An Amish Economic Stimulus Plan

The American Dollar has dwindled to nothing.
 
Silver and gold have tanked.
 
The stock market has crashed.
 
Banking has gone to a one-world system.
 
Charitable relief agencies like the Red Cross have gone bankrupt.
 
People are killing for bread and water.
 
The world is paralyzed in fear.
 
All governmental provisions to rescue a world in crisis have failed...
 
 
 
[Six Months Earlier.]
 
 
In the past few weeks, during my personal prayer time, the same thoughts have been reverberating in my mind. It all revolves around the biblical concept of community.
 
Today, we have to seek out what many would deem strange and unusual places to discover profitable examples of true community in action. But that was not so a few hundred years ago. Since the invention of methods of mass transit and even the horseless-carriage (automobiles) people slowly began to migrate away from their comfortable communes or communities in search of something "better" or more lucrative. With this so-called great expansion into the unknown came more violence, poverty, and even personal prosperity-most of which were obtained with great loss of life and other personal tragedies. During this time there was an insatiable greed that caused men to literally die in the prospect of striking it rich. It seemed, as it is recorded in history books, that there was an internal drive to be self-dependant. No longer would these individuals need to depend on their stifling communities or governments that they believed were keeping them from their rightful treasures. Now they could be the captain of their own ship. (Does this sound eerily similar to the Genesis account with Adam and Eve? Read Gen. 3).
 
But what about this concept of community?
 
 Hasn't this been discussed before?
 
 In reading several sources of historicity, I came to discover that it is usually during times of great distress that some evil dictator arises through a self-promoting power and forces people into a type of "ism" slavery-or in other words, into a devilish plan to recover the world and eliminate those who are considered to be a drain on the economic provisions of their nation. Amazingly, these gullible people willingly followed these crazed leaders right to their demise simply because a promise was made to them of a "better" life. (C'mon, you don't think that I would dare to suggest that we are on the verge of this again, do you? By the way, what do you think would happen if a certain someone were to catch the most notorious criminal of the 21st century? How much support and following could a person achieve if he/she were to do what has been deemed impossible? Never mind.)
 
I have to admit that when I first received this word from the Lord about "community" that some obvious parallels popped into my mind. I basically found myself in an argument with God and even questioned Him. (Yes, I repented.)  First, I started thinking that my thoughts were connected to communism, which basically began off the demented beliefs of a man named Karl Marx. Then I thought about Nazism under the notoriously cruel Adolph Hitler and his more-than-wicked scheme to rid the world of those he deemed "less than ideal" for an ultimate society. All of these examples involve a great deal of what I will write in this week's thought. Incredibly, many of these dictators actually used the Bible and theology to come to their evil conclusions. Some of their concepts even contained slivers of truth.
 
Now before I get too far along in this I want to give you my main point. Please keep in mind that I am just an overzealous 29-year-old who knows very little about economics. After all, I barely even passed math and accounting-even then someone was so generous to allow me to copy the harder questions to make a passing grade. But regardless of my lack of expertise in this area I still have a burning passion that has seemingly come out of nowhere in regards to our current financial crisis.
 
I want to make a bold statement: We will not survive this financial crisis without our trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and without a genuine enactment of the truest concept of community-people helping people.
 
First, we should know a little bit about community. Community, by popular definition, is a group of like, or semi-like minded individuals that live, work, and play in a certain region or locale. But that really does not capture the truest essence of the word. Some of the more prosperous communities of the world operated on more than simply living in the same area as everyone else. I guess we should know some more about what makes a great community if we too want to be prosperous. That is the goal isn't it? Everyone wants to be prosperous. But should that be our ultimate agenda? (Of course, I'm sure you are only thinking of spiritual prosperity).
 
God wants us to be community minded. All throughout the New Testament there are detailed accounts of the body of Christ (The Church) operating within a Christo-centric community construct. In one instance it was noted that people sold all they had to further the gospel and spread the "way" or what we call, Christianity (Acts 4:34). Try to get people to do that today-you would have a better chance at eliminating terrorism altogether.
 
The truest definition of community, which is etymologically derived from two Latin words, com and munia, respectively denotes togetherness in duty. The biblical concept of community is comprised of a group of individuals with varying gifts and abilities that are determined not to let anyone within their common surroundings fail, either in this world, or in their relationship to the Lord. They realize that each person is important, not just a privileged few who undertake responsibilities they were never intended to handle (Read Exodus 18). In the biblical construct all people are a part of the bigger picture. Everyone does their share of what they can do.  People in these communities understand that each and every person is precious to the Lord and that each person can give something to further the spreading of the gospel. This concept is also carried over into everyday life. In biblical communes it is of primary concern to seek the spiritual health of a person, but it is also mitigating to ensure that each person lives a peaceful existence on earth with all the necessary accommodations to sustain life. But this is where we have failed in the church. We have failed to be the beacon of hope to the world. We have operated the church more or less like miniature big governments.
 
Community is the opposite of big government. Big government is not about helping people succeed and advancing each individual for the furtherance of the individual. Big government seeks to maintain and strengthen the system with no emphasis given to particular individuals unless the individual is deemed vital for the system's survival. Simply speaking, the biblical concept of community exists to protect, guide and enhance each individual, because each individual is highly important to God. The biblical concept of community is born out of a regenerated spirit, by the Holy Spirit Himself. True community is another word for love. Gee, Scott why didn't you just say that at the beginning? Because most people don't understand love. If I said we would not survive our economic crisis without love you would have tuned me out pages ago.
 
I know a lot of you reading this are going to have a heard time identifying with this next illustration because most people where I live now have never had any encounters with these people. You may have seen a bio about them or have watched a comedic portrayal, but most are not intimately familiar with the Amish people. The Amish are a great case in study of community. Now, they certainly do have many weak points and they are extremely religious, to their own determent, but they do have a superior biblical concept of community working for them.
 
My parents currently have their own business and all of their clients are Amish. When I was living at home I recall several instances where these people would go well out of their way to help some other Amish person in their community. In one such story, an Amish family lost several members and all they owned in a terrible house fire. The Amish community came together and built them a new home and furnished it all within the time span of about two weeks and the family did not have to pay one penny. That is love shown through community. And the Amish don't just do this one time to get on TV or to highlight their ministry. They do it for everyone and most of the time no one knows about it-especially if you are what they call, "English" (that is what they call anyone outside the Amish community). The Amish are so close knit that several families will get together and contact the phone company who will come out and install a phone booth between about six to ten homes, placing it out near the street at a home that is in the middle of the families. (They don't believe in owning items of convenience in their homes). The point is, try getting six to ten "English" families together in your neighborhood to split the high cost of something like this. It would be next to impossible. I can't even get people to come to the house when things are free, let alone splitting the cost of something.
 
Let me ask you a question: In the neighborhood or apartment complex you live in, how many of the neighbors have you met? Do you know who lives on the right or left side of you? C'mon, I mean do you really know who they are? I'm not asking if you know their name, where they work, and how many kids they have. That is the info you get at a stale 20-year high school reunion. Do you genuinely have communion with them, or close fellowship in regards to their spiritual and physical needs? I don't. I'll be the first to admit it. I need a lot of work in this area and that is precisely why God has given me this mandate-and I am simply sharing it with you. When is the last time any of us took a stroll through our little COMMUNITIES and asked our neighbors how they are fairing during this financial hardship? Undoubtedly, there is someone that has lost a job, a house, or both, that are living near us. And, believe it or not, there are people out there that blame God for their heartaches that need a loving theological correction and some good guidance. Both of these are in great demand these days-it's just that people don't know they demand it. When is the last time we did something, no matter how small, about it? The Great Commission is not about bringing these people to church to hear a decent message; it is about bringing the church, you and me, to these hurting people to be liberated spiritually and physically. We are the ambassadors of Christ to a lost and dying world. We are the hands and feet on the body of Christ. Don't leave it up to someone else because that someone else cannot affect the people in your world.
 
I surmise that we have not reached out to our communities because we haven't had to. But let the world go pitch black without electricity; let us run out of gasoline; let the water supply go bad; let us fend for our lives in search of food. Then we would find out who are neighbors are. We would rekindle relationships with family that we thought hated us. We would no longer be selfish, independent, I-can-do-everything-myself, people. We would be co-dependant upon the Lord and upon each other. We would have no choice. 
 
We, the church of the Lord Jesus Chirst, in order to achieve a more perfect union...are severely lacking in this area. It is to our shame that we are constantly seeking new revelations, giftings of healings and power, and crazy phenomena, yet God gave us a command to reach out in loving communion and we have yet to fulfill that requirement even in the slightest degree. Some of our neighbors don't even know we go to church. They simply think that we are working every Sunday morning from 9am-12noon.
 
I think that it is funny when people say things like this, "The church must become relevant to the community, blah, blah, blah..." It's the same ol' spill. But while we get side-tracked trying to keep up with the Jones' (the world or society) we get further from the original design of the church. And people stay hurting. No, the church does not need to impact popular culture and our community with clean versions of everything they do to show them that we too can "hang." We don't need fog lights, climbing walls, and bozo the clown. We don't need another community coordinator in our churches; we need to coordinate a viable community that genuinely loves-and it doesn't start with everyone else under the roof of our church, it starts with you and me. We must become a practical community where every person is loved regardless of what they do or cannot do-where their giftings are encouraged and drawn out of them; where people are "discipled" to reach out to others; where people come in to the church only to go out and reach more for Christ. Yes, we don't need more gadgets and gizmos to get people in the church to hear fluffy, feel-good messages. We need to show people the compassionate love of Christ and not just some superficial, I-only-love-you-to-your-face-on-Sunday, love either. .
 
The church must stop this mini-version of big government where a handful of people run the show (yeah, some churches have a whole lot of show going on, and we should not be ashamed to call things what they are and prophesy what they should be). We must return to the roots of community where everyone is vitally involved. Then and only then can we fulfill God's desire for us. Look at the Israelites. Don't you know that God called them out of obscurity, starting with Abraham, to lead all nations to Himself? He called out a community to reach the communities of the world.
 
Where do you fit in to all of this?
 
Simple steps to start reaching out as a viable biblical community:
 
1. Greet a few neighbors you have never met.
2. Greet those people who sit next to you on the pews each week.
3. Pastors, greet a pastor of the church down the road from you. (You are not exempt!)
4. Invite a new couple in your neighborhood or church to lunch once a month.
5. At the appropriate time, and using discernment, ask a few intimate details about your neighbor's spiritual and physical well-being. (You might want to set aside a few dollars and have some canned goods on hand so you can give them something along with your prayers. By the way, this is very biblical. In the OT people set aside their food every 3rd and 6th year to help those who genuinely needed help)
6. Remember, it starts with one. You must be the one. Don't wait for someone to come to you, because in the world we live in it just will not happen. Also, people will probably think you have ulterior motives at first and will be intimidated by your caring heart and generosity. Don't be alarmed if people shy away. Keep coming back to them because they will come around.
7. Chirst laid down His life for us. What can we lay down for the sake of another? Jesus said, "By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another [if you keep on showing love to one another]." John 13:35 AMP
 
It is time to stop looking to government and church leadership to solve every dilemma.
 
We have the answer to life's problems.
 
When will we take it to those who don't know?