disciples kept the feast at the same times as greater Israel (which was determined by Pharisaic halachah)
- He reclined at the Passover meal (a Pharisaic invention, seemingly contrary to the biblical mandate in Exodus)
- He gave a blessing before eating, strictly a Pharisaic invention
The list could go on and on. These are just off the top of my head. It boils down to this: Yeshua was in agreement with Pharisaic tradition so long as it did not contradict with the written Word. We must examine the words of the Master and the Apostolic writings to determine whether a tradition is able to be kept or not, and follow his example.
The Karaite method is not even an alternative. If we were following the Karaite method, we would revert to the days of the Judges when “Every man did what was right in his own eyes…And they again did wickedness in the eyes of Hashem.”
Mar 22, 2009
Posted on Mar 22, 2009 in Apostolic Writings, Torah, Yeshua | 3 comments
Yesterday, for my drash, I spoke on what I called, “The Divine Disconnect.” To me it is the crux of Yeshua’s ministry, and all of Scripture for that matter. The focus of my discussion revolved around Yeshua’s teaching in Matthew 5:20, which says,
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Traditionally, this has been interpreted as meaning that the righteousness of the scribes & Pharisees was based on keeping the Law, but our righteousness must be based on faith in Yeshua, and this latter righteousness surpasses the previous. However, this interpretation doesn’t hold any water, particularly in relationship to the context of Yeshua’s teaching, either broadly throughout the Gospels or more narrowly within the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The immediate context of this statement seems to make a clear case for the way it was to be understood. The statements that immediately this are:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19, ESV)
From this we see that Yeshua’s topic was the importance of the mitzvot. However, his emphasis was not on the mere adherence to the external strictures of mitzvot. His point, I believe, was well taken when he contrasted his expectations in regard to Torah against the known practices of some of his contemporaries within Pharisaic leadership. What is the heart of this warning against? In a nutshell, hypocrisy. There were many in the day of the Master who believed what we believe today: That it is fair to judge others by their actions, while judging ourselves by our hearts. But Yeshua calls us to a higher standard. He calls for both our hearts & actions to be joined together in the service of the Creator. Whereas the Pharisees of which Yeshua spoke had either the heart or the actions, there remained a disconnect between the two. How many of us have fallen into this trap?
We are quick to decry any kind of “works” based on our misunderstanding of Paul’s polemic against the topic. However, how many of us can truly say that we haven’t tasted the “leaven of the Pharisees?” It seems that as human beings, we are caught in the middle of a juggling act, constantly trying to find a balance between our love and our response to that love. It seems we are constantly settling for one or the other. There are those who are holed into the polar extremes of this, but most of us are somewhere right in the middle. On one extreme, there are those of us who smugly assert our theological creedos of how much we can’t “earn grace,” and therefore are completely devoid of any righteous fruit in our lives. On the other, there are those of us who are so focused on bringing back the mitzvot which have been all but lost over the last two millennia that we tend to forget the weightier matters of Torah—love, mercy, compassion, etc. But most of us fall somewhere in between. We tend to struggle with maintaining a balance between what we know and feel, verses how we respond to that. There is somehow a “disconnect” between our flesh and spirit, and we are inevitably making corrections & adjustments along the way.
But such is life. If we ever get to the point that we are settled in our relationship to the Almighty, something has grown cool. Until we shed this mortal coil, I believe we will constantly battle to serve the King of the Universe “בכל לבבך” (b’chol levav’ka)—”with all your heart.” Because in order to serve Him whole heartedly, it requires a death—the death of the one giving service. For unless we die, our service will ever be tainted. But a one-time death will not suffice. Thus, we hear the message of the Master echo in our ears: “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” Therefore, let us repent and die today, in order that we will live tomorrow as a whole person.
“Repent one day before your death.” (Rabbi Eliezer, Avot 2:15)
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Yeshua, Matthew 4:17)
Mar 11, 2009
Posted on Mar 11, 2009 in Torah | 2 comments
Yes, you read it correctly – the full Gutnick Edition Chumash is available online through Google Books. The entire Chumash including a cover scan, full Hebrew & English texts and commentary is available to freely read online. Amazing…
Feb 26, 2009
Posted on Feb 26, 2009 in Torah | 0 comments
The Chumash commentary on week’s Torah Portion has really gotten me thinking about perspective.
Without fail, when we look at a map, North is at the top and is our frame of reference. It’s what we depend on to get our bearings. It’s a given, so to speak. But what if someone rotated the frame of reference 90 degrees on you? Where would that leave you? We would be traveling in a direction that we thought was the right direction, but it ended up leading you on a path you really didn’t want to take.
But the perspective of the world and the perspective of the Bible don’t often agree. This is where we have to be students of the Word to realize the difference, rather than just following a path based on our own perspective. In the biblical perspective, North is not the primary frame of reference. The primary frame of reference from the Bible is East. When you’re navigating a map and don’t know that “up” is East, it could really affect your destination.
This is the same principle we find when we first come to Torah. We’re traveling along, and then one day someone tells us that we need to turn our map around. “What? You’ve got to be kidding. This must be a joke. No, it’s not a joke – you just think you know it all. You’re soooo judgmental. Just because you look at the map that way, doesn’t mean I have to.” And thus it goes, until one finally knuckles down and wrestles with the biblical text to find out the truth of the matter.
Bottom lines is that we can either excuse our ignorance, and then whine about our destination when we get there (wherever that might be), or we can change our perspective and get back on the right track. It’s all about choice…and perspective.
