What "Religion" Are You?

Last night at work I was asked, "What religion are you?" They wanted to know if I was Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist or whatever. I told them I wasn't any of those; I am just a follower of Jesus the Messiah. I'm not sure my answer satisfied them because it doesn't fit with any of the "boxes" we've created to define our religious preferences and practices. I smiled to myself, though, as I tried to picture Peter or John or James or Paul being asked such a question and how they might have answered. "What do you mean, what religion am I? I am a disciple of the LORD Yeshua HaMeshiach. I follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." I wonder what they would have to say about all of our different denominations.

This question does raise an interesting problem, though. Since I do not define myself by a denominational affiliation, when someone wants to know what I believe and adhere to, what DO I call myself? In truth, I am a believer in and follower of Yeshua the Messiah. I believe in living according to the whole counsel of the Word of God, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelations 22:21.

I do not really want to say that I am a Messianic believer for a couple of reasons. One of those being that most of the people I talk to have no clue what a Messianic believer is; they've never even heard the word before. Another reason I prefer to avoid that name is that those who have heard that term have some preconceived ideas about it, including that Messianics are Judaizers or that they are Jewish wannabe's, neither of which is true of me. As for Messianic Judaism, since I have no Jewish ancestry that I am aware of, I don't believe that this name fits me, either. I am not a Jew who has accepted Yeshua as the Messiah and chosen to follow Him. Nor do I have any interest in going through the Jewish conversion process. As far as I know, I am a Gentile, who has come to faith in the Messiah Yeshua and He has accepted me just as I am, adopting me into His family, and has given me no indication in His Word that I need to "convert" to Judaism.

Saying that I am a Christian has similar drawbacks. Too many people equate being a Christian with belonging to a church, as though just belonging to a particular church or attending a certain church can make you a Christian; sorry, but this just ain't so! That's like saying that if I sat out in the garage long enough, I'd become a car; just ain't gonna happen! People have a lot of preconceived ideas about Christians, too, like they're judgmental and condemning, holier-than-thou and hypocrites. The term "Christian" carries a lot of baggage with it, most of which I don't want to carry around with me. So I apologize if you have a strong connection to that name, wear it proudly and what I've said is offensive to you; I don't mean to offend or to put anyone else down who chooses to wear that name, but it doesn't fit me any more.

So when all is said and done, I think I will have to stick to saying that I am a believer in and follower of Yeshua the Messiah, only begotten Son of the Eternal God and Creator of the universe, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and Savior of all mankind, Who in His flesh has made us all--Jew and Gentile--one body.