The Amish Both Reflect and Reject 'Worldliness'

I've just reviewed this helpful book by a clinical
psychologist who has worked with members of
 an Amish communityfor over 30 years.

The Amish, like the rest of us, have seen unimaginable cultural and technological changes in the world in the past century. The means of communication and modes of transportation available when my parents were born (in 1904 and 1905) were more like that of Abraham and Sarah in the Bible than that of our own children and grandchildren.

I love the way “plain” communities like the Amish and Old Order Mennonites represent a kind of monastic alternative to our fast-paced and individualistic society. They remind us that not everything new is better, and that some innovations often come at the cost of untold negative consequences.

But are so-called plain people totally unlike their worldly neighbors? As someone who grew up Amish and has many Amish and Old Order Mennonite friends, I see both similarities and differences. 

In other words, to paraphrase Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the line separating worldliness from a truly Christ-based non-conformity “passes through the heart of each of us,” and through the heart of each of our congregations. In other words, not all of the challenges either we or the Amish are dealing with are the result of external influences alone.

For example, in the everyday world of economics, plain people are subject to the same temptations to “lay up treasure on earth,” “fare sumptuously every day” and to engage in the unmitigated pursuit of convenience, comfort and wealth as their neighbors. While I have no studies to cite, it is likely that the capital worth and consumer wealth of plain people in the U.S. well exceeds that of most Americans, and places them within the top 1-2% of the wealthiest households in the world. So apart from external markers such as personal appearance, modes of transportation, worship practices, etc., how “plain” (as in radically “non-conformed”) are these people of Anabaptist descent?

In the area of sexual and gender identity, I find it disturbing but understandable that most plain people have conformed to long held and deeply rooted patriarchal beliefs and practices in the larger culture, and have failed to fully recognize and affirm the Spirit-given gifts of half their members. And like all human communities, they are no less likely to have children with the same kinds of sexual variations that occur in all populations, including a similar percentage of offspring born with sex attraction.

And it should come as no surprise that within any human community, plain or otherwise, there will be some members who on some issues will strongly advocate for preserving an existing “old order” while on other issues they may advocate for change. Some will lean toward becoming MAGA supporters, for example, as some Amish have done, and others will hold opposite views, as is the case with the rest of Americans.

We can all learn from the way Amish communities exercise great caution in dealing with change, and reflect on how all of us can be as salt and light to the larger society without losing our identity as members of the worldwide and heaven-governed reign of of a loving and just Creator.