Last month I was asked to speak in a breakout session for our squad about the Amish. Three of us led the session on religion, my teammate Rachel, who spoke on Catholicism; Miranda, who spoke on Judaism; and myself.
I want to invite you into some of my journey of processing what that provoked, and also on my quest for understanding other cultures.
I am learning so much about other cultures that prior world race, I was very small minded towards. Essentially though, it seems the more I learn, the less I know, because the more I learn the more I realize the quantity of what yet I do not know.
Speaking on this topic of the Amish culture was initially very hard for me. I desperately wanted to convey the truth in a way that can be understood. A lot of what I knew and experienced in the Amish had, at this point never been verbalized.
Not only putting words to these things, but actually speaking about them to a group was a stretch. While my Amish background certainly has limited my exposure to, and understanding of other cultures, it also has brought perspective in my quest for that understanding because I know the extremity of differences that seem strange to the majority.
In every culture you encounter 3 things: the good, the bad, and the different. The good is the areas where the Kingdom of God has imprinted itself on the culture. The bad is because of the fall and its repercussions. The different is neither good nor bad, it just is different. The good is easy. The hard part when learning about other cultures is discerning between the bad and the different. (Quote of wisdom from my friend Richard I met in Argentina.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about this concept and it’s obviously the basis of inspiration for this blog.
Here’s abit about the Amish…
It’s important to recognize that the Amish are both a culture and a religion. The cultural aspect of it was for the most part, something I would have never chosen to leave. It was the religion that drove me away.
As with all people groups, there’s no box that can contain the Amish. The lifestyle, the systems, and even the doctrine fall on a very broad spectrum of conservative to liberal.
So things you may read about the Amish, things media represents, and even the things I say may be true for some but certainly not for all.
One significant distinction in the Amish is an oral tradition of rules and expectations that govern every aspect of Amish life, private, public and ceremonial.
These rules are usually taught by living it, much like children absorb and learn their native tongue by living it.
It’s a code of conduct that evolved over decades, and it differs from one Amish congregation to another.
When you’re Amish theres a system in place for every situation you face. So no matter what comes up you automatically know whats expected of you and what behavior is appropriate.
Amish have a very strong sense of community. If you’re Amish, you’re one of them. It doesn’t matter where you come from or where you’re going. It doesn’t matter if you’re someones best friend or you’ve never met the person, you are one of them, therefore you are family and they will serve you if you’re ill, they will stand beside you if you lose a loved one, they will rebuild your buildings if they burn down. Your trial is their mission ground.
Growing up, I never thought our way of life was strange or different. It was my normal and I was perfectly fine with it.
Much of my childhood was spent outdoors. I grew up on a deer farm and my dad ran a large sawmill.
We worked hard and we played hard. At a young age I learned the skills of gardening, sewing, baking chocolate shoofly pies, and driving the horse and buggy.
I attended a private one room school to eighth grade. It looked something like 30 kids, all eight grades, in one classroom with one teacher learning very basic education.
We had no TV and while I really appreciate having lived childhood without that influence, some will tell me it’s sad that I know so little about all the Disney characters.
Once in a big while I think they might be right.
But I do not believe I was deprived. The woods and fields were my playground, my toys were kittens and fawns, dolls, sleds, and tree swings, and my own family was my entertainment.
To this day I have a longing to drive my horse, muck his stable, mow the lawn with that old push mower, or milk a cow.
In September of 2016, I left the Amish in response to a very specific and direct call from God.
Nothing about my life at that point made me want to leave.
Leaving meant losing all.
My teaching job that I loved, my home, my reputation, my dreams, and even some relationships.
But staying was clearly disobedience and God has been so good and faithful in filling every void of all I’ve lost.
You may ask why?
Why would I leave with so much at stake? I was comfortable. I was successful and looked up to. I had a very bright future and so many plans, that leaving would wreck completely.
Here’s why.
Jesus.
When God says it, and we believe it, that settles it.
For me, actively walking out what I believe was clearly the first step in bringing light and truth to what was so obviously a false mindset influenced by twisted doctrine.
And walking it out meant more than just talking about it with certain people.
It meant more than making forced confessions to agreement with the teachings because it was the only way to avoid causing an uproar.
Part of the ritual of baptism is a forced confession that we promise to uphold the doctrine of the church. I call it forced confession, because while it is viewed as a privilege, it is indeed forced because there’s no way around it.
Even after baptism, that promise is renewed every six months when we take communion as a church body.
The first opposing question to a decision to leave is usually,
“What about the promise you made to God in baptism?”
I asked myself that question too.
Whether assumed or taught, breaking that promise is engrained in the mind of every member of the Amish church to be a very gross sin.
I realized by the grace of God that if my promise was commitment and devotion to Him, I by no means broke it, and if it was commitment and devotion to anything or anyone else, I repent of such idolatry and claim his forgiveness and grace over me for ever have making such a promise.
Although I left, my defenses still rise if I hear negative bashing against the Amish church.
Do I agree with all that they stand for? Absolutely not!
Do I believe there’s true Christ seeking individuals in the amish church? Absolutely!
Do I believe there’s individuals in the amish church who are more concerned about religion than about following Jesus? Absolutely!
But none of that changes the fact that I know many of these people personally. They are my people. My family, my friends, and I still love them no matter how much pain or confusion they’ve caused me.
As I mentioned, on the world race, I am exposed to so many different cultures and religions.
Turning backs to church and being hurt and/or bound by religion is universal.
Join me in prayer for deliverance and redemption for the nations. Pray for revelations of the Father’s perfect love and that invitation to relationship with Him could be recognized and embraced.
