At the beach I also finished the interesting book Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler (who, it should not be shocking, grew up Amish). It was enjoyable and informative. The church where I serve as an officer—All Saints Church in Akron—has been blest to have a few new attenders that are coming from the Amish community. This is not something that I expected, but it has been a wonderful blessing. I read the book to know more about the situation these people are facing. I am not sure how much the book taught me concerning this (my Amish friends are anything but typical), but it was an enjoyable read. I also dined with my post-Amish friends on Sunday and they affirmed that the book has a lot of truth about what many Amish deal with when they choose the life and when they reject it.

Wagler left home a number of times. Most because of family dynamics—particularly with his father—and because of his longing for the broader outside world. He always came back. This returning pattern, at first I believed, showed the strength of the Amish lifestyle. He was drawn back by the relationships and by the economic pressure of Amish life. (Low and behold, Amish parents retain a measure of authority—sometimes too much—over their children because they bestow economic blessing on the children as they follow in the Amish path.)

Finally, however, the pressure that drew him back was spiritual and was, at points, frightening. He was taught to believe that the Amish lifestyle (and the works and taboos that accompany it) were his only path to salvation. He was lied to about the gospel. Eventually, the thing that made him able to move away from the Amish lifestyle was coming into contact with the gospel. When he knew that Christ’s grace and not his own works (or his avoidance of the automobile) was what saved him, he was able to move away definitively.

I have great respect for the Amish—particularly my Amish (albeit atypical) friends. (Recently, I enjoyed homemade sushi at their home. Really! I am not lying. They made sushi for Emily and me. Another, as odd as this sounds, left the Amish church and became a farmer. He was working construction when he was Amish. Go figure!) I think that the Amish lifestyle is a good choice. It can be a choice of good work, a deep commitment to family life, sensible economic decisions, and joy (I have seen it). This can only happen, however, through the gospel of Jesus Christ (which can be embraced by Amish and English alike). When the Amish lifestyle is a choice, it is beautiful. When it is THE choice, forced on people who are made to believe that its works hold the only way to salvation for them—it, like all other man made religion—is slavery.

I hope to meet Mr. Wagler soon and learn more about his story. If I do, I will include a post here.