Interfaithfulness Exists "Because Intimate Friends Should Not Be Strangers"

Interfaithfulness exists "Because intimate friends should not be strangers."

1. What intimate friends are we talking about?
2. Who cares?
3. How can we help you?

(1) WHAT INTIMATE FRIENDS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

• Your intimate friends who should not be strangers are your Jewish or Christian "others."  These "others" are Christians if you are a Jew and Jews if you are a Christian. They might be your friends, your co-workers, people you go to school with, your neighbors, even your family members and your in-laws. And in subtle ways either you or they think of one another as somehow "other."  But despite the sad history of animosity and polarization between the two communities, Jews and Christians are meant to be intimate friends. The only God the church has is the God of Israel, and people who share the same God are supposed to be intimate friends, and not be strangers.
• Your intimate friends who should not be strangers are intermarried members of your family extended family.  It could be your spouse, your in-laws, or someone married into your extended family. Despite the big smiles in the wedding pictures, not everyone is happy with intermarriages. And sooner or later, problems can crop up in such marriages that were not apparent when everything was wine and roses and wedding cake. Now the wine is vinegar,  the roses look a lot like weeds, and the cake is way beyond stale.  But the fact is whenever people marry, they join not just two people but two families. And yes, that can get "interesting." Got any stories?  We sure do. But don't you think that family members should regard each other as intimate friends? And don't you think intimate friends should not be strangers?
• Your intimate friend who should not be a stranger is "the More Jewish Jesus." He is a stranger to most people who either think of him as God's Plan B instead of all that Jewish stuff (WRONG!), or think of him as just Jewish enough to eat delicatessen, but not too Jewish, because he outgrew all of that (wrong again!). He is the More Jewish Jesus who affirms Jewish community, Jewish values, and Jewish custom. And this Jesus is the best friend Jews every had, and Gentiles too. Relationships between Jews, Gentiles, and the God of Israel are transformed when people meet and embrace the More Jewish Jesus.

WHO CARES?

Very early in the Torah we learn "It is not good for man to be alone."  We were made for community. This is one of the reasons it is so sad to see street people living alone on the streets. We were not meant to live alone, to eat alone, to die alone. We were made for relationship. And when relationship are lacking, or when they go bad, something is "not good." That's why we at Interfaithfulness enjoy helping people just like you to deepen your intimate connection to your Jewish or Christian "others," to family members not raised in your religious tradition, and with the more Jewish Jesus. Intimate friends should not be strangers because it is not good that man . . .or woman. . .  should be alone.

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?

We at Interfaithfulness are specialists in helping Jews and Christians build bridges and find doorways to better relational possibilities. So . .

• If you're trying to better understand or be understood by your Jewish or Christian "otherss" . .
• If conflicts have arisen in your family because of interfaith issues. . .
• If you like to study, read, and discuss . . .
• If you are curious how knowing more about the More Jewish Jesus  might help you better understand and enjoy your faith, or the faith of your Jewish or Christian "others"
• If you need spiritual counsel, advice, mentoring, or coaching at the intersection of the Jewish and Christian worlds . . .

. . .Then here we are.

Contact us to find out more.

Write us at info@interfaithfulness.org.

You may call us at 626-765-4359.

Subscribe to our e-letter SIGNALS. Click here

.