Is history (the old testament) important?

I have been looking for a muse in which to start this blog, and after 4 completely random spiritual conversations with complete strangers over the last week, I think I finally found the topic in which to start this venture of recording my spiritual thoughts and journey. But I need to give you a foundation of understanding of where I am coming from. I am not a Jew, I don't pretend to be, and I surely do not understand everything in their culture or their beliefs, but I do believe that understanding first century Jewish culture, leads to the understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I want to know Christ as I would know my bridegroom. So here we go...

From observation and conversations, some (not all )churches in America, and some (not all) American Christians seem to think that since Jesus came to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament and the old covenant God had with the Jews, that it (the Old Testament) is no longer important to study and understand. How can this be true, if we count the entire bible to be the word of God? 77% of the bible is the Old Testament, why is it that Modern Christianity is only based on 23% of Gods words? In statistics 23% of something is not usually a favorable sample. Not to discredit the New Testament at all as the Gospels are vital to understanding the character of God the Son within the Holy Trinity, and the remaining text in the New Testament helps us understand God the Spirit as well as how the church body ought to operate and the things that are to come, but the Old Testament is rich in the history of our faith, prophecies that are fulfilled in the new testament and more importantly the character of God the Father and God the Spirit.

Not only do we leave behind the history, hero's and foundations of our faith, but we forget to look at the culture of God's people, and consider the original audience of our modern bible.

Why is this so important? Well What religion was Jesus? Was He a Catholic, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Mormon, a Baptist, a Lutheran? No Jesus Was a JEW! He was born as a Jew, He grew up as a Jew, He practiced Jewish customs, He went through the Jewish rights of passage to be called Rabbi. Jesus was accepted as a Jew. (Not as the King of the Jews, but He was accepted as a Jew).

So why do we as modern Christians feel the entitlement to tell God that 77% of His word doesn't matter, and that the culture in which the Son of God came and lived in that influenced how he taught, the word pictures He used, His mannerisms, and life experiences doesn't matter cause we have it so much more figured out? Why do we feel entitled to even write out His full name (myself included)? The Jewish people out of respect, admiration and Love for God, write His name as G-d.

I used to believe that the Old Testament was boring and didn't matter anymore because that was the old law and since Jesus came, it wasn't for us. But there's a reason its still part of the Word of God. And it Speaks to me. Beautiful is the character of God the Father. It is not angry, but loving. He is a GOOD FATHER and Judge.