Plain Answers About the Amish Life (3 page)

Various Amish affiliations seem to be of different minds, however, on the topic of what is known as “assurance of salvation.” The majority of Amish believe it would be prideful to state outright that they have received salvation and instead maintain what they call a “living hope” or a “continued effort” on the topic. They trust the ultimate fate of their soul to God's providence rather than claim it with certainty.

There are other Amish groups, however, that feel an assurance of salvation is not prideful but biblical, citing verses such as 1 John 5:13,
which says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may
know
that you have eternal life” (emphasis added). Amish who fall on this side of the topic believe that everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior can know with certainty that they have been saved for eternity.

Is there a person or organization that oversees the Amish church the way the pope does for Catholics or the Southern Baptist Convention does for Southern Baptists?

No. Unlike many religious denominations, the Amish have no central authority—no pope, synod, convention, diocese, association, or the like. Instead, the ultimate authority for Amish life and practice lies within each local district. This is why rules can vary from district to district even within an affiliation—each congregation follows the rules established by its own leaders.

The bishops in an affiliation meet together regularly to discuss issues and look for common stances. This provides unity within the affiliation and support for the bishops as they administer their districts.

Do the Amish think theirs is the only one true religion?

No. To do so would be prideful, which goes against one of their most basic values. The Amish are respectful of other Christian denominations. As one Amish man said, the Bible is meant to be a mirror, not a spotlight. Better to pay attention to their own walk with God than presume to judge others'.
¹

If I asked an Amish person how to get to heaven, what would his answer be?

That person would likely refer to God's will in the matter and then perhaps describe the need to have a personal relationship with Christ. He might also quote an applicable Scripture, such as, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Would an Amish person try to convert me to the Amish faith?

No. More than anyone, the Amish know how rare and unusual such a conversion would be for a person who was not raised Amish. He might, however, encourage you to seek out a good church, one more in keeping with your own upbringing or community.

—I
N
T
HEIR
O
WN
W
ORDS
—

The nice thing is that anyone can choose to be a follower of Christ regardless of his lot in life and the cultural context he lives in. No need to be Amish in order to believe in the Lord and have eternal life—unless, of course, the Lord wants you to be Amish.

May I convert to the Amish faith if I want to?

The Amish allow converts to their faith, though successful, permanent conversions of outsiders into the Amish church are extremely rare. See chapter 28, “Us and Them,” for more information.

Do the Amish ever send out missionaries or engage in other mission work?

According to authors Charles Hurst and David McConnell in
An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community
, “Specific responses to the great commission vary considerably by affiliation, by district, and by individual inclination.”
²
For the Amish who do support missions, they are more likely to focus on charity and relief work rather than on witnessing or evangelizing.

Any travel for missions is most often to help out in areas that have been affected by natural disasters and are in need of extensive rebuilding. I once had an interesting conversation with two young Amish
men in their early twenties who had gone, hammers in hand, on a mission trip to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

In some areas, Old Order Amish will donate to or volunteer at Plain-run nonprofit organizations such as the Mennonite Central Committee or Christian Aid Ministries. Hurst and McConnell describe one such organization based in Holmes County, Ohio, where local Amish church districts “send volunteers for ‘work days' to can massive amounts of turkey for shipment to Burundi, North Korea, and other sites.”
³

Despite these mission-related activities, most Old Order Amish consider their primary “missions” task to be setting an example in their own lives at home.

3

COMMUNITY

Why is community so important to the Amish?

Community is the cornerstone of Amish life. This is based on biblical precedent such as that in Acts 2:44: “All the believers were together and had everything in common.”

Community is where the Amish most often find their identity, support, lifestyle, worship, classmates, spouses, and friends. It is a source of strength, an insurance policy when disaster strikes, and a safe haven in an often hostile (or at least intrusively curious) world. To the outsider, the extent to which members of the Amish community care for one another is often incomprehensible. To the Amish, it's simply one of the primary values that define their lives.

What do they do to keep their communities so close-knit?

To understand what makes Amish communities so strong, it helps to be aware of the following Amish beliefs:

•
The virtue of humility is shown through respect for God and others.

•
All persons are worthy of dignity and respect.

•
Everyone in the community is accountable to God.

•
Communities are made stronger when individuals do not use personal desire as their supreme criteria for making decisions.

•
Traditions are more important than progress.

•
Accumulated wisdom is better than an individual's ideas.

•
Mutual aid benefits everyone and makes the community stronger.

•
Authority in all of its various forms is to be obeyed. For example, ministers submit to bishops, members to leaders, wives to husbands, children to parents, students to teachers, and younger to elder.

These beliefs work together to create a strong bond between community members.

What is mutual aid and why is it important?

Mutual aid is when the community provides care, both physically and financially, for members in need.

For example, the Amish do not purchase commercial insurance coverage, believing instead that when difficulty or disaster strikes, the church community members are to step in and help. This principle serves dual purposes: It helps keep the church separate from the world, and it binds the Amish community together and forces them to depend on one another. Some Amish communities have organized their own official insurance programs, though others handle members' needs on a less formal basis.

What are some other examples of mutual aid?

Some examples of mutual aid would be when:

•
members face large hospital bills they cannot afford, and the community pays the bills for them

•
a building burns down, and the community erects a new one

•
someone dies, and the community steps in to help with the funeral arrangements and take over all farm and household chores for several days

•
another community suffers a natural disaster, and other communities come in to help rebuild

•
a farmer is injured, and the community takes over his farmwork until he gets better

Is that why they do barn raisings?

Yes. Perhaps the biggest symbol of the Amish community in action is the well-known barn raising. These events involve hundreds of Amish working together for a single day. In about nine hours, they can construct an oak beam-and-peg barn that will last for generations. The Amish use their barns for farmwork, storing feed and grain, sheltering livestock, and housing valuable tools. Barns are also social centers where large gatherings—such as church services, funerals, marriages, and baptisms—may be held if the home is too small.

How does an Amish barn raising work?

Author Erik Wesner describes this interesting process in his blog, AmishAmerica.com, as follows:

Barn raisings require organization, supplies, and labor. They are typically led by one or two master Amish “engineers” who lay out plans for the barn and assure the materials are available. Supplies and livestock may be donated by fellow church members. All labor is contributed for free as well. Amish know they may be in need of the community's help themselves one day.

Typically the blocks and cement used in the foundation are laid before the day of the actual raising, allowing time to dry and set. The day of the barn raising, men arrive early. The master organizes men and instructs on jobs, overseeing the whole event. Amish traditionally build barns using wood-peg mortise and tenon joint construction, but may also use more modern materials and techniques.

Despite the common belief that Amish do the whole job in a single day, it may take a week or more from start to finish. There are typically a good bit of preparations
to be done beforehand as well. However, the wood frame structure usually does go up in one day.

Women help by preparing meals for the men. Youth and children participate as well. Hundreds typically attend, either as workers, support, or observers.
¹

Are there any drawbacks to living in such a tight-knit community?

As with any social group, pluses and minuses exist in Amish community life. On the minus side, such a tight-knit, mutually accountable arrangement can sometimes lead to intrusiveness, quick leaps to judgment, and gossip. On the plus side, one can always find friendship, fellowship, comfort, help, accountability, and more close at hand.

Other than letters from relatives or friends, how do the Amish keep up with what's happening in various communities across the country?

The most common way to keep up with Amish-related news throughout the United States is with the
Budget
, a popular nationwide newspaper headquartered in Ohio that prints and distributes reports of local happenings sent in by a far-flung network of Amish scribes. In this way, the sense of Amish community is encouraged and nurtured despite the distances and differences between the various settlements. To many Amish, reading the
Budget
is like sitting down over coffee with a friend to hear the latest news, even if that news is happening many states away. Visit the
Budget
's website at
www.thebudgetnewspaper.com
.

Another popular publication among the Amish is
The New American Almanac
, or as it's often called,
Raber's Almanac
. Updated yearly, this nondescript little book includes a listing of all Amish ministers, their names, addresses, and dates of birth, death, and ordination, all organized by state, county, and church district.
²

4

SEPARATION

Why do the Amish keep to themselves so much?

One of the core elements of the Amish faith is that Christians are to be
in
the world but not
of
the world. Many Amish practices are based on this principle, both in the ways they separate themselves from their non-Amish surroundings and in the ways they turn toward one another as a faith community.

On what do they base that practice?

On such Bible verses as Romans 12:2, which says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The Amish interpret verses like this to mean that they are to be different from the world in all parts of their lives—not only in thought but also in appearance and actions.

Is it true that one reason they keep to themselves is because they fear persecution?

We will see in chapter 11, “History,” that many of the early Anabaptists suffered persecution, torture, and death because of their beliefs, creating the “martyr tradition” on which the Amish faith was founded. Over the years they have suffered through other periods of (less heinous) persecution. For example, their status as pacifist conscientious objectors made them easy targets for bullying, derision, and other kinds of torment in times of war.

Though general sentiments toward the Amish have drastically changed over the years, this history of persecution nevertheless reinforced the Amish belief in a necessary division between the kingdoms
of this world, which they say use laws and violence and coercion, and the kingdom of God, which is peaceful, loving, and kind.

What sorts of things do they do to keep themselves “separate” from the world?

The Amish convey their separation from society through specific acts both large and small, such as having:

•
no electrical or telephone lines to Amish homes, as that would physically connect them with the outside world