POSTED 03 JULY, 2007

Congregations Among Us

by J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net

Today’s emerging Messianic movement is at a critical juncture in its growth and development, particularly as we consider the future. Where we are in the distant future needs to be considerably different than where we are today in 2007. We need to have made significantly more progress in the refinement of our theology and approach to the Bible, and we need to be more socially active and engaged with the affairs of our modern and/or post-modern culture so we can make a true difference in the lives of other people. We have much to do today as we consider the challenges ahead—and while there is much to look forward to, allowing time to work things out is not a virtue that we often demonstrate.

I believe that much of what is taking place today is paralleled from what we see of the growth of the early Messianic community in the Book of Acts, General Epistles, and Pauline Epistles. From the beginning of the Book of Acts to John’s letters we see that gospel message expanded out from a small backwater province of the Roman Empire, Judea, to ultimately Rome itself and throughout the Mediterranean basin. The good news that the Messiah had come went out to Jewish synagogues throughout the Land of Israel, and not only the Jewish community in the Diaspora—but to multitudes from the nations who eagerly embraced it as they encountered people with changed lives.

In a similar manner, the early Messianic community of the past century was originally constrained to groups of Jewish Believers, primarily in urban centers throughout the United States. Eventually, it spread to other Jewish communities throughout the world, including Israel. Today, Messianic communities are popping up in areas that do not necessarily have significantly large Jewish communities, but rather many non-Jewish Believers in Messiah Yeshua are being shown the richness of their Hebraic Roots and are being led to live Torah obedient lives like their Lord.

The challenges presented to the early Messianic community in the First Century are addressed thoroughly in the Apostolic Scriptures or New Testament. They testify of the hardships that the Apostles faced, including their criticism, rejection, and even the imprisonment and physical harm levied against them. They indicate that when communities of Believers in Yeshua started being formed, issues arose largely pertaining to Jewish and non-Jewish interaction, and how these people groups were to function cohesively allowing individuals to mature in their newfound faith via the power of the Holy Spirit. We have letters in the Apostolic Scriptures written to many of these early assemblies, with pertinent instruction regarding how they were to handle the situations as they arose.

Much like two millennia ago, Messianic communities are popping up all over the world. Some of them are very large, and some of them constitute only a handful of people. Each congregation and its congregants have an important mission: to uplift and encourage one another in the Lord, and make a difference in their community. This is what each ancient congregation as described in the Apostolic Scriptures was supposed to do. For some, fulfilling the mission of God was easier than for others. It is imperative for us to understand these early assemblies, so that we too might be empowered to be about the work of the Lord—and mature both spiritually and theologically.

What are the “congregations among us” that we see present in today’s emerging Messianic movement? What important message—or even messages—have we been missing from our examination of the Scriptures?

J.K. McKee (B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A., Asbury Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic apologist. He is a 2009 recipient of the Zondervan Biblical Languages Award for Greek. He is author of numerous books, dealing with a wide range of topics that are important for today’s Messianic Believers. He has also written many articles on theological issues, and is presently focusing his attention on Messianic commentaries of various books of the Bible.