The Amish Voice 3
One man’s sin caused thirty six innocent
men to die! Truly, it makes a person won-
der how many innocent church members
are sufering severe consequences because
nothing is being done to purge out the sin
that has sprung up with in the camp.
And, might I add; maybe that is why we see
so litle power in many of the main stream
churches today. And maybe, just maybe,
that is why we see so many of our prayers
go unanswered. These are just some honest
questons we should ask ourselves.
Something else to consider; is it possible
that many churches fall under the judgment
that Christ spoke of in Revelaton 3?
And unto the angel of the church of
the Laodiceans write; … I know thy
works, that thou art neither cold nor
hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So
then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spue
*vomit+ thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need
of nothing; and knowest not that
thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked: I
counsel thee to buy of me gold tried
in the fre, that thou mayest be rich;
and white raiment, that thou mayest
be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear; and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou
mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chas-
ten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door *of the
church+, and knock: if any man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will
come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me.
—Revelaton 3:14-20
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View #2
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In our second view, I would like to take a
look at some of the practces and views of
another type of churches. They are in fact
quite opposite of the view we just covered.
The churches in our second view, use Scrip-
tures, such as Mathew 18:17, I Corinthians
5, and I Timothy 1:20 to put the fear of God
into anyone who would dare to go against
the rules and regulatons that have been set
forth by the leadership of the church. And,
once that member has been excommunicat-
ed from the church, they become a marked
person. From that point on, they are noted
and shunned, not only by their home
church, but also by most of the other
churches in the area. And unless that per-
son comes back to the same church that
excommunicated him/her, the ban will not
be lifed.
Over the years, there have been some ex-
treme cases where certain members in the-
se churches have taken their own lives, be-
cause they saw no way out of their emoton-
al and mental misery. Their thinking has
been described in the following ways:
1.
If I leave the church, I will be excommunicat-
ed and shunned by my own family and
friends. And, at the end of my life, God will
cast me into hell, as payment for having op-
posing views and understandings of the
church and it’s rules.
2.
If I contnue to live my life within the church
and it’s strict guidelines, my days will contn-
ue to look dark and bleak. So much so that
the only way out; the only relief is to take
my life.
Three Questions to Consider
1.
Does God give the leaders of the church
full rights to establish any rule and regu-
laton they want, and then force it on
the members of the church?
2.
Does God, under any circumstances,
allow church leaders the right to turn a
member over to Satan and shun him or
her for breaking a man-made rule?
3.
Is there a diference between a man-
made rule, such as, “
Thou shalt not drive
a car
” and a God made rule, such as,
“
Thou shalt not commit adultery
?”
Surely every reader of this artcle would
agree that God’s rules, if broken, will carry
consequences.
But what about man made rules? What if
they are broken? Does God care? For in-
stance, suppose I was an elder of the church
and one day I came to you and said, John,
from now on I don't want you to use any
more power tools, including the chain saw,
power drill and air nailer. Suppose that I
would come to you a second tme and say,
John, from now on you are only allowed to
wear certain colors of clothing; your shirt
can only have three butons in the front, no
lay down collar, and no short sleeves.
Kerosene lanterns on your buggy are
ok, but no batery operated blinking
lights.
Phone shanty on the corner of your
property is ok, but mind you, no
phone in the house.
You must shave your mustache of,
however, the beard must go uncut.
A couch in the living room is allowa-
ble, but it is against the rules to have
a back or arm rests on the side.
Running the washing machine with a
gasoline engine is acceptable, but to
do so with electricity is wrong.
One man might argue, but these rules
are nothing more then litle fences
that keep us from loosing control and
breaking God’s commandments.
Another might respond, “well, I don't
actually believe that keeping our man
made rules will get us to heaven.”
A good follow-up queston might be,
“so you don't believe that the rules will
get you to heaven?”
No, he would answer.
What happens if one of the members
refuses to keep the rules?”
In my lifetme and experience, the pop-
ular response would be, “well, then we
as a church would have to take acton.
And if things did not turn around, we
would need to eventually excommuni-
cate and shun that member.”
Excommunicate that member for what? For
breaking a man made rule?
Untl just a couple years ago, I did not realize
it so much, but that kind of mind set is very
similar to what was happening in the Jewish
culture, during Jesus’ tme. Please allow me
to explain.
The Jewish leaders created thousands of
litle fences in order to keep their people
from breaking God’s commandments. And