Have you ever been shunned. Felt the divide between you and people you love. Have you ever desired acceptance and being part of the family but not been allowed. In the Amish community Meidung or shunning is a common practise. Separation of a person from their church, and their family often while being required to continue an existence within the community. One must not converse with the offender, eat at the same table, or pray with one who is under the bann without risking the Meidung being place upon you. To us in this wild, carefree world it sounds barbaric, sounds crazy and unfair, but we are a people who desire to stand out, to be independent, to be different than those beside us. Our purpose in life is to see how much we can accomplish, how much wealth we can amass, how many writers we can get to pen our names into history books. We desire to be remembered and to succeed in this world. To them our world seems crazy, out of control and scary.
We humbly bow
before You now
We lift our lives up to you
On our knees we bring
Our humble offering
Of worship And honor and praise
Growing up there was many times I would travel thru the local Amish communities. I would marvel at the horse and buggies on the roads..surrounded by cars. Looking out in the fields and watching the men hard at work tilling the land with a plow fastened to the horse in front. I often wondered why they wouldn’t just get a tractor like the farmers in my area and be done in a few hours instead of days. Why do things the hard way…to me it seemed crazy. To them…it was just “the way it is done”. To them God is their everything..they do not want electricity, TV’s, radios, cars, and cell phones and everything else that comes with being a part of our modern times. Not because these things are bad but because they cause a person to lose focus, to stray from God and that to them is dangerous and cannot be allowed. Shunning is their way of protecting their community and their families from being affected or changed by the person who is doing wrong. A fence protecting the sheep from the wolf.
You may be wondering why I am talking about such things so foreign to you. Why I am talking about the Amish and about shunning. As this time of celebration has come upon us, I ask that we all take time to reflect on our lives, and our purpose. For many this time of year has lost its significance…it is a time to eat, be spent with family and friends, it is a time where children look forward to receiving gifts and chocolate. Many will not reflect on the reason we have this day, many will not remember the sacrifice that it took to have this become a day of both sadness and celebration. We have set our jaw against what we have been taught and we try to save ourselves instead of letting the one who died for us be our savior. It is easier to try on our own, declaring it hopeless when we fail rather than to admit we are sinners and we need help. When you are under “the Bann” you are left to reflect, to consider how much you will lose if you continue in your ways, you are left feeling alone, separated. Often as new Christians we feel like we are suffering Meidung from those we used to know. The relationship with those who do not know the Lord changes, you begin to feel the separation and loneliness. It is during this time of reflection, this time of change that many become fearful and do all they can to get back what they used to have. Often they will deny the Lord, turn from Him in order to gain acceptance once again from those that shunned them.
Older Christians, those who grew up where all they knew was the Lord, those who have years of walking with the Lord, trusting Him and watching Him provide often seem not to understand or have patience for those who seem to sit on the fence, those who seem to waver between following their old ways and the Lord’s way. They cannot see why someone would deny God. Often these people will look down on those who are faltering, whispering and judging.
This Easter season I have been left with a lot of things to reflect on. You see for me I am under my own Meidung. It has been much time since I seen much of my birth family. My children separated from cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Unlike the Amish however my separation comes because I choose God, something crazy and dangerous in the eyes of my family. Afraid of the damage that could result to their faith from my talking about God I have become dead to them. No longer do I exist. Often there are times of sadness, a questioning of should I fall back in step with the family. I am drawn not by the truth, for I know the Lord is the truth but rather by the need for familiarity, the need for family and for acceptance.
You see often times I feel like an outcast, where I don’t belong anywhere. The family I left doesn’t want me because of my desire to love the Lord but the family of faith hold back and whispers and judges each time I falter. Because I struggle many Christians think I am not serious, that I am just playing…how little they know of the sacrifices I have made to follow the Lord. Who among you would give up your family, your friends, allow yourself to be called horrible names, to be spit upon and denied for Christ. Would you have the strength to listen to your mother tell you that you are dead to her, watch your children be punished, denied existance..their only crime being born from your womb. If those of my family and those that are Christians both deny me where do I belong?
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt 11:28)
When you think about it Easter is a good time to reflect on these things. Jesus, son of God came to this earth, and lived amongst the people. Often times He too was an outcast. Living in a world not His own, being spat upon, cursed and hated. In return He loved, He healed, He taught and ultimately he saved. Even those who placed Him upon the cross…the most vilest and horrible of sinners are offered salvation. He hung on the cross not because of his own sins..He was innocent yet he died and paid the ultimate price not because of His own guilt but ours.
Why do we judge others? Why do we push away those who are not perfect, those who are different? What makes us any different than the drunkard living on the street, the murderer or the rapist. Are we better than them? Do we deserve more than them? No matter what we are all sinners. The difference is we know we have a savior, we know we are loved by our Heavenly Father. These lost souls..are just that..lost in a world they think hates them. Lost in a world where their pain is bigger than any savior they know for they do not know Jesus. We as brothers and sisters need to stop whispering, need to stop judging and reach out a hand in love. I know it is uncomfortable to step out from the protective walls of religion to step into a world but it is time we start showing love and offering the truth to those who need it most. We need to break down those walls that keep those who feel like outcast all alone, help them to know they are loved and that they can be saved. We were not designed to be keepers of religion...but rather the hands and feet of Jesus...to spread His love thru this darkened world.
Jesus hung on that cross, bore the weight of sin, a sacrificial lamb. His purpose here was to teach us how to love, by doing the most selfless act possible…hanging innocently on the cross for our guilt. Shall we continue to deny him by turning away from those we find uncomfortable, by judging those we meet who don’t fit into a pretty little box, or shall we trust Him and follow Him to whatever alley or jail cell He leads us.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6)
We humbly bow
before You now
We lift our lives up to you
On our knees we bring
Our humble offering
Of worship And honor and praise
Growing up there was many times I would travel thru the local Amish communities. I would marvel at the horse and buggies on the roads..surrounded by cars. Looking out in the fields and watching the men hard at work tilling the land with a plow fastened to the horse in front. I often wondered why they wouldn’t just get a tractor like the farmers in my area and be done in a few hours instead of days. Why do things the hard way…to me it seemed crazy. To them…it was just “the way it is done”. To them God is their everything..they do not want electricity, TV’s, radios, cars, and cell phones and everything else that comes with being a part of our modern times. Not because these things are bad but because they cause a person to lose focus, to stray from God and that to them is dangerous and cannot be allowed. Shunning is their way of protecting their community and their families from being affected or changed by the person who is doing wrong. A fence protecting the sheep from the wolf.
You may be wondering why I am talking about such things so foreign to you. Why I am talking about the Amish and about shunning. As this time of celebration has come upon us, I ask that we all take time to reflect on our lives, and our purpose. For many this time of year has lost its significance…it is a time to eat, be spent with family and friends, it is a time where children look forward to receiving gifts and chocolate. Many will not reflect on the reason we have this day, many will not remember the sacrifice that it took to have this become a day of both sadness and celebration. We have set our jaw against what we have been taught and we try to save ourselves instead of letting the one who died for us be our savior. It is easier to try on our own, declaring it hopeless when we fail rather than to admit we are sinners and we need help. When you are under “the Bann” you are left to reflect, to consider how much you will lose if you continue in your ways, you are left feeling alone, separated. Often as new Christians we feel like we are suffering Meidung from those we used to know. The relationship with those who do not know the Lord changes, you begin to feel the separation and loneliness. It is during this time of reflection, this time of change that many become fearful and do all they can to get back what they used to have. Often they will deny the Lord, turn from Him in order to gain acceptance once again from those that shunned them.
Older Christians, those who grew up where all they knew was the Lord, those who have years of walking with the Lord, trusting Him and watching Him provide often seem not to understand or have patience for those who seem to sit on the fence, those who seem to waver between following their old ways and the Lord’s way. They cannot see why someone would deny God. Often these people will look down on those who are faltering, whispering and judging.
This Easter season I have been left with a lot of things to reflect on. You see for me I am under my own Meidung. It has been much time since I seen much of my birth family. My children separated from cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Unlike the Amish however my separation comes because I choose God, something crazy and dangerous in the eyes of my family. Afraid of the damage that could result to their faith from my talking about God I have become dead to them. No longer do I exist. Often there are times of sadness, a questioning of should I fall back in step with the family. I am drawn not by the truth, for I know the Lord is the truth but rather by the need for familiarity, the need for family and for acceptance.
You see often times I feel like an outcast, where I don’t belong anywhere. The family I left doesn’t want me because of my desire to love the Lord but the family of faith hold back and whispers and judges each time I falter. Because I struggle many Christians think I am not serious, that I am just playing…how little they know of the sacrifices I have made to follow the Lord. Who among you would give up your family, your friends, allow yourself to be called horrible names, to be spit upon and denied for Christ. Would you have the strength to listen to your mother tell you that you are dead to her, watch your children be punished, denied existance..their only crime being born from your womb. If those of my family and those that are Christians both deny me where do I belong?
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt 11:28)
When you think about it Easter is a good time to reflect on these things. Jesus, son of God came to this earth, and lived amongst the people. Often times He too was an outcast. Living in a world not His own, being spat upon, cursed and hated. In return He loved, He healed, He taught and ultimately he saved. Even those who placed Him upon the cross…the most vilest and horrible of sinners are offered salvation. He hung on the cross not because of his own sins..He was innocent yet he died and paid the ultimate price not because of His own guilt but ours.
Why do we judge others? Why do we push away those who are not perfect, those who are different? What makes us any different than the drunkard living on the street, the murderer or the rapist. Are we better than them? Do we deserve more than them? No matter what we are all sinners. The difference is we know we have a savior, we know we are loved by our Heavenly Father. These lost souls..are just that..lost in a world they think hates them. Lost in a world where their pain is bigger than any savior they know for they do not know Jesus. We as brothers and sisters need to stop whispering, need to stop judging and reach out a hand in love. I know it is uncomfortable to step out from the protective walls of religion to step into a world but it is time we start showing love and offering the truth to those who need it most. We need to break down those walls that keep those who feel like outcast all alone, help them to know they are loved and that they can be saved. We were not designed to be keepers of religion...but rather the hands and feet of Jesus...to spread His love thru this darkened world.
Jesus hung on that cross, bore the weight of sin, a sacrificial lamb. His purpose here was to teach us how to love, by doing the most selfless act possible…hanging innocently on the cross for our guilt. Shall we continue to deny him by turning away from those we find uncomfortable, by judging those we meet who don’t fit into a pretty little box, or shall we trust Him and follow Him to whatever alley or jail cell He leads us.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5,6)
