Great metaphor Todd.  I’m a fellow Ohioan, and I’ve marveled at the Amish in my community, and I’ve observed many churches (my own included) who allow their limited resources to get in the way of the opportunities that exist.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for your good observations, Todd.  I would guess that most innovation is fueled by the need to solve a limiting problem.

The reason the Amish ban electricity is that being on the public electric grid would connect their homes to the outside world in a physical way and would open their homes to forces that would circumvent their way of life (same with the telephone).  Batteries, hydraulics, and compressed air don’t require a physical linkage to the outside world and their use can be more easily structured by community decisions.  Battery powered TVs and PCs are banned b/c they are seen (rightly so!) as channels for influences that would undermine the Amish way of life.  Using electricity and computers in business applications is often acceptable, as is the use of a public telephone, b/c none of these connects Amish homes to the public grid.

Karl

Dear Todd
I spent 2 years at Ashland Seminary and while there looked at the Anabaptist world closely. An Amish bishop explained that every decision (including electricity) was made by asking “If He should tarry, how will this effect our grandchildren.” Like the telephone, electricity was seen as something that would make too many connections with the dominant culture, and therefore a threat. The refusal to accept tractors was explained as: If we had tractors then people would want to use them to go the the store. Then, they would see nothing wrong with automobiles. If we were to accept autopmobiles the community would be spread out so far that it would weaken the bonds that hold it together. The Amish like many conservative Anabaptists see Christianity an being lived in community so that could not be accepted. I suspect that the idea of becoming dependent on electricity (generated at some distant place) as making the community dependent on that outside ("English") world.

How many remember the movie:
Schindler’s List

At the end of the movie when Oskar Schindler broke down in tears wondering how many people the watch he wore, cuff links and pen he owned could have been sold or used to save the people.

The point being, do we use our resources to reach the lost of the world.  We were asked in Bible College, “if you won the lottery”

The response I remember most and sticks with me was “I would pay to learn every known language on earth and have the Bible translated to those languages and print trillions of Bibles and train millions of missionaries to make disciples of men”

We don’t need buildings, computers, televisions, radio, etc to reach the lost.  We need knowledge of who God Is and understanding of The Full Counsel of God in presenting The Gospel.

Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoy all those things but yes, I believe they detract from serving our Lord, very much so.

Maybe when trouble times come (as predicted by the FX original show “Oil Storm") we will be able to learn from the Amish (or should we be learning now, before the trouble comes???).

BTW. Karl and Ron, thank you very much for sharing these insights.  I am blessed and will Selah.

My sister and brother in law live in Amish country in Lancaster County.  In fact, both their next door neighbors on either side are Amish.  The one innovative thing that is adaptable from their practice is that they know how to cooperate/borrow.  Since they are not allowed to have telephones, they readily borrow their non-Amish neighbors!
Well we have a similar situation in our church.  Our much larger church neighbor from across the street (Assembly of God), has had a Christian school for many years, K-8.  When the parents pressed for a High School, they had no room.  When we completed our new 14 classroom Discipleship Wing, and since we had a great working relationship that we had established over the years, we are now cooperating with the opening of a Jr/Sr. High in our building (ABC/USA church).  This is how the Body of Christ is supposed to operate!  We will be entering our third year of cooperating ‘til we graduate this September!

How do the Amish fulfill the Great Commission commandment and share the Gospel to all the corners of the world if they are not allowed to take advantage of technology? How do they travel to all the corners of the world? Last but not least if God did not wanted us to use technology to spread the Gospel why did he allow us to discover it in the first place?