“Sad to see so many of you remain Christians and persist using the fraudulent names and titles. Just like a devoted catholic who remains and idolater and Sabbath profaner can’t receive salvation because of the curse of religion. So is it with Christians who originates from the catholic org. The imposter jesus never existed. Yahusha haMashiach is the Son of The Most High Elohiym and Yahusha is definitely NOT jesuskristos“
This comment was posted publicly as a comment on one of our blog posts. I have left the wording as it appeared and omitted the commenter’s name because the behavior deserves examination without making this about a particular person. We receive comments like this more often than you can imagine – or maybe you can imagine because you know this type or have been on the receiving end of their wrath and judgment.
And don’t get me started on social media.
So today I’m talking to everyone, all the workers in the field.
But I’m giving a very pointed side eye to the ones out there who flaunt an attitude like our illustrious commenter here.
I pray they are paying attention. I pray everyone is paying attention.
So, let’s talk about what that type of attitude does to the people reading those nasty comments and messages.
Let me set the stage.
Imagine that you have loved Jesus for years. You have prayed, opened your Bible, and asked Him to help you live in a way that pleases Him. Now you are learning about the Sabbath, the feasts, and things you had never been taught. You want a deeper relationship with your Creator, but you have questions. Perhaps you are already afraid of losing relationships because you are examining what you have always believed.
Then someone tells you that the One you have been calling upon is an imposter or that the name you use is demonic – and they condemn you for using it. Before they have asked a single question about your faith or helped you understand a single verse, they have dismissed you.
Would you feel safe asking your next question? Would you want to hear anything else that person had to say?
Let me tell you where I am.
I care about that person who uses the name Jesus. I care about whether the next encounter helps them understand Scripture or sends them away believing that Torah observance produces arrogance and contempt.
If you claim to represent the Messiah, you are responsible for how you treat the people who are trying to find Him.
I remember the tears
I remember a woman sitting across the table from me, crying because another woman at the Bible study had laid into her, telling her that if she wanted to be saved, she had to quit Christmas. We had been in the study with her for maybe a month.
She left in tears and never came back.
I agree that Christmas needs to be examined and left behind if we are going to be truly obedient to Yehovah. But the way that message was delivered drove her away. The truth deserved to be taught, and she deserved to be cared for while she learned it. Those responsibilities belong together.
And if YOU are delivering the message, then the responsibility is YOURS.
That is why these comments concern me so deeply. I have seen the tears. I have seen someone leave. When I read an attack on a stranger who may be trying to understand, I think about the person receiving it and whether there will be another opportunity to help them.
And I think about the person or people who made the ugly comments and wonder how they will respond when Yehovah asks them on Judgment Day about the way they handled one of His lambs.
Online, you rarely see those tears. You may never know who quietly closes the page, leaves the group, or decides it is no longer safe to ask a question. Others are reading too, wondering whether they will be treated the same way if they admit what they do not understand.
How many questions never get asked because someone acting in their flesh makes the environment unsafe?
A stranger’s comment section is still a place where you are accountable for your conduct. The screen does not suspend Scripture’s instructions to be gentle, patient, and meek. You may know nothing about the person’s history, what they have been taught, or what Yehovah is already working on in their life. Listen before you presume to know everything they need.
Help people understand
At Torah Observant Apostolics, we use the names Yehovah and Yeshua. We also use Jesus, God, and Yah. We minister to people with different backgrounds and different levels of understanding. Some know exactly whom I mean when I say Yeshua. Others have never heard that name.
When I speak to someone who knows Him as Jesus, I want that person to understand whom I am talking about. Using familiar language gives us a place to begin a conversation. From there, I can explain why I use Yeshua and answer questions as they arise.
A desire to know His Hebrew name can grow out of a desire to know Him more deeply. That is something beautiful to nurture. Someone may begin asking what His name means, how it connects with Scripture, and what else they have missed. But you cannot nurture that desire by making them feel foolish or rejected for not knowing something they were never taught.
At Pentecost, people from different nations heard the wonderful works of God in their own languages. Acts 2:6–11 describes their amazement that they could understand what was being spoken. This does not settle every question about names or pronunciation, but it gives us a biblical example of understandable communication. The people heard in the languages they knew.
And if you come into a ministry’s space with a concern about how it ministers to seekers, bring that concern with humility and Scripture. Do not attack the people it is trying to reach.
Yehovah made it possible for them to understand. That should matter to you when you decide how to speak to someone who is learning.
There is no holiness in arrogance
We need to be clear about this: there is no holiness in arrogant, condemning behavior. Knowing a Hebrew name does not excuse contempt. Observing the Sabbath does not give you permission to humiliate someone. Knowledge of Torah does not place you above the instructions that govern your own conduct.
Knowledge and outward practice do not excuse an unholy attitude. Holiness must also be evident in your character and conduct.
James 4:6 tells us that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. 2 Timothy 2:24–25 instructs the Lord’s servant to be gentle, able to teach, patient, and meek when correcting others. Those instructions apply when someone needs correction. They are not reserved for conversations with people who already agree with you.
If you believe someone is in error, you have a responsibility to handle that conversation in a godly way. You cannot defend one instruction while disregarding another and call the result holiness.
Galatians 6:1 tells those who are spiritual to restore someone overtaken in a fault in a spirit of meekness, while considering themselves. Notice the purpose: restoration. Notice the manner: meekness. Notice where the examination also belongs: on the person doing the correcting.
Where is that spirit in a comment that mocks someone’s faith and pronounces them beyond salvation? Where is the patient teaching? Where is the care for the soul?
There is a difference between explaining what Scripture says about salvation and making sweeping declarations about people whose hearts, understanding, and lives you have not even taken the time to hear. You are accountable to Scripture in both your message and your manner.
Everyone is learning
Most of us did not begin with the understanding we have today. Many of us knew Him as Jesus long before we heard the name Yeshua. We worshipped on Sunday because that was what we had been taught. We observed traditions we later examined and left behind.
We needed someone to help us see. Sometimes we needed to read the same Scriptures more than once. Sometimes we resisted because what we were learning challenged years of teaching, relationships, and memories. We had questions, and those questions did not all disappear in a single afternoon.
Do you remember that part of your own journey? Do you remember how patiently Yehovah taught you?
Learning something another person has not learned gives you an opportunity to help them. It does not give you a reason to make them feel small. And having more information on one subject does not mean you have nothing left to learn yourself.
First Corinthians 8:1 warns that knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. Love builds people up. If your knowledge is producing an inflated opinion of yourself and a diminished view of everyone else, you need to examine what you are doing with it.
You want them to learn His Hebrew name. Have you shown them His character?
Consider what they can bear
Yeshua told His disciples, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12, KJV). He had more to teach them, and He recognized what they could bear at that moment. In the next verse, He spoke of the Spirit of truth guiding them into all truth. Their learning would continue.
That should give you pause when you feel compelled to deliver every correction immediately. Yeshua understood the people He was teaching. You need to seek His guidance about what to say, when to say it, and how to help someone understand.
Think about your own journey. Yehovah did not teach you everything you now understand in one afternoon. As you learned, you needed time to examine Scripture, pray, ask questions, and bring your life into obedience. Someone else may need that same patient care.
A belief can be connected to years of teaching, family relationships, and treasured memories. Examining it may bring difficult questions about much more than one practice. You can teach Scripture clearly while making room for someone to work through those questions. Patience does not require you to conceal truth or tell someone that obedience is optional. It requires you to care about the person as you help them understand and respond.
What is still sticking to your shoes?
You can forget what Yehovah pulled you out of. You can also change your religious practices while carrying old attitudes right along with you. Pride, cruelty, the need to win, an obsession with being “right,” and the habit of treating people with contempt do not become holy because you have learned different terminology.
When that mud of the world, of the flesh, is still sticking to your shoes, it shows in everything you say and do.
You may have left a tradition behind, but have you left behind the way you used to treat people? You may have learned to recognize an error in someone else’s teaching, but can you recognize the arrogance in your own response?
James 3:13 asks the person who is wise and knowledgeable to show it through good conduct and the meekness of wisdom. Verses 14–17 distinguish bitter envy and strife from the wisdom that comes from above. That wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere.
That gives you something to examine beyond how much you know. What is coming out of you when you speak?
The voice of the world knows how to belittle, dominate, and make people feel worthless. As a follower of your Creator, you are called to learn His ways and bring your conduct into obedience too.
Precious cargo
There is nothing more important than the eternal destination of your soul. When I talk about leading someone to Yeshua, I am talking about soul winning. That means ministering to people, showing them Jesus through my words and conduct, and helping them come to love Him, follow Him, and abide in Him.
In doing so, I am helping that person take steps in their spiritual growth that have eternal consequences. That includes repentance, baptism in the name of Yeshua—Jesus—and receiving the Holy Ghost, as Peter taught in Acts 2:38. It includes continuing in His Word and learning to walk in obedience. At Pentecost, understandable communication opened the way for people to hear. Each heard the words in their own language. Yehovah met the people where they were in the language they understood.
Who are you to step on and corrupt the precedent that He set?
You are not introducing someone to a new social club or gathering people who want to collect more biblical knowledge. You are ministering to a soul. That is precious cargo, and soul winning is an assignment of the highest order.
It deserves to be taken seriously and prayerfully, in the Spirit. There is no room to let carnality govern how you handle someone whose spiritual life you have been entrusted to help nurture. Galatians 5:22–23 describes the fruit of the Spirit, including love, longsuffering, gentleness, and meekness. Those qualities should be evident in the way you teach and correct.
Think about the person reading your words. They may be taking their first uncertain steps toward something Yehovah has been drawing them to understand. Are you prayerfully helping them take the next step, or allowing your pride and impatience to become another obstacle they have to overcome?
I want full nets, and I want us to care for the people Yehovah brings into them. Welcoming someone begins a responsibility to nurture, teach, pray, and keep walking with them as they grow. The eternal destination of a soul deserves that kind of care.
Handle the soul with care
Soul winning calls for prayerful care in every conversation. Whether you are answering a question, explaining something unfamiliar, or correcting an error, Scripture gives you clear direction for how to treat the person in front of you. These steps can help you examine your response and minister in a way that reflects the One you want them to know.
- Pray before you respond. James 1:19–20 tells us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath, because our wrath does not produce the righteousness of God. Ask Yehovah to examine your motives and govern your words. Ask Him to plow your heart and make you tender toward His lambs. Are you trying to help this person understand, or are you irritated that they do not already agree with you? Feeling strongly about a subject does not mean every response coming out of that feeling is Spirit-led.
- Listen before you decide what someone needs. Proverbs 18:13 warns against answering a matter before hearing it. Ask what the person has been taught, what they understand, and what questions they have. You may be preparing to argue with someone who is sincerely asking for help. Give them the opportunity to speak, and listen with the intention of understanding.
- Consider what the person can bear. In John 16:12, Yeshua acknowledged that His disciples could not yet bear everything He had to tell them. Seek His guidance about the next step this person needs. Give them room to examine Scripture, pray, and ask questions. Your responsibility is to teach faithfully and patiently; you cannot do their understanding or responding for them.
- Teach with patience, using language they understand. First Thessalonians 5:14 instructs us to encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient with everyone. Give people Scripture they can examine, and take time to explain unfamiliar words. You do not have to unload everything you know in one conversation. Different people need different kinds of help, but patience belongs in every encounter.
- Make sure your words build up. Ephesians 4:29 tells us to speak what is good for edification, so that it ministers grace to those who hear. Before you post that comment or send that reply, read it again. Does it help the person understand? Does it give them a clear next step? Have you included insults, assumptions, or unnecessary accusations? Remove what wounds without teaching, and say what you need to say with care.
- Correct with gentleness and self-control. Second Timothy 2:24–25 calls the Lord’s servant to gentleness, patience, and meekness when correcting others. You can be clear without being cruel. You can explain that a belief conflicts with Scripture without treating the person who holds it as worthless. Spiritual maturity should be evident in your conduct, especially when a conversation becomes difficult.
- Take responsibility when you have wounded someone. Matthew 5:23–24 shows the importance Yeshua places on addressing a broken relationship. Apologize for the way you treated the person without attaching another accusation to the apology. “I spoke arrogantly, and I was wrong to treat you that way” takes responsibility. “I am sorry you were offended, but you needed to hear it” leaves the wound where it was.
- Keep caring after the conversation ends. First Thessalonians 2:7–8 describes tender ministry that shared both the gospel and the lives of those ministering because the people were dear to them. Keep praying, offer to read Scripture together, and help the person take their next step. Soul winning deserves more care than dropping a correction into someone’s life and walking away. You are handling precious cargo.
Make room at the table
Philippians 2:12–13 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, recognizing that God is at work in us. Your response to Yehovah is a serious, personal responsibility. Receive sound teaching, seek godly counsel, and examine what you hear against Scripture. But you do not need someone else’s permission to draw closer to Him, and their contempt does not determine whether you are welcome to seek Him. They are accountable for how they treat you. You are accountable for how you respond to His Word.
Welcoming someone does not require you to approve of everything they believe or do. You can love someone, listen to them, and open Scripture together while being honest about what it says. A person should be able to ask a question without becoming a target.
Romans 2:4 points us toward the goodness of God that leads to repentance. His goodness does not make repentance unnecessary; it leads us toward it. That matters when you consider how to help someone take their next step.
If you have been wounded by someone speaking this way, I want you to know that you are allowed to be learning. You can ask what a name means. You can say that something is unfamiliar. You can say that something is uncomfortable. You can open your Bible and examine what you are being told. You do not have to arrive already knowing everything to be welcomed at the table.
And if you recognize your own behavior in that opening comment, please examine it honestly. Have you helped someone understand, or have you punished them for not knowing? Have you cared for the person in front of you, or used that person to demonstrate how much you know? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your response?
These questions belong to all of us, including me. Anger at someone else’s conduct does not release me from the responsibility to watch my own.
I want people to know Yehovah. I want them to understand His Word, walk in obedience, and develop a deeper relationship with Him. That means I need to care about how I teach, how I correct, and how I respond when someone is still at a place I once stood.
If your defense of His name dishonors His character, something needs to change. The person you humiliate today may be the person you were called to disciple.
