Are We Beyond the Trough of Disillusionment?

In the software world, technological fads come and go. Vendors promise the world, people get excited, the technology invariably fails to live up to the hype, and disillusionment sets in, and people move on. But the few who hold on through the tough times begin to reap practical benefits, and over time, the technology is recognized as stable and trustworthy, at least among a particular niche.

This pattern is recognized as the Gartner Hype Cycle:

It can be summed up in the follow steps:

1. "Trigger" — The first phase of a hype cycle is the "trigger" or breakthrough, product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest.
   
   
2. "Peak of Inflated Expectations" — In the next phase, a frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.
   
   
3. "Trough of Disillusionment" — Technologies enter the "trough of disillusionment" because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable. Consequently, the press usually abandons the topic and the technology.
   
   
4. "Slope of Enlightenment" — Although the press may have stopped covering the technology, some businesses continue through the "slope of enlightenment" and experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology.
   
   
5. "Plateau of Productivity" — A technology reaches the "plateau of productivity" as the benefits of it become widely demonstrated and accepted. The technology becomes increasingly stable and evolves in second and third generations. The final height of the plateau varies according to whether the technology is broadly applicable or benefits only a niche market.

Our Messianic faith – centered on Messiah and Torah – can be likened to this hype cycle.

Theologies and doctrines come and go and finally return in tweaked incarnations. They crop up quickly, reach the peak of inflated expectations. But then as they fail to materialize to hyped expectation, they fall into the trough of disillusionment and quickly become unfashionable. Eventually, they make their way back with, perhaps, some moderating, cleaned up, some of the faulty parts reworked or removed altogether.

I think Messianic Judaism has been, in many respects, in this “trough of disillusionment” for the last few years:

There was the initial “spark” of renewal among Jews and gentiles in the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. And yet more gentiles returned to God’s commandments and identity as part of the commonwealth of Israel in the ‘80s and ‘90s, particularly through the Torah restoration movement.

Despite these sparks, we’ve been in the cellar lately:

Sensationalist teachings on one side, marginalization of gentiles on the other. Fundamentalism and closed-mindedness. Sectarianism. Confusion. Massive infighting. Closing off self to everyone who doesn’t follow our particular brand of MJism, and labeling them as pagans (side A) or heretics who should go back to the church (side B).

Cellar, cellar, cellar. It’s no wonder we’ve lost many God-seeking people to the synagogue and the church during this long plunge from the heights of inflated expectations to the depths of the trough of disillusionment. And it’s not limited to just the so-called “fringe” sects of Messianic Judaism.

It’s time to get out of the cellar.

After talking a bit with Messianic apologist John McKee this past week about achieving new wisdom and stability in the Messianic movement in the 2010s, it occurred to me that all we really have to do is wait it out.

The trough of disillusionment, as painful as it is, tends to build stability: sensationalism and fundamentalism can’t be milked forever, especially when it has become unfashionable. Likewise, folks that don’t really have a relationship with the Lord – for example, people that are defined almost exclusively by hatred of the church or synagogue, despite legitimate criticisms – soon disappear. Those people will either reform themselves, as I have, or move elsewhere. What I am saying is, if your whole faith is defined by hatred for the church, and there’s no substance to your spiritual life, you’re not going to last very long. That’s not something you build your house on.

By contrast, the people that are in this for the long haul, who have developed a real love for the Lord, actually serve Messiah, and have derived practical, pragmatic values from this Messiah + Torah faith, these people who are contributing to the Kingdom of God – these will be the ones standing when the smoke clears.

Folks like Boaz Michael, John McKee, Derek Leman, Stuart Dauermann, Russ Resnik – these people, from my perspective anyways, are really trying to build the kingdom. They are trying to move past many of the problems that have plagued the Messianic movement during the Years of the Trough. And more importantly, they really do serve the Lord, and have persevered through thick and thin, looking ahead towards the victorious end, and the reward for all those that love Messiah.

Where are we headed?

I predict that even though we’ll mature and stabilize in the years to come, the divide between the 2 divisions of the Messianic movement will grow: the division that sees Messianic Judaism as a safe place for Jews to practice faith in Messiah, and the other side that sees Messianic Judaism as a completion of the Reformation, a renewal among all God’s people, Jews and gentiles.

I’ve made it no secret I side with the latter view.

Why the schism? Because there are “in-it-for-the-long-haul” folks on both sides, and there is goodness in what both sides are doing, yet tragically, the differences between these views are irreconcilable, in my opinion. The end result is a schism that will grow in the coming decade.

Where do you think we’re headed, fine blog readers? Are we moving beyond the Trough of Disillusionment in 2010?