True unity is in diversity, not in conformity.
— Rick Joyner
I love what Rick Joyner is saying here because for sure diversity sure puts unity to the test.
Another thing that Rick has taught over the years is how in order to
cut off something evil you have to put the axe to the root of it. I
believe that division in the international Church, at the root is the
division as the Gentile church departed from the root of the faith -
removing contact with the Messianic Jewish believers. Until this breach
is dealt with as the root of divisions in the Body, the international
Church will remain divided amongst themselves, not just divided from the
Messianic part of the Body.
In fact, I think that in Romans
9-11 the apostle Paul was directly addressing what he knew prophetically
would begin to unfold as more and more Gentiles came into the faith.
It was inevitable that Gentiles would outnumber the Jewish believers,
Paul was well aware of that prophetically because he is the one who is
addressing what God's plan is in setting aside the nation of Israel in
order to include all nations in salvation. This is the major theme of
Romans 9-11 and Paul also backs this up elsewhere, like in his Ephesians
2 discussion of the one new man (Jew and Gentile) in Messiah.
As overjoyed as Paul was that the nations were coming to the knowledge
of Messiah Yeshua, he was also devastated knowing that the Jews -
according to the purposes of God - were in part blinded to that
knowledge and could not come to Messiah until a much later season when
they would return in numbers so great it would be seen as as a corporate
return.
So Romans 9-11 was Paul laying out to the Gentile
believers how they must care for and stay connected to the root of the
faith which God planted in the Jews who followed Messiah Yeshua. He was
laying out a way of looking at the situation which the international
Church must adopt towards the Messianic Body of believers acknowledging
them as true brothers in the Lord - not unsaved Israel, but those who
are in the faith of Yeshua/Jesus. And seeing Israel through the eye of
faith as Paul did - saying that the season would come when the Gentiles
in Christ would reach a fulness (which I believe is a state of quality,
not quantity; maturity not just numbers) where they are able to discern
the plan of God regarding the setting aside of Israel, and God's return
at long last to save Israel for eternal life in Messiah.
Pro-Israel Christians often fall desperately short of perceiving what
God is up to with Israel. If they really understood, they would be
rushing to befriend their Messianic Jewish brethren instead of
pretending like they do not exist or have some kind of heresy attached
to them as the unsaved Jews accuse them of. (The stumbling stone is
Jesus, pro-Israel Christians. Wake up!)
Perhaps if the
pro-Israel Christians would get it right, and understand how they are to
relate to Israel as the apostle Paul laid out, then all the so-called
cutting edge prophetic people who think Israel is nothing would also be
able to see it.
There is a Remnant in the international Church
that sees what God's plan is as the apostle Paul laid out in Romans
9-11. These are the ones who have come alongside Messianic ministries,
and have reached out to the Body of Messiah in Israel.
Messianic ministries also have a part to play in how they orient the
Christians who come into their midst. The Christians are not supposed
to be coming to be made into Jewish wannabes. You may want to preserve
the Jewishness of your congregation, but you will have to do it in a way
that does not encourage Gentile Christians to adopt a Jewish facade!
The apostles ruled on that in Acts 15 although many are violating that
today. It is okay for Jews to be Jews and Gentile Christians to be
Gentiles Christians.
These are some of the issues that are out
of whack in the unity of the Body. When we begin to get our way of
looking at Israel adjusted to what Paul said was exactly the case in
Romans 9-11, then we will see the axe put to the root of divisions that
exist in the Church. In the Ten Commandments, the first four
commandments deal with our personal relationship with God and the final
six have to do with our relationships with each other. If we will have
unity with diversity, then we must deal with our viewpoint on Israel and
especially the Jewish part of the Body of Christ.
