I read a blog post recently by a woman who had been going to a church “similar to the Mennonites” and found herself in bondage. After leaving that church, after realizing her identity in Christ and that she is a beautiful woman of God who does not need to shut up and be hidden, she knows such freedom and joy.
I think it is good she found freedom, but it makes me feel odd because I am a Mennonite and like it. I don’t feel oppressed.
I’m not sure how to reconcile these two different perspectives. I have heard a similar story from other women and think what they feel is probably legitimate, but I don’t feel it. As a Mennonite, I have freedom to pursue the writing I love to do. I have a voice and a place in the world. I like the way I dress.
Granted, growing up I had broad freedom to explore the places my mind led me. I did not grow up in the most strait-laced of homes. And in the church I now attend, I feel there is space for many voices and gifts. I feel valued as a woman, and I don’t feel bound.
So the difference between me and those women may simply be in our individual experiences. There is a broad range of Mennonites, as there is a broad range of Baptists and Catholics–and atheists, for that matter.
Part of the reason I love the Mennonites is because many of the people who inspired and grounded my faith are Mennonites. My parents. A dear older couple who counseled me. My husband. But it’s not only Mennonites who have been spiritual role models. My Ojibwe elder friend, Charlene, was too, in her own unconventional way.
Each of these people have made Christianity seem to me deeply attractive. They have or had a simple deep faith that isn’t necessarily displayed in public ways but makes the Word an everyday way of life–or at least an everyday way of seeking. Charlene, it is true, didn’t read her Bible much until she met me–but when she read it, she approached it with such simple straightforward belief, as though God had written her a letter, and she was reading is. Each of these people were sometimes imperfect in their efforts. But their faith seems to me simple and pure. Though it is quiet and doesn’t talk about itself much, Christianity permeates who they are. They see God in the everyday details of life and in nature.
Each of these people ministered to my heart in some way. That is probably the main reason they made such an impression on me. Each of these people have loved me in a way that wrapped itself around my skin and made me feel truly and deeply valued.
So what am I saying, really? Just that faith can be found in many places. And it is the people who love us and make us feel valued whose values we absorb.
Marilynne Robinson wrote, “Grace is not so poor that it cannot present itself in any number of ways,” and though I don’t know in what context she made this comment, I often think of it when I read stories that don’t parallel mine. I, too, have found much to love in the Mennonite culture and I cannot help but love her people. That said, the Mennonites I most admire are the ones who go on loving in the same way they always have, when those around them make decisions they themselves have not and would not have made.
I like how you wrote of Christianity as being “deeply attractive.” Yes! In my own spiritual journey, these twin realizations have made Christianity more attractive to me: That God is not a Mennonite God. And that He’s the God of the Mennonites, too.
I resonate with your thoughts. Well said.
I too am happy in my Mennonite faith.
It is a faith based on choosing as an adult to follow God’s teachings here on this earth.
There are certain churches that do have lots of rules, to be sure.
Prayer and time often help to discern as to whether rules are useful or harmful.
Menno Simons, for whom our Mennonite faith is named, was born a long time ago, in 1496. Anything “human” is going to pick up rules over time. It’s what humans do, I guess?
My Mennonite church tends to avoid a cappella singing, which I tend to enjoy. On the other hand, I enjoy the people and the fellowship.
There are trade-offs in every human experience.
At the end of a bunch of days, if you’re worse for a particular experience, then stop it. If you’re better for it, then keep doing it.
Listening to that wee small voice when you pray is often a good idea.
Thanks for sharing! I’m not Mennonite, but I do come from a conservative Christian background, and as I’ve grown, I’ve made choices that many would probably label as restrictive, legalistic, etc. I just don’t see a conservative lifestyle that way. In fact, I have some friends who are also conservative Mennonites like you, and what I’ve seen in them is an overflow of love and joy. (I’ve also seen the other side in my dad’s family, where it’s just about tradition and not truly about Jesus. I think that is what makes the difference.) So it’s nice to see, in a world that seems to push against any sort of conservative values, someone who celebrates the joy. :)
I very much identify with your feelings, Luci. I feel grounded and at peace with the people I have chosen for my own. I also feel free and unrestricted and able to speak my mind when I want to. Prudence and care for other people’s ideas and opinions does keep me from spurting out everything I think and believe–but that’s my own choice to exercise self control over my own tongue, not bitter submission to people I don’t agree with.