Will the Amish Get the Last Laugh?

And what does that have to do with a blog psalms and prayer?

Personal photo, 2020

I clearly remember the first time I saw an Amish man pull a credit card out of his wallet. My wife and I had recently moved to a small Rocky Mountain town to help with a church plant. I’d taken a job at a hardware store where the clientele included American Indians, ranchers, and well-to-do vacationers, as well as agrarian traditionalists of several Christian denominations.

In hindsight, I was naive to be surprised that an Amish man would use a Visa. They’re not opposed to modern technology. They’re just slow to adopt it and very selective. And they have a reputation for financial acuity. The card Mr. Yoder produced was sleek and steely-colored. It whispered of status and impressive kickbacks.

I tell that story to set the stage for one of those Bible quotes that seems hopelessly impractical:

Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

If these verses merely mean that we believers should think of ourselves as ordinary, hardworking folk, we’re quite fine with that. Conveniently, it’s how we like to see ourselves. But as a thought experiment, consider what life might look like if you took these verses at face value. An Amish carpenter—or a Christian auto mechanic—might be able to nod knowingly and carry on. But what about those of us with desk jobs and smartphones?

Live quietly? Sure, if that’s the sort of thing you like. Mind your own affairs? Look, I can do without those other social media apps, but even Substack lures me into the neuroses and gossip of complete strangers. The fact is: most of us will be ready with our caveats and qualification long before we get to the actual instruction to “work with your hands.”

Which could help explain how we often miss the why tucked at the end:

Be dependent on no one.

1 Thessalonians 4:12b

Every creature that breathes, of course, depends on God. And the Bible urges Christians to rely on one another for everything from prayer, to encouragement, to meal trains when new babies arrive. So why is dependence, in this context, something to avoid?

The Thessalonian church faced persecution. To depend on outsiders would have meant relying on some of the very people who wanted to snuff the church out. By working with their hands, believers ensured they could meet their own basic needs. A church that can provide itself with food, clothing, and housing is less likely to fold under searing pressure.

Let’s take a flying leap to our modern day. Our situation is very different from Christians in Thessalonica. We may not face the kind of straightforward threats they did. Yet we remain economically dependent on many people who oppose us. And we’re dangerously reliant on a global labyrinth of trade and technology that seems creakier by the year.

The food we eat today usually travels over a thousand miles before reaching our plates. The trucks that transport it rely on parts made in China and India. And the logistics systems that keep it all humming along need computer chips from Taiwan.

This brings me back to Mr. Yoder, the Amish gentleman with the platinum-level perks. If our modern economy went belly up, he’d face some sacrifices too. But his tight-knit agricultural community would be far better equipped to carry on than most of us.

But long-term preparedness isn’t particularly valued in our society. And sadly, it’s not unusual for the Amish to face ridicule. My wife and I saw drivers speed up aggressively and veer needlessly close while passing horse-drawn buggies. Occasionally people threw garbage at them, and the ladies had to deal with catcalls. Yet, I’m hardly the first to wonder if their lifestyle might be vindicated someday.

To consider this, of course, involves thinking about the grim possibility of modern society unraveling. Should Christians, who have an eternal dwelling place with the Lord, give any thought to such unpleasantness? I’ll argue yes. It’s a case that needs to be made carefully, with an awareness of the wider theological landscape. Our salvation, after all, is an unearned gift of God’s grace¹. And as we recall from the parable in Luke chapter 12, a rich man who hoards grain in hopes of a secure future might wind up disappointed. By that, I mean he dies.

But his sin, as Jesus tells us, was greed². He was covetous and obsessed with gaining more possessions. If, however, our motivation for self-reliance is to be more resilient and to limit our dependence on the ungodly, I think we can stay in the clear.

And even if the modern world keeps sputtering on for a while, working with your hands offers immediate benefits. More and more research is showing that our tech-obsessed lifestyle has done extraordinary harm, especially to young people. I’ve heard Christians categorize technology as a “morally neutral tool” countless times. But the social media inferno and artificial intelligence seem to be pushing even some establishment Christians off the fence.

It’s too early to know whether tech-skeptic Paul Kingsnorth’s invitation to give a major lecture at First Things reflects a broader trend, but such a pairing would have been hard to imagine a few years ago. Soon, the challenge may not be persuading people that our gadgets are causing our souls to wither. Rather, it could be figuring out what can possibly be done now that our lives are so intertwined with them.

Any large-scale shift of this kind would be a work of God. Even for one single family to become less enmeshed within the Machine could take years of prayer and persistent efforts. Thankfully, the Lord meets us right where we are. Aware of his presence, we can choose to re-embrace reality, one hands-on task at a time. Gardening, woodworking, and even changing the oil in your car are tasks that bring us back to the here-and-now. You may not be ready to launch into full-on homesteading, but there are surely physical tasks worth doing around your home, or your neighbor’s.

I’ve posted recently about psalm singing and prayer. These, like activities such as listening to Scripture or contemplating it, pair wonderfully with physical work. For those of us accustomed to cubicle jobs, and other forms of “knowledge work,” life involves seemingly constant inputs of information. We can forget how strange this is, how unusual it is historically. Physical work can quiet our minds, readying them to be filled with God’s Word and prayer. This opportunity, although novel to us, was the norm for generations upon generations of believers.

What I’m calling “the long renewal” boils down to re-engaging God’s Word and God’s world. It’s the act of choosing reality over unreality. And then allowing the Lord, the ultimate Reality, to work out his change in us, however long it takes.

It seems fitting to wrap this one up with an Amish proverb:

Unless there is within us that which is above us, we shall soon yield to that which is about us.

Thank you so much for reading. Many blessings and Merry Christmas!

1. Ephesians 2:8-9

2. Luke 12:15