One question that the authors of Why be Plain? tackle in the first chapter is one that probably every Old Order Amish person has pondered: Is keeping the ordnung really required to gain entrance into heaven—as is claimed by Amish leaders? The answer must be yes or no. In their fictitious conversation at the beginning of Chapter 1, cousins Dan and Steve conclude that the answer is no. Therefore, there is no reason, they decide, not to own a car or smart phone.
Of course, if keeping the ordnung is required to gain entrance into heaven, that means non-Amish people—who have never even heard of Amish ordnungs or of anything resembling them, and who comprise 99.995% of the world’s people—have no chance of inheriting eternal life. Such a fact causes thinking Amish people to wonder if God could be so unfair as to not give the large majority of all the people currently living on Planet Earth any chance of being saved in the end.
Those same thinking Amish people also start thinking about all the people who have lived on the earth over the past 2,000 years who never heard of anything that resembles an Amish ordnung. Were all those people destined to go to hell because they were never even given a chance to obey an Amish ordnung?
When Amish ministers and bishops are asked these questions by members of their flocks, they know they can only answer them in one of two ways. They can say (1) that keeping the ordnung is not required to gain entrance to heaven, but that would contradict what they have always told their Amish flocks. Or they can say (2) that God has two standards, one for people who are born Amish, and another for everyone else. Of course, Amish leaders always choose the latter of those two answers, and that is exactly what authors Weaver and Zimmerman do in the first chapter of Why be Plain?
Similar Hard Questions
But what about the fact that there are so many variations of the ordnung among Amish communities? And what about other Anabaptist groups whose ordnungs are generally more liberal than Old Order Amish ordnungs? How can there be different requirements for different Anabaptist groups to gain entrance into heaven? Authors Weaver and Zimmerman try to tackle those questions as well, and they make it clear they believe that other similar “conservative” and “nonconforming” groups also have a chance at gaining heaven. The start their explanation by defining what it means to be “Plain”:
“Plain” is a rather broad term and calls for definition. In this book it will refer to Old Order, conservative-minded churches based on the Bible and the Dordrecht Eighteen Articles of Faith. (Although the focus of this book is doctrines held by Old Order groups, it is not that the authors believe those are the only churches who practice Scriptural conservatism and nonconformity. Hopefully all conservative-minded churches can find encouragement herein, even if they are not Old Order.)
What do the authors mean by “conservative” and “nonconforming?” Their very next sentence reveals the answer: “It must be added that not every Old Order horse and buggy group fits into the above definition of Plain” (and they then explain that a few Old Order groups allow gross immorality, even though they drive horses and buggies).
So, “conservative” and “nonconforming” groups are “horse and buggy” groups that do not allow the driving of cars. That would include, for example, New Order Amish (who are permitted to own cars, but are not permitted to drive them) and the most conservative among the Mennonites, known as “horse and buggy Mennonites.” Although the authors don’t say it directly, they certainly imply that other “Plain” folks, whose ordnungs are less restrictive, have a chance of gaining heaven. But they don’t explain how that could be fair. And, if it is true, it would seem wise for all conservative Anabaptist people to join the least restrictive group, as that would give them the best chance of getting into heaven.
What About “Progressive” Churches?
But what about non-Plain Christian groups? The authors address that question as well, and they make it clear that those in “progressive churches” also have a chance at eternal life. The reason is because they have never been taught the principles of “separation from the world” and “nonconformity,” so God holds them to a lesser standard. To prove their point, the authors cite Jesus’ words in John 15:22 and Luke 12:47-48, both of which indicate that God holds people accountable for their sins only to the degree that they understand His will which, of course, is only fair:
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22).
“And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” (Luke 12:47-48).
It should be noted in that in both of those Scripture passages, Jesus was teaching about knowledge of God’s will as He has revealed it through His commandments. Jesus was not talking about the knowledge of manmade ordnung rules that God has never given. In any case, authors Weaver and Zimmerman conclude:
Since many members of progressive churches have never been taught the necessity of separation from the world [that is, not driving cars or owning smart phones, following a community dress code, and so on], some of them may be following Jesus the best they know how. With knowledge of the truth comes the responsibility to obey. The Plain Churches have a greater responsibility to be separated from the world because they recognize the Biblical principles of nonconformity.
This explanation is fraught with fallacies, the greatest of which is mixing of manmade ordnung rules with God’s commandments and making them equal. If the explanation was honestly paraphrased, it would read:
Since many members of progressive churches have never been taught all the manmade rules and traditions of Amish ordnungs, some of them may be following Jesus by simply obeying His commandments. But, with the knowledge that the rules of manmade Amish ordnungs are equal to the commandments of God comes the responsibility to obey those manmade rules. The Plain Churches have a greater responsibility to keep the hundreds of ordnung rules that govern every detail of their lives, because they recognize that the Bible’s admonitions to not be conformed to the world are all references to keeping the manmade rules of Amish ordnungs.
I’m sure you can recall the previous chapters’ explanation of the difference between the Amish definition of “separation from the world” and the Bible’s definition. In any case, it is clear that authors Weaver and Zimmerman believe that God has a lower standard for non-Amish people because of their ignorance. Had any Amish person not been born Amish, but rather had been born into the 99.995% of the world that is not Amish, he would have been born under a lower standard, and it would be easier for him to gain eternal life. (That would seem to indicate that being born Amish is a curse, because it is more difficult for Amish people than any other people on the planet to gain entrance into heaven.)
Even if we don’t consider the entire world’s population, and only consider the percentage of the world’s people who are born again (thought by many to be around 11%, or 880 million people), authors Weaver and Zimmerman believe that God has a lower standard for 99.95% of those Christians. Although most of them regularly read and study the Bibles all of their Christian lives, as well as listen to hundreds of sermons based on the Bible, they are somehow ignorant of the “Biblical principles of nonconformity” that only Amish people, and a few similar groups, have discovered. Does anything seem odd about that claim? (Could it be a manifestation of “the boastful pride of life” mentioned in 1 John 2:16?)
The Amish Fear of Damnation
Authors Weaver and Zimmerman next write what they have been leading up to, that is, the fate of Amish people who do not keep the ordnung:
This is one reason why it is so questionable for someone from an Old Order setting to join a liberal church; he knows the Biblical teaching against worldliness and will be judged accordingly! (emphasis mine)
That sentence is a veiled reference to the eternal damnation that will be suffered by every Amish person who leaves the Amish for any “liberal” church. All Amish people certainly know the consequences of violating their community’s ordnung. If they don’t publicly repent, they will be excommunicated and shunned until they do publicly repent. If they never publicly repent, they will never be welcomed back into fellowship and will suffer being shunned to some degree, depending on the community. And they will be told that they are hell-bound, having broken the vows of their youth, and having violated their twice-annual pledge to uphold the ordnung.
Authors Weaver and Zimmerman’s message to Dan and Steve and all young Amish people whom they represent is loud and clear: If you don’t join the church and follow the ordnung—which, among other things, means never driving a car—you will go to hell. God planted you among the Amish, and so He expects you to always be Amish and keep Amish rules. God will judge you by the standards of the ordnug! Clearly, the authors elevate the ordnung to be equal to God’s commandments. That is very troubling to anyone who believes the Bible.
But, once again, the authors declare that there will be much more leniency for those who are not born Amish:
The true follower of Christ is not the one who has all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed in Bible commandments. Rather, it’s everyone who does the best he can with what he understands, and places his faith in Christ… A person dressed in fancy apparel and one dressed plainly—if they are obeying what they understand, they will find grace by God….
So when we point out areas in the more liberal churches that are not Scriptural, understand we are doing only that. We are not judging the members of those churches.
All churches have their strong and weak points, and that includes the Plain People. But one thing is sure; everyone who follows Jesus Christ and believes in Him will be saved, regardless of what congregation they are with. There will be people in Heaven, a great multitude without number, from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Rev. 7:9-10)…. If we believe in Jesus and seek to do His will to the best of our understanding, we can be part of that multitude (emphasis mine).
That first paragraph is also certainly troubling from a biblical standpoint.
First, once again, the authors mix God’s commandments with the Amish ordnung. But this time, God’s commandments are downplayed in importance compared to the ordnung. The authors say that the true follower of Christ “is not the one who has all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed in Bible commandments.” However, those who know the ordnung’s dress code had better obey it!
Second, God expects Amish people to obey the ordnung’s dress code, but He has no such expectation of non-Amish people, because they don’t know what He requires, as revealed in the Amish ordnung. Again, God has a higher standard for Amish people. Heaven is more difficult to attain for them. There are things that non-Amish people can do and still get into heaven, whereas Amish people who do those same things will be cast into hell.
Third, the authors affirm that the large majority of people in heaven will never have kept anything that resembles an Amish ordnung, because heaven will be filled with “a great multitude without number, from every nation, tribe, people, and language” (Rev. 7:9), and we know that Amish people essentially only live in North America. Yet the authors maintain that among that great multitude, only Amish people will have been required to keep an ordnung in order to be a part of that multitude. Does that make sense? And how did the large majority of Christians in that great multitude miss the Bible’s message that only Amish people saw?
It should also be noted that the authors contradict themselves in the third paragraph quoted above. There they write, “Everyone who follows Jesus Christ and believes in Him will be saved.” What they mean, of course (according to what they have previously written), is that everyone who follows Jesus Christ and believes in Him will be saved—with the exception of those who are born Amish, because God has made many additional requirements of them beyond believing in Jesus and following Him. They must also keep hundreds of manmade rules.
What is Most Troubling
But what is most troubling about the first chapter of Why be Plain? is its lack of emphasis on initial repentance, believing in Jesus, being born again, and living in obedience to the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of His indwelling Spirit. Authors Weaver and Zimmerman don’t mention the grace that convicts sinners, forgives them when they believe in the Lord Jesus, and empowers them to be holy. Rather, they talk about the grace that God provides what is lacking for those who do their best according to what they know. What they can’t do themselves using the best of their own ability, God’s grace makes up for. That is not a picture of the biblical grace that God offers to helpless, captive sinners. I can only hope that in later chapters of Why be Plain? we hear more about that biblical grace.
