I came across this article from a Jewish perspective on the Messianic movement and found it rather interesting to see what they think of things…

 
In the last few decades, accompanied by a blaze of publicity, hundreds of so-called "Messianic synagogues" have sprung up in cities throughout the US, Europe, and Israel.

Despite their founders’ incessant denials and their unceasing attempts to worm these institutions into the mainstream Jewish community, these "synagogues" have almost always been rightly perceived to be Evangelical Christian Churches in the guise of Jewish houses of worship. Though divested of the most flagrant Christian symbols (e.g., crosses), and cleverly designed to look "Jewish," their toned down Christian message has been, nevertheless, unmistakable.

And they have not been successful in drawing large numbers of Jews. Even with the endless hype and the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars by various Christian bodies over the years, these "Messianics" have succeeded in converting only a fraction of a fraction of the vast number of Jews whom they confidently expected to reach by means of their newly minted ersatz synagogues.

Attracting Non-Jews

Instead something totally unexpected has happened. These "Messianic synagogues" have fired the imagination of countless thousands of non-Jews. Although the founding fathers of "Messianic Judaism" clearly intended the movement to be only a slick evangelical tool to reach Jews and convert them to Christianity, these fledgling "Jewish" congregations have been inundated by perhaps hundreds of thousands of non-Jews who are eager to join them.

Spiritual pilgrims, these non-Jews want to emulate what they see as the more authentic Jewish traditions in worship and lifestyle, but, at the same time, retain their belief in Jesus as their own personal messiah and savior.

According to Reverend Stan Telchin, a Jews-for-Jesus activist, non-Jews make up about 80 percent of those who attend Messianic synagogues.

Other experts suggest that, despite the pervasive "Jewish"—even "Orthodox"—image the Messianics seek desperately to project to the Jewish world, their congregations are probably 90 percent non-Jewish.

Few Jews

The vast majority of ethnic Jews who do attend "Messianic synagogues" are either intermarried or the offspring of mixed marriages in which the father is as likely as the mother to have been the Jewish parent, making the individual not necessarily halachically Jewish at all.

Most of the intermarried couples in these congregations, instead of affiliating with an "ordinary" temple or church, solve their religious conflict by compromising on a "Messianic synagogue."

"Statistically, the number of Jews that get lost to Messianic Judaism is a tiny fraction of the Jews who are lost to us through intermarriage, assimilation, and apathy," said Rabbi Maynard Bell, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

In Tyler, Texas, Rabbi Neal Katz of Reform Congregation Beth El considers the Messianic movement "less of a threat to us than some people might imagine."

"I think the press has to work fairly hard to find real Jews in some of these [Messianic] congregations," he said.

"Jewish Wannabes"

The abundance of Gentiles in a movement that was established to attract Jews has not gone unnoticed. In a piece entitled "Messianic Gentiles" Just Jewish Wannabes?" commentator Jessie Arcona said that, as a Gentile, she has noticed "an undercurrent of frustration" among Jewish members of the Messianic movements because it is so easy to attract non-Jewish participants and so difficult to attract Jews.

"Messianic groups attempt to give [Jews] a place to be without ‘gentilizing’ them," she said, describing the "exciting prospect" of "telling Jewish people that their Messiah has already come."

"And sometimes it works out that way. One here, one there, a few Jewish proselytes appear," she said.

But, she noted, "Embarrassingly, for every Jewish proselyte, there are many more Gentiles who see the appeal of the Messianic movement, and wish to participate. How can the Messianic movement be truly for Messianic Jewish believers, if the place is crawling with Gentiles?"

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