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October 1 - October 13, 2021
Unlike the modern quest to find one’s self, Amish people seek to lose themselves. Personal ambition takes a backseat to scripture, church tradition, and family obligation. A common sign in Amish homes and schools proclaims that true JOY comes from putting Jesus first, Others next, and Yourself last.
The Amish see this attitude and habit of uffgevva exemplified by Jesus Christ, who willingly surrendered his life for the sake of others. “Christ was a king who lived and acted as a servant,” explains Kline. “He submitted himself to God so completely that he never tried to do his own will by using his power to manipulate and force others.” For Kline, “It is the church’s intention and calling to give this principle bodily form by living it out in everyday life.”
Yet nothing astonished us as much as the children. For three straight hours, three- and four-year-olds sat quietly on benches and in the laps of their parents, seemingly quite content. Partway through the service, someone passed around a plate of crackers so that the children could have a small snack, and those who tired of their fathers’ laps would sometimes toddle over to their mothers or grandparents. Occasionally a child left for a bathroom break. The rest of the time, however, they sat quietly, occupying themselves with simple playthings—a small doll, a handkerchief, or tiny bits of
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Fathers and mothers—not church programs, schools, or youth pastors—shoulder the duty of passing on the faith to their children.
When early discipline is lacking, Times will come which bode no good. Sinful nature must be tamed, Else conflict taints the neighborhood. What you teach them early on, They’ll later bring to mind. Habit has tremendous strength; Both the good and the evil kind.
It’s impossible to exaggerate the sweep of the extended family’s influence on the spiritual life of Amish society. A typical thirty-five-year-old married woman is rooted in an extended family network of about 250 adults—parents, siblings, in-laws, first cousins, aunts, and uncles. Children grow up in this thick family web, which plays a crucial role in fortifying Amish faith.
Finally, writes Stoll, forgoing a dishwasher provides work for his children, so they “have something to do.” Doing dishes, he says, is “much better for their character than being idle, or expecting others to do things for them all the time.”
The Amish way, however, is to turn such concerns for fairness and justice away from noisy protests and loud calls for revenge and toward the divine command to forgive.
Such a forgiving response is bewildering to most outsiders. Yet when the larger world expressed surprise at the grace extended after the school shooting, the Amish were surprised in return, wondering why people were making such a fuss over the act of forgiveness. Although Amish people understand that forgiveness is often difficult, they do not view it as unnatural or strange. As a practice of uffgevva, it fits comfortably within the wider pattern of Amish life. It does, however, place the Amish in bold contrast to many outsiders who see giving up any rights, including a justified right to
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At the crux of it, Amish people are convinced that forgiving is the way to respond to evil because Jesus commanded it. Time and again, they point to the Lord’s Prayer and its words about forgiveness, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12), as the reason to forgive. They point out that forgiveness is the only part of the prayer that Jesus underscores, telling his disciples, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
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Critics dismiss the Amish response to evil as irresponsible. The Amish, they say, simply “kick the problem upstairs,” outsourcing justice to God. This absolves them of the duty to make moral judgments. The Amish do not object to this line of critique. In fact, they see this sort of moral division of labor as biblical. The Christian’s responsibility is to forgive, they say, whereas justice lies in God’s hands. Humans are simply not in a position to second-guess God’s judgment.
“Doing good often requires suffering, sacrifice, and self-denial.”
do not always understand why things happen as they do . . . [but] my little valleys are nothing when I picture Christ on the cross. . . . Forgive me Lord for complaining.” 6
If the Amish have anything to teach us in this regard, it’s this: consistently performing certain practices—and forgoing others—is the most effective way to shape one’s spiritual life. “The world is set on drilling its music into [our children’s] hearts if we don’t,”
