Why should I become part of a group of people (i.e., Christians) who hate and persecute the Jews?

Before we can address this issue, we must deal with the common misconception among Jewish people that all Gentiles are Christians. This could not be further from the truth, even if the Gentile in question attends church regularly. Whereas a man can be born into a Jewish family, that does not make him an observant Jew. Similarly, a man can be born into a Gentile family, but that does not make him a follower of Yeshua (i.e., a Christian).

A genuine Christian is one who has made a commitment to Yeshua (see John 3:16-18; Ephesians 2:8-9). This commitment means trusting in Yeshua's atonement for sin as the only means of being made righteous before G-d, and going to heaven. In other words, one can no longer trust in his own ability to make atonement and receive forgiveness from G-d by doing good deeds (mitzvot). This faith commitment results in a changed nature (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Many people who are called Christians and attend churches have never experienced this spiritual transformation (often referred to as being "born again"). Yeshua commanded his followers to love all men, even their enemies (see Matthew 5:44). Therefore, a person that persecutes Jews is either not a Christian or is a Christian that is not following Yeshua's teachings. And, by the way, the term "Christian" is normally used to refer to Gentile followers of Yeshua. We Jews who follow Yeshua's teachings refer to ourselves as Messianic Jews.