Of course there are different Mennonite groups, even in our
area. We have the more contemporary types with modern worship and social
activism[i]
and we have the more conservative and traditional groups that appear almost as
Amish who happen to drive black vans. The group in town was from one of the
conservative sects.
We talked about the idolatry of patriotism within the
churches and the need to reject the cheap grace so often proffered by the
Evangelical mainstream.
I explained to him how we've struggled to find a church home
in this area. The vast majority of the congregations are theologically liberal.[ii]
Every town has a little United Methodist congregation and many have a mainline
Presbyterian Church as well. Early in the 20th century the area was
heavily settled by Italians and Poles leading to an explosion of Roman
Catholicism and the anti-catholic anti-immigrant second wave of the Klu Klux
Klan was to the surprise of some quite popular in this area. Even just a few
years ago people were still finding Klan uniforms in old dusty attics
uncovering lost secrets about deceased grandfathers.
I explained to this Mennonite how we longed to find a
congregation that adhered to the Bible and didn't worship at the altar of the
American Empire. He was more than sympathetic. But then I raised the issue of
communion and their host of regulations.
He assured me their long list of requirements to be a member
of their community was in accord with the Bible, but then could not argue the
case from the Bible for a single one. Somehow rejecting worldliness and pride
translated into a no mustache, a black hat and black jacket...and definitely no
pin-striping on your car.
In fact the question of Biblical justification seemed
foreign to him, as if it were something he merely took for granted. He didn't
grasp the concept of 'binding the conscience' of others. When I drew parallels
between Roman Catholic traditions and their own he couldn't see the connection.
The issue of course is one of authority. We would critique
the Roman Catholics as having taken it unto themselves a right to create (from
thin air) a myriad of traditions. We would call them superstitions a label
every Roman would deny.
I pointed out the Mennonites do the same thing. Of course like
the Roman Catholics, they don't believe their traditions to be will worship or
self-imposed religion either. They too try and make lame Biblical arguments for
their clothing peculiarities and regulations which for them are just as much
acts of devotion as the rosary is for a Papist.
It's ironic that among all these legalist groups since the
essence of their faith is tied to the code (or Ordnung as the Amish call
it)...that's basically what they spend their time talking about. That is their faith. That is the foundation of
their fellowship. If you think they spend their time talking about the Bible,
you're quite mistaken I assure you!
They criticize groups more liberal than they are as being
worldly and criticize groups more conservative than they are as being legalist.
It's no different in Fundamentalist Baptist or Holiness circles. They love to
criticize the 'worldliness' of other groups and yet, oh how they react when
someone goes farther and are more conservative than they are. It's a proverb in
our house...there's nothing more angry and bitter than an out Baptist-ed
Baptist.
It's a wretched existence.
He admitted that we could visit their church and encouraged
me to do so but said they practiced Closed Communion. Of course since Communion
in their theology is essentially a meaningless symbol they don't practice it
very often anyway. In order to take Communion you must 'sign-on' to their list
of life and piety requirements, almost all of which are extra-Scriptural.
If you refuse to do this, then you cannot take Communion
with them. Of course denying someone the New Covenant sign is not excommunication
to them. They don't see it as denying your status as a Christian. That's not
the issue for them. The sign and symbol demarcating the Church from the World
is not the Covenant sign given by Christ. No, it's the code. The Supper ends up
just functioning as the equivalent of a Masonic secret handshake. What really
matters is your membership in the group...a membership determined by criteria
rooted in historical and sociological concerns...one not found in Scripture
itself.
In the end they're first class Pharisees. In their zeal to
be humble and reject their world they have misunderstand what it is to be
worldly. Wearing black and not focusing on your appearance is an act of
humility.
And yet it is their appearance that marks them out. It is
their appearance, their uniform that identifies them. They focus on it to the
extent that you're denied status as a Christian unless you adopt it. They don't
focus on their appearance or find pride in their dress? Quite the opposite.
Like the Pharisees they revel in and find affirmation in their superior status
and in the fact they have it right and those around them do not. It's their
obsession.
It was much the same with the monks and with all forms of
asceticism. The monks wore rough cowls and shaved their hair into a tonsure.
What was meant to be humbling in fact became a badge of pietistic pride. This
is exactly what Paul is talking about at the end of Colossians 2. And in 1
Timothy 4 he flat out identifies such 'bodily' forms of religious exercise as
demonic.[iii]
They may not wear flashy clothes and primp in front of the
mirror, but their appearance is what they are all about.
They would look down on the guy wearing the $1500 suit and gold
rings (as would I) but they're no different. They are apparently blind to the
fact that the dozen or so of their number on the streets of Titusville was
gaining great attention. Everyone was looking at them. Their appearance more
than anything was getting attention. Morally the only difference is they're not
trying to project power. Or are they? Perhaps their scope is a bit more
limited. Power in the form of spiritual tyranny is also dealt with extensively
in the New Testament. Galatians 4 reads:
17 They zealously court
you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be
zealous for them.
I'll grant that in our culture today if you're non-tattooed,
non-pierced, and you're not exposing cleavage or wearing an obscene t-shirt,
then sure that alone will gain some attention. If your children comport
themselves with sobriety and don't have a 'tween' or 'teen' style or 'look'
then indeed you will stand out.
But with these folks,
like the Holiness people, like the Baptists....it's a look they're after.
Speaking of Baptists I found it ironic as I walked into
another grocery store a few minutes later (we usually hit more than one) there
was the good Fundamental Baptist girl we see all the time. She works there and
sticks out because her hair is quite long and she always wears a denim-style
long skirt. Of course she also struts about with obvious contempt of those who
'don't have it right' and is quite unfriendly to any woman wearing pants. My
wife enjoys throwing these people off. One week she'll wear a long skirt and
she too has long hair, and they'll think ah, maybe this family is one of us.
I'm afraid I don't fit the bill. I'm too scruffy and don't look anything like a
Baptist. We chuckle as we often see these people staring at us and trying to
figure out what we are.
But then next week my wife will wear pants and totally
confuse them. I always figure they probably think she's just married to an
unbeliever since I don't look conservative enough to be saved.[iv]
Anyway in the end the conversation was pretty disappointing.
They're simple folks and humble in one sense. In another sense they're anything
but. A kind of humble pride.
I said, "How sad that here you have a family that wants
to adhere to Scripture and rejects the violence and idolatry the rest of the
Churches have embraced and yet, we can't have fellowship with you because I
won't wear a little black hat."
He really didn't have much to say. He just assured me that
their rules were protections that kept them from the world and helped insure
their children would embrace the faith. To be part of the Church you have to
live a life of holiness. I agreed but I said the Bible determines what holiness
is, not the traditions of men.
I said my piety is in question because of this?...I gestured
to what I was wearing. I had just come from work. I was wearing a pair of
carpenter pants, work boots, a button down shirt and a work jacket.
"Well," he said. "We don't really look at it
that way."
I told him I had to go as I could see my family in the
parking lot beginning to load groceries.
Denominations are a curse. The claim of 'True Church' is
implicit within every denomination. These Mennonites are probably just a little
more candid about it. In their zeal to protect the Church, by excluding others
on a non-Biblical basis they are guilty, very guilty of the sin of Schism.
That's great that they're out on a Friday night passing out
literature and trying to talk to folks, but the Black Hat gospel isn't going to
win anyone over. Only a handful of people who motivated by fear will say 'Stop
the world, I want to get off' and find the answer in a group like the
conservative Mennonites. There is such a comfort in being part of a group and
the codes and lists are also a form of comfort. You have a standard a checklist
to compare yourself to. As long as you can check the boxes...you're at peace.
You know that you're right.
It's the same works gospel the Pharisees had.
Ultimately we find that these groups are intimidating and
unapproachable to people. I was watching other people as he passed out
literature to them. No one wanted to talk to him. I'll admit as an unbeliever I
would have found him intimidating.
And ironically when my wife does wear pants and just looks
like a regular non-uniformed person...we get a lot of people talking to us.
We're not intimidating and they see we have nice well behaved kids...and they
want to talk to us.
It's a little different around here. The skirts are a
fashionable thing in the city. If we're in Pittsburgh no one looks twice if my
wife is wearing a long skirt. But around here because of all the sects, the skirt
is a religious statement. If you're a 'normal' mom you wear jeans or pants and
a Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt. Well, that's certainly not a look my wife
would adapt.
Can't something in the middle work and still be compatible
with Christianity?
I'm sorry but if I am to abandon the Word as the sole
governing authority for the Church and the Christian life, then I'm not going
to go and join with the Mennonites. I prefer something more rooted in history,
something more tactile. I prefer a tradition that doesn't make me dress up in a
clown suit and one in which I can at least have a beer now and then.
[i] The post-Niebuhr groups
[ii] This
area was heavily affected to Mennonite Circuit Riders in the 1800's. This was
the new frontier right after the American Revolution and opened up in the late
18th and early 19th century and many of the town signs
bear 'founded' dates of 1795 or 1810. With the discovery of oil outside of Titusville
Pennsylvania in 1859 the area exploded with population and industry and then
began the slow decline into Rust Belt status in the 20th century. As
Southeastern Pennsylvania's population expanded into the network of
metropolitan areas and joined with the massive Mega-city stretching from Boston
to Richmond, the Amish and other groups moved west seeking rural areas to
settle. This area though built up at one time was never urban and then and far more
so now contains many large tracts of forest and in places good farm land.
[iii] Many misread this passage and think he's talking
about aerobics or weightlifting. The exercise he speaks of has absolutely
nothing to do with sports. Many argue that Paul was pro-sports because he said
it profits 'a little'.
Just to clarify there's
nothing wrong with sports in moderation, but nor is it a way to exercise
Dominion either. The Christian High School I attended believed American football
was an act of worship. It's one thing to ski or race but with physical sports
like football in order to be effective (at least for me playing on defense) the
only way I could play well was to literally work myself up and want to
absolutely pulverize the guy across from me or the one carrying the ball. I had
to get myself into a state...one I would certainly reject post-conversion. I
think the whole competition issue can become problematic let alone the
disgusting immoral spectacle that is modern American entertainment style
sports. If someone wants to participate, go right ahead. I won't bind your
conscience but the last thing I'm going to do is get excited about someone like
Tim Tebow. His faddish star seems to be waning. Good riddance.
[iv] My friends and I always chuckle about the Baptist
pastor we knew in the Air Force. "You gotta look like you're saved!"
What did that entail?
"Well fellas, you need to tuck your shirts in and sorry...I think you need
to shave even on your days off."