Did you know that there are some Messianic congregations that exclude Gentile Christians from their congregations? They either don’t allow them to participate, or allow them to participate if they go through their “conversion process” (which is also wrong) and supposedly “become Jews.” Discrimination against Gentiles is wrong for the following reasons:

It Opposes God’s Intent To Unite Humanity In The Faith: May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem (Genesis 9). Though shrouded in antiquity, Noah’s prophecy nevertheless speaks to the union of Jews and Gentiles; said togetherness to occur within the tents of Shem, not Japheth. Notice carefully that Japheth is to dwell in the tents of Shem. To apply this to the present dispensation, the expectation is that Gentile believers (Japheth’s descendants) be welcomed in Messianic Jewish congregations. To exclude Gentile believers ignores this prophecy, which expresses the will of God to unite, not separate us.

In Isaiah 56, the Lord makes it clear that He welcomes people from all nations into His house. Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people…” the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the sabbath and holds fast My covenant; even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.” The fact that Messiah quoted this passage to express what God expected in His house even at that time implies that people from all nations were invited to join in the worship of the God of Israel even at that time. It was not something to be set aside until the time of His Millennial reign or The World To Come.

God repeatedly expressed the intent to bring people from every nation, tribe, language and culture to know Him and worship with Israel. The Psalms are full of invitations to all the nations to come and worship with His people. Examples include Psalms 67:7, 72:11-17, 86:9, 87:4 and 117:1. Likewise, the Prophets expressed this. Examples include Zechariah 8:20-23, Jeremiah 3:17, Isaiah 60:10-11 and Micah 4:1-2.

Messiah explicitly stated His purpose to create one people from the Jewish people and the other peoples. I am the Good Shepherd; I know My own sheep, and they know Me, just as My Father knows Me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to My voice, and there will be one flock with one Shepherd (John 10).

Rabbi Paul emphasized Messiah’s purpose to unite Jews and Gentiles. Messiah Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us¼ He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Messiah reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from Him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Messiah has done for us. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family (Ephesians 2). How can the exclusion of Gentile believers from Messianic synagogues be justified in light of the above teachings of Messiah Yeshua and Paul?

We Must Not Exclude Gentiles Because Of God’s Character: He is full of perfect and immutable love. He desires our reconciliation – to Himself and to one another. The old enmities are taken away in the redemptive work of Messiah. Messiah’s Community is to be characterized by peace between Jew and Gentile. Will He bless us if we operate contrary to His purposes?

Excluding Gentiles Repeats The Error And Hypocrisy Of Peter: When Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from

these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy

(Galatians 2). The Holy Spirit saw fit to include this otherwise embarrassing episode in the New Covenant Scriptures. A group of Jewish believers, acting, it appeared, in defiance of the decision of the Jerusalem Council (see Acts 15), arrived in Antioch, apparently insisting that Gentiles be circumcised in order to become disciples of Messiah. Upon their arrival, Peter disassociated from his Gentile brothers and sisters out of fear of the Jewish delegation’s disapproval. Paul described it as something wrong and an act of hypocrisy – serious enough to warrant a public rebuke.

Excluding Gentiles Alienates Our Brothers And Sisters In Messiah: If we take seriously Paul’s teaching about the equal standing of Jewish and Gentile believers (see Galatians 3:26-29), how can we justify segregation in Messiah’s Holy Community? Engage in racial discrimination against our Gentile brothers and sisters? Perhaps in light of the Golden Rule, we ought to imagine ourselves walking in Ruth’s sandals. Don’t we rejoice that she who was a foreigner found favor in the eyes of Boaz, and was welcomed in Israel? Wouldn’t we want that for ourselves? Why then would we deny it to others? Across the years, Christian leaders insisted that Jewish believers jettison their Jewish identity and assimilate into Gentile culture. But how are we any better if our response is to exclude Gentiles from participating in our congregational life?

Exclusion Of Gentiles Is Motivated By Yirat Adam – The Fear Of Man: Though couched in terms such as “relevance” and “authenticity,” the root of this policy of discrimination is a desire to win the approval of the Jewish community through an artificially controlled demographic. The fear of man is a grievous foundation upon which to develop policy. Whether it proves successful or not is immaterial. The end does not justify the means.

Excluding Gentiles Is A Flawed Evangelistic Model: The attempt to artificially control congregational demographics isn’t going to lessen the Jewish community’s distrust for Jews who believe in Yeshua. Perhaps some of us need to re-learn the fact that disapproval from our Jewish people is an inevitable part of being His disciples. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul how much more the members of His household? And, to exclude the “wild olive branches – a most vibrant part of Messiah’s Community – is to forfeit their vital evangelistic contribution. Of all people, Messianic Jewish leaders are in the best position to equip zealous, biblically minded Gentiles to witness to their Jewish friends and neighbors, who will then invite them to our congregations. To turn these faithful brothers and sisters away in the attempt to appear authentic in the eyes of the unbelieving Jewish community is terribly short-sighted.

It Is The Holy Spirit, Not Our Strategies, Who Transforms Hearts And Minds: I don’t doubt the sincere motives of those who desire to be an authentic expression of Jewish people following Jesus. Nevertheless, our strategies are not a substitute for the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. And I regard it as very unlikely that He would endorse, with His presence and power, any congregation that excludes Gentile brothers and sisters from the life of that congregation.

Exclusion Of Gentiles Caters To Ethnocentrism – A Preoccupation With One’s Ethnic Identity: While Jewish ancestry is something we ought to appreciate and thank God for, for some people it’s an obsession. It’s the first (and sometimes only) thing they want to know about others. Such people might be put off by the presence of Gentiles in the midst of a Messianic synagogue, but should we exclude Gentiles in order to cater to such prejudices?

Exclusion Of Gentiles Appeals To An Obsolete Paradigm: Before the arrival of the Son of God, God commanded the Jewish people to be separate from the nations, not on account of ethnicity, but to keep them from the detestable religious practices of those nations. There is no equivalence whatsoever between modern Evangelical Christians, who love and worship the God of Israel, and the Canaanites and other ancient peoples that surrounded Israel.

We Should Live With A View To Messiah’s Reign On Earth And The World To Come, When Jew And Gentile Will Experience Greater Unity: I’m reminded of the words of Zechariah, describing the pilgrimage celebration of the Holiday of Tabernacles during Messiah’s reign, in which people from all nations will come and worship with Israel: Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Zechariah 14). And I’m reminded of the words of the Apostle John during his glimpse into eternity: After these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7). Doesn’t it stand to reason that Messianic congregational life should reflect not only what Messiah Yeshua has accomplished, but also our glorious and united future under His Kingship? Why would we discourage the union of Jews and Gentiles in worship, when it is one of the greatest evidences of God’s goodness, love and grace, and the wonder and joy of the things to come?

Excluding Gentiles Is An Appalling Show Of Ingratitude: The majority of Jewish believers in Messiah come to faith through the loving witness of Gentile believers. Imagine this: you are Jewish, and a Christian friend tells you about Yeshua. You believe. He brings you to a Messianic congregation, and the rabbi says to you, “I’m so glad you’re here. You are welcome join us – but your friend isn’t.” Would you join that congregation?

Excluding Gentiles Legitimizes Unwarranted Criticisms Of The Messianic Jewish Movement: For example, some years ago, Will Varner, on behalf of The Master’s Seminary, wrote this: “Messianic Judaism tends to promote divisions that the redemptive work of Jesus has torn down¼ It has sometimes been charged that Messianic Judaism is rebuilding this wall of partition¼ by its emphasis on laws that have no continuing spiritual relevance for either Jews or Gentiles, (it) is creating an appearance that the wall still separates the two groups” (Varner, William, Do We Need Messianic Synagogues? Biblical, Historical and Pragmatic Issues, www.academia.edu/60701324, pg. 54-56). We must not validate such allegations by excluding Gentiles. We don’t want the Church to view us with suspicion.