Should Christians act like Jesus?

short answer: I don’t know, that's not my religion

Questions from a Christian friend #2

This week, a Christian friend of mine wrote me living a life that looked like Jesus’ life. Below is a peek into my inbox to see how I responded.

“my idea of Messianic Judaism is that as believers in the WHOLE bible and followers of Christ believing our messiah was Jewish gives us creadence to follow the Hebrew traditions and mourn the losses of our jewish brothers and sisters the same way Christ did.” — Friend

My Response:

It is very admirable to want to live a life in accordance with biblical values. You are following a linage of great leaders from previous generations. Throughout history, people have thirsted for answers about the Universe and the meaning of life. From the times of Adam and Noah to the nephew of the great Roman General, Titus himself, people have searched the Hebrew bible to see if these answers exist. Even the early pilgrims who settled in America wanted to make Hebrew the official language of the new world.

Diving into words, I’m very touched that you desire to mourn the loss of Jewish life. We feel the same way about others in the world. Every life is precious to the Creator. We would encourage you to not only mourn the lives lost in our community but also around the world as compassion is not limited to just us.

In regards to your statement to follow “Hebrew traditions” I would like to know more about what you mean by this. We have many traditions and our lifestyle is compromised of many nuances and tiny details that I’m not sure you would find so fulfilling. We don’t have a problem with you living your life in the way you wish and if something in our communities resonates with you, it would be an honor for us to be replicated in some of these areas as the majority of our ways have the goal to achieve the well-being of mind and body.

Thanks! -Yaakov

The Reply

This is true however what my true meaning here is that anything Jesus did, celebrated or mourned as a Jew should be what I do as a Christian. This whole idea is very confusing because as a Christian following Jesus, our messiah, was a…