A look back to where it all began

It's a foundation issue.

Any builder can tell you that if the foundation of your home is compromised, the entire structure is at risk. It's why we have building codes, designed specifically for geographical areas, soil conditions, flood plains and the like, that are strictly enforced across the length and breadth of the nation. Foundations matter.

The same concept can be applied to faith foundations and the Rev. Allan Jackson of McCook suspects that Christianity's lack of foundational teachings from the Old Testament has produced a religion ill-equipped to stand against the emerging "post-Christian" culture in America.

In fact, he asserts that this foundational weakness has hampered Christianity throughout the ages, since Emperor Constantine severed Christianity's connection to Judaism.

He's probably onto something.

I must have been all of 10 when I first heard the word "Jewish." We had moved that year to a Capitol Hill neighborhood in Denver and those close blocks contained the most eclectic group of people I had ever encountered. I met the first Mormons I ever knew there, my Jewish friend who celebrated Hanukkah instead of Christmas and Mrs. Thompson, who opened her living room to the ragamuffin Carlson kids every Sunday night to watch "Wonderful World of Disney" in living color. I went to school with other fourth graders, representing every hue, and shared the sidewalk and the corner grocery store with the young, the old and everything in between.

That holiday season, when Hanukkah first entered my vocabulary, Mom took the time to explain that although the Jewish people believe in God, they haven't accepted that Jesus is their promised Messiah. Much wiser then than I am now, Mom left it at that, knowing the limits of a 10-year-old's mind.

As I grew up, I would learn more and once I finally developed enough self-discipline to read the entire Old Testament, I knew and understood even more.

One thing I did discover during that first read-through remains true today, and is in fact underscored with every reading. Christians of today are a lot like Israel of old in that. Even though the Lord has done mighty, powerful, astounding miracles in our lives, we, just like the Israelites throughout the Old Testament, are quick to backslide, even quicker to complain and, sometimes, much to our shame, spend far too much time looking overlong at "other gods," seeking ways to incorporate them into our belief system.

Subsequent studies in the Old Testament have revealed other time-tested truths, and some of those were the focus of Jackson's observations during a recent interview about a new fellowship in McCook, "Messiah's Gathering."

Jackson asserts that after the forced separation from Judaism, Christianity began its centuries-long splintering, with sects developing along the lines of identifiable differences, so that to date, there are literally hundreds of "brands" of Christianity to choose from, based largely on personal preference or personal interpretations. Some have even added entirely new teachings to supplant the original, covering their teachings with the thinnest veneer of Christianity possible. These have dismissed the virgin birth, denying the Sonship of Jesus; the resurrection; even the deity of Jesus Christ.

This splintering, Jackson maintains, can be attributed to the lack of foundation in Judeo-Christian teachings, where the commandments and decrees of God have been set aside to accommodate the surrounding cultures.

The result is that culture continues to have a negative impact on believers when the commandments and decrees of God, which are wholly beneficial to health, to happiness, to a life well-lived, are thrust to the side -- if they are acknowledged at all.

Contrast the reality of modern Christianity, impacted by the culture for generations, with the Judeo mind set and its impact on every culture it encounters; inspiring either envy that results in conflict, or admiration that results in emulation.

According to Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, second chapter, verse 16, we are supposed to be "to the one the stench of death, to the other, the fragrance of life." Instead, we have watered down the essence of the gospel so much so, that it seems we carry no scent whatsoever.

"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'" Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV)