Now, define "first love." Not so easy is it?  Words can recount such precious experiences, but they don't easily define them.
Messianic Judaism may not make our hearts go pitter-patter, but as a religious expression, it too, is difficult to define. Why is this so? Our first challenge lies in Messianic Judaism's origins in both the Jewish and Christian worlds.

    Like a child of divorce, Messianic Jews have shied away from defining our movement because doing so would seem to require a declaration of loyalty to one or the other estranged parent. Shall we define ourselves primarily as Christians of Jewish origin who claim the right to adopt Jewish cultural patterns?  Or, do we see ourselves primarily as Jews who have found Jesus, the Messiah of Israel?  Who will we alienate?  Who will we upset? The Church? Our Jewish people? So, to avoid the pain we resist defining ourselves.

    A clear definition of Messianic Judaism has been difficult to articulate for another reason: the New Testament presents a very nuanced and subtle profile of the Jew who believes in Yeshua. Compare for example the Apostle Paul's seemingly contradictory statements about the premium he placed on his own Jewishness. In Philippians 3:7 the elderly, battle-weary Apostle seems to downgrade his heritage. Speaking of his former lofty status in the Jewish community he wrote:
"But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ."
Yet, in several passages in Acts and Romans Paul expresses his strong affinity for his own people and his deep identification with them. For example, a careful reading of Acts 28:17ff reveals the depth of his feelings.These are rooted more deeply than happy childhood memories of Passover seders at Grampa's house. For Paul the essence of Jewish commitment rested on the rock of God's everlasting covenant with Israel. Note Romans 1:16, 3: 1-3 and 9: 1- 5 in this connection. Sentimentality is not absent from his motivational mix, but it takes a back seat to divine promise. Still, the Apostle's, seemingly ambivalent statements in his letters have translated into tentativeness on our part as we Messianic Jews have tried to find our place under the ecclesiastical sun.

    Further complicating the picture is a certain lack of specificity in his teachings with respect to the relationship of Jews and non-Jews who believe in Yeshua. In the new age, Gentiles who believe are "brought near... to the covenants of promise." (Ephesians 2: 12-13). But exactly how near? Do Gentiles actually become Jews? Surely this is not the case. But what becomes of the definition of Israel in light of the "nearness" of the nations?  The Apostle never fully clarified the picture for us in his writings. We Jewish believers have been left holding the bag of an extremely complex identity issue.
For these reasons, Messianic Judaism has been difficult to define. But, define we must! The world deserves to know exactly who we are. And our children deserve the gift of a clear picture of what we as parents mean when we say we are adherents of a faith called Messianic Judaism.

   Messianic Judaism is a expression of Jewish faith built upon the essential truth that Jewish people who embrace the risen Messiah of Israel, Jesus, are obliged to partner with God in securing the ongoing existence and vitality of the Jewish people worldwide, while simultaneously upholding Jesus' message of love and redemption for the entire world.

Messianic Judaism is a expression of Jewish faith

    First and foremost, Messianic Judaism is essentially a Jewish faith. This may surprise some readers, but at root, our faith is a recapitulation of the First Century reality. Peter, Paul, James, John, Miriam (Mary) and the many thousands of other Jews who lived in Israel and embraced Jesus did so as Jews. In a day when there were many competing "Judaisms," theirs was the one that saw God's highest work expressed in the words and work of the Risen One. Imagine this: you hop into your time machine, set the controls for Jerusalem ad40 and upon arriving, encounter Peter on a busy street in Jerusalem. Through a translator you ask him a simple question, "Peter, now that you believe in Yeshua, is the faith you teach a Judaism or is it something else?  Peter would likely think for a brief moment, raise both palms in a questioning manner, get up close and personal, and answer you with a mixture of disbelief and benign ridicule:
  "What do you think, we became Episcopalians after the resurrection? Baptists? Catholics? Of course we teach a Judaism--the right Judaism. Pharisees understand the Torah their way, Sadducees their way and we Nazarenes our way. But we are all Jews. And one day, God will show our nation who was right all along. As for us, we are trusting in Messiah Yeshua. Say, would you like to hear about some of the things he did while my friends and I spent time with him?"
Would you ever!

    Two thousand years have passed. History has brought us new realities like the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and rise of Rabbinic Judaism and the development of the Church. Despite the time lapse and all the development, modern Messianic Jews none-the-less understand our faith as a Judaism  -- a minority view, but the only view which accounts for the sublime truth concerning Israel's greatest Son. Is such a "time machine faith" really possible today?  Yes, but with qualifications.
Many Jewish believers naively think that God's ideal would be for us to return to the ways things were in Bible times. They reason, "if only we could recapture the way things were among the earliest believers, then we could just live biblically. Our faith would seem so much simpler and purer than it is today."

    This is not true, nor is it even remotely possible. The cultural gap between then and now is just too great to ever go back. And even if we could transcend the differences, we would still be seeking a world that never really existed. That is to say, even in the First Century there was no pure, universally accepted  "biblical" faith. Even in the days immediately after God's mighty acts in Yeshua, there was plenty for believers to fight about.

    Still, certain rock-solid points of identity modeled and taught by the people who gave us Scripture can and must inform our sense of who we are. The self-understanding of the Apostles as both Jews and followers of Jesus is a case in point. History moves on, but identity-shaping paradigms remain strong and steady through the centuries. So, just as the constitution of the United States, a 200 year old human document, circumscribes the foundation identity of the modern American citizen, so the 2,000 year old New Testament confirms the legitimacy of modern Messianic Jewish identity. And for Jews, that identity is first and foremost, Jewish. Just ask Peter!

    History has marched on. This means that Messianic Judaism must be defined in terms of what Jewish life has come to look like since the days of Yeshua. Messianic Judaism correctly reflects the collective experience of the entire Jewish people as our culture has developed over the centuries. We may have our differences with Jews who have not yet recognized the risen One, but we have much in common. Our faith, then, necessarily drinks deeply from the well of Jewish practice, ethics, values, and to an extent, theology. God has been with our people over the past 2,000 years. If this were not so, we would not have survived and blessed the world as we have. Of course, Messianic Judaism shares much with the historic Church as well.

Messianic Judaism is...built upon the essential truth that Jewish people who embrace the risen Messiah of Israel, Jesus, are obliged to partner with God in securing the ongoing existence and vitality of the Jewish people worldwide...

As a Jewish faith, Messianic Judaism necessarily concerns itself with Jewish survival.

    Profound theology under girds this claim. The key phrase is "partner with God."  We contend that He has structured the way he relates to the world in such a way that He invites mankind (especially believers) to become his junior partners. Nothing much of lasting and noble character happens in our world apart from this arrangement. Again, we are not merely His "tools," but His partners!
Let's take a simple, every day example Consider the best way to get a job. Should a pious twenty-two year old college graduate sit at home praying and waiting day after day for a dark suited IBM representative to miraculously appear at her front door, job offer in hand?   Certainly not!  Some good advice from Mom and Dad would likely be, "Look honey, we helped you get through college. Now, buy a newspaper, get out there, and hit the pavement. God will bless your efforts but you have to do your part."
"Doing our part is the key here as we seek to define Messianic Judaism. "He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps," but we are his junior partners in the process of "keeping" (the Hebrew means "guarding" or "protecting") Israel, the Jewish people.
If history teaches us anything, it teaches us that powerful forces have sought to destroy the Jewish people. It has been very difficult for Jews to maintain our unique identity as a covenanted nation?  And has not spiritual laziness among Jewish people resulted in a complacency resulting in assimilation into the general culture?   Whether through death, conversion or assimilation the result for Israel, the Jewish people, is ultimately the same: step by step we move toward the abyss of obscurity and even disappearance.

    Here is a difficult truth: within two generations of trusting the Messiah, Jewish believers in Jesus who do not partner with God in cultivating a significantly Jewish approach to life for themselves and their children are destined to cease being Jewish in any meaningful, recognizable way.
Jews who make their primary home in local churches can be pretty much assured that their children (and surely their grandchildren) will not identify deeply as Jews. There may be powerful reasons for a Jewish believer in Jesus to have strong ties with a local church. However, we must not live in a fantasyland with respect to such titanically important issues such as Jewish survival and the mandate for the divine/human partnership in all life's affairs. Church life cannot impart Jewish identity to a Jew who embraces Jesus. Period. Put in positive terms, history and common sense dictate that only Jews who regularly experience Shabbat and the Jewish holidays, who relate deeply to other Jews and who seek involvement in Jewish communal activities have any hope of sustaining such a meaningful yet fragile identity.

    Some Jewish believers may answer, "I believe in Jesus and that is simply enough. God will see to it that the Jewish people survive without my help." But is such an approach really a viable option?   Let's just say, we are glad Moses, Daniel, Judah Maccabee and the ancient Nazarenes didn't approach Jewish identity quite so casually!  They all seemed to understand that sustaining the physical seed of Abraham demanded more than divine decree, but commitment on our part as well.

    So how does Messianic Judaism respond to the demands and privileges of divine human partnership?  By forming messianic synagogues. Here we have an imperfect yet meaningful answer to the question of how modern Jewish believers in Jesus can survive as Jews. Messianic Judaism is primarily a congregational movement. We say "primarily" because there are Jewish believers in churches who deeply care about maintaining their Jewishness. They deserve to be known as Messianic Jews, though they may simply have not yet faced the music of the inevitability of their and their children's path to assimilation. Or, they may have no Messianic Jewish synagogue nearby to attend.

    Some Messianic Jews seek to solve the problem by attending both a church and a traditional synagogue. This approach has some positive dimensions but suffers from two major flaws. First, it is very difficult to have two congregational homes. Limits of time, financial resources and emotional energy make this a strategy few could endure long-term. Second, unintended mixed-messages can result; Children don't do well in such bifurcated situations. And in the long term, adults don't fare much better. Great confusion and a sense of being "phony" can have a corrosive effect on the soul. No. We all do much better in single communities which reflect and reinforce our deepest values.

Hence, we return to the concept of the Messianic Jewish synagogue.

    Though painfully aware of the immaturity and current limitations of this congregational movement, twenty years of ministry have convinced me that this variety of local synagogue is the most effective, creative and courageous dimension of genuine Messianic Judaism. It is the only context in which the sights, sounds, symbols, history and values of the Jewish people can be experienced and reinforced adequately to perpetuate our unique identity from one generation to the next. Dor l'dor-- generation to generation" has always been a rock-solid Jewish concern. Dare we ignore it? Messianic Judaism must seek to do its part in ensuring that the Jewish people will continue to exist. From the perspective of the biblical Prophets and Apostles this is important not only for us, but for the sake of ultimate destiny of the entire world. This brings us to the third and final feature of or definition of Messianic Judaism. Our faith is a Judaism that lives in joyful partnership with God in sustaining our people...

while simultaneously upholding Jesus' message of love and redemption for the entire world.

  At its best, Messianic Judaism is a New Covenant Jewish faith which seeks to protect the Jewish people from disappearing while simultaneously embracing God's plan for all mankind.
Jewish thinkers have always viewed Israel's election as a divine means to a holy end. Was God only interested in blessing father Abraham for his and Sarah's sake only?  Certainly not!  Scripture says, "In you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (Gen. 12:3). God’s intention has always been to secure the well being of all the sons and daughters of Adam. Israel, the Jewish people is his chosen means of bestowing the blessing.
But love is a two way street! That is, the blessing of Israel and the nations was always intended as a reciprocal arrangement. The Jews bless the world and the world blesses the Jews. Read Romans chapter 11.This message of mutual blessing rings loudly and clearly here as it does in several passages in Prophetic books as well as in the Five Books of Moses.
Messianic Judaism seeks to bless the nations and welcomes a blessing as well. How does this find concrete expression?
As many Christians have become interested in learning about the historical background of their own faith, when competent Messianic Jews teach these things in churches, the people are inspired and encouraged. Many feel the blessing of Abraham upon the congregation as the ancient roots of the faith are explained. Also, some Church leaders (John Dawson, et al) recognize a powerful spiritual function Messianic Jews can embrace as we take a symbolic mediatorial role during acts of reconciliation between antagonistic people. Profound theological insight suggests Israel's role is as the representative and mediatorial people among all the nations of the world.

    Reciprocally, the Church has been a great blessing to the Messianic Jewish world. In fact, if it were not for the prayers, financial help and encouragement of Baptist, Pentecostals, Charismatics and other Bible believers, it is unlikely that modern Messianic Judaism would exist at all. These and other Protestant denominations have been God's partners in resurrecting the faith we call Messianic Judaism.

    Our faith is most difficult to sustain in a world that for sixteen centuries has viewed Judaism and Christianity as mutually exclusive faiths. Many in the church still retain millennia-old suspicions of Jews, including Jews who would embrace Jesus. Many in the larger Jewish community feel deeply threatened by Jews who would dare embrace "that man"--Jesus--and then have the audacity to wear tallises (prayer shawls) and call their assemblies "synagogues."  But, for a growing number of Jews and Christians the Messianic Jewish idea makes sense. Messianic Judaism is increasingly understood to be the only realistic alternative for serious Jews who name the name of the Risen One, Yeshua, our Messiah and King.