The Wilderness vs. The Dirty City

Moving off-grid is all the rage these days in Christendom. Digging bunkers and filling storehouses with years worth of food and necessities is in vogue. There is wisdom in being prepared in case of a disaster, but remember-

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.… Matthew 5:14-16

Certain sects gaining ground for the last couple years have focused heavily on encouraging young women to move away from the “big, dirty city” to live “more Torah” ie follow more old testament food laws. I have heard respected women in these sects say to those struggling to make ends meet, “The processed food you buy in the city is not food. Get out of the dirty city,”

These sects call themselves by different names, and their creeds can’t really be nailed down, but this makes them all the more dangerous. For the sake of communication, we have to use labels even though invariably, people get upset when a person speaks in generalities. In truth, we really do not have a way of speaking English without labels. For the sake of communication, I will label these certain sects- the Hebrew Roots Movement because that is what theologians smarter than me have labeled it. To be clear, some in this movement are our brethren in Christ, and some are not. I’m mostly referring to the ones who are not, although it really is a bit like standing at the edge of a precipice over the pit of hellfire to be a part of some of these groups. 

If you do not know about these groups, you need to know, because their teachings have slipped into the church big time and probably into your church already. My husband’s ministry The Beginning of Wisdom is a great resource to make yourself aware.

Some like to label themselves as Torah Observant Christians or Messianic Jewish, but even that gets confusing– are we talking about Americans who follow the Old Testament? Or are we talking about Jews who have accepted the gospel? For the sake of this discussion we are talking about any non-Jews (so Gentiles, but don’t tell them I said that) who claim to follow the entire Torah or Old Testament not just for wisdom but for salvation (although they will swear up and down they don’t). They will claim that they are only following it for obedience. I have even heard women in these sects say to lie to your husband for a couple days after your period ends and say you are still on your period so that you do not break Torah by having sex before the allotted 7 days of abstinence as prescribed in Leviticus. It is wild. Talk about tithing your mint and cumin and forgetting the weightier matters.

This movement is slipping in to ALL denominations of true Christianity, because that is one of their tactics. They are oft instructed by their leaders to go into the churches and win over weak-willed women to the heresy little by little. These deceived women drag their husbands into it, although it is often the husband who leads his family into this joyless, always-winter-never-Christmas religion. It is evident especially in churches with a lot of prepper, hide-in-your-bunker mindsets although its not a perfect Venn diagram. 

They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.… 1 Thessalonians 2:15b-16 

They fail to leave room for the great commission. We are called to share the gospel with those living in the dirty city. Jonah was sent to the city of Ninevah, and that whole place including the king himself repented. Hosea married Gomer, a harlot, that God might show us that we who were once called, “not his people” are in fact “His people”. God himself was born in Bethlehem and called a Nazarene.

What is better- that a young lady move to a remote mountain to grow “clean” food, or stay in that dirty city as a light to people- speaking to them about Christ? Well, if you think “Torah is life” as many Hebrew Roosters do, then it is better to grow food. If you think Christ is life, then it it may be better to share him directly with as many as possible that they may have life also. It is not that simplistic however. God made the body of Christ with different parts. Some are mouths and some are hands and feet. Some teach and some grow the food. We are all commanded to confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord.

These Hebrew Roots sects twist the scriptures so much as to say that Christ is Torah (they mean Christ is the Law). They have no biblical or linguistic basis for this. The original Greek and Hebrew simply do not make this assessment. They even have their own made up Bible translation because they hate that the New Testament was written in Greek rather than Hebrew.

 

“Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God,” Romans 7:4

Hear that? We have died to the Law but we are alive to Christ. “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.” Galatians 2:19

“Caring for the body is good, Paul says, “it profiteth a little, but caring for the spirit profiteth much,”

I love organic raspberries and apples as much as anyone, and am thankful to have access to a semi rural life- but it doesn’t make me any holier than thou who livest in the big city eating your pesticide laden fruit. The bodies we live in will be glorified when He returns if we trust him, whether local grass-fed beef was consumed or not.  In fact, those of you who live in the city when you’d rather live in the country are perhaps holier than me if you are giving up that short term comfort for the long-term gain of Christ’s kingdom. Relationships are all we can take with us to heaven. 

It is ironic for me to write about this given that my family is doing a very strict elimination diet called GAPS, in order to heal some health issues in a couple family members. It is working phenomenally well. I share this to say that  we should of course steward our bodies to the best of our ability, and shepherd our children to do the same, but the Christian life should also be one of calculated risk, in order to fulfill God’s command in Genesis to be fruitful and multiply. 

Contrast this with my previous article encouraging those who are called to leave where they are as political refugees, and you will know that I’m not saying that everyone has to live in a city so they can preach to the most people. Its attaching morality to the polar extremes, that get us in trouble and flirting with cult-like behaviors. 

All of this focus on preparing for the worst instead of fulfilling the great commission to go and make disciples, can really be traced back to bad eschatology (your views on end times). Even from the non-dispensationalist Bible college I attended, fellow graduates get confused when you say you’re not a dispensationalist. They still think you have to believe in a pre-trib or post-trib rapture and don’t even know what the a-millenial view that they were taught in college is. I am not sure if they just passed the test and immediately forgot or what. 

I have since then, hesitantly backed into a corner and become a postmilenial, not because of the solid arguments (and they are solid- see content by Jeff Durbin to study more about why I think we are in the reign of Christ here and now), but because I cannot deny the results. Post-millenial Christians that I have encountered, by and large are living like they believe Christ wants them to be fruitful and make disciples in all the earth. Other Christians are hiding in their bunkers. I’m speaking in generalities. 

Your eschatology matters. These Hebrew rooters I see causing agony for so many, are mostly dispensationalists. Mostly coming out of the hyper-charasmatic movement (not to be confused with continuationists or mere charismatic believers who I know to be my true brethren, though we may differ on non-salvific subjects). 

Preparation is important. I myself, have quite the impressive pantry and ammo collection— or at least I did before it was lost in a boating accident. Yet if you can only make one preparation for end times, make it this. Prepare your feet to share the gospel. Put on your shoes, go outside your house and share the good news with someone in the open square. Share it even moreso with those living in your household. Blessed are the feet of them who bring good news. 

My guess is that you can do both. You can wisely prepare your home within your budget, and you can fervently share the gospel with sinners. 

There is nothing wrong with living in the country if that is what God has called you to (I’m so thankful for farmers who produce food for us all to purchase) and there is nothing wrong with living in the city if that is what you are called to do. God made parts of the body differently. If you are a rancher in rural Oregon, it is not necessary for you to move to the city and start a church (without a clear call from God). What is wrong, is attaching morality to one or the other. Dangerous sects often like to isolate their members and keep them from sharing the gospel. 

Christ compares the church to a CITY on a hill and the wilderness is associated often with sin and judgment. These are merely analogies (and even biblical analogies break down) and there are other times when the wilderness is a good thing— It is often portrayed as a time of refinement for the christian. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before entering the promised land. John the Baptist ministered in the wilderness. Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days before his entrance into public ministry, BUT then he went to the cities and towns and shared the gospel. Go and do likewise.