As I look into the future, I find myself grieving the death of the Mennonite church. My sense is that the Mennonite church as we have known it is dying and that there is nothing that we can do to stop its eventual demise. As Mennonites integrate into the broader society, the close-knit communities that have shared a common Dutch-German or Swiss-German ancestry and cultural experience are beginning to slip away and die. I find a part of me grieving this loss.
What I also grieve is the way that we have sometimes allowed history and culture to become synonymous with the Mennonite faith. I am disturbed when being Mennonite appears to have more to do with a particular lineage, or is associated with a furniture brand or with ethnic foods like shoofly pie or zwieback. There is nothing “Mennonite” about the foods we eat.
What I find myself celebrating these days is the way that new adherents to the Mennonite faith are compelling us to re-examine what it truly means to be “Mennonite.” Mennonite Church Eastern Canada is now worshipping in 13 different languages on Sunday mornings, so if you are going to talk about “Mennonite food,” you had better start including some of my favourites, like Korean bulgogi, Laotian spring rolls, spicy Amharic dishes, or Hmong na vah.
In terms of Mennonite history, our stories of persecution also need to include the flight from oppression in Colombia, Laos or Sri Lanka, and not just from Russia or Switzerland. When non-westerners make up the majority of Mennonite World Conference, we here in Canada need to come to grips with the changing times and understand that being Mennonite is about embracing a theological and biblical identity, and not a cultural one.
I am encouraged by the popularity of Stuart Murray’s book The Naked Anabaptist. It represents the hunger within our congregations for setting aside the family histories and the ethnic associations, and embracing a renewed identity for the Mennonite church that is rooted in Scripture and theology. For the church to thrive and be relevant for a new generation of believers, we need to offer them more than a shared history and cultural experience. Culture and history are wonderfully enriching, but they must never displace the heart of what it means to be an Anabaptist-Mennonite. So please watch your language: Let’s keep the food Chinese, Hispanic, Ukrainian-German or Pennsylvania Dutch, but not “Mennonite.”
Perhaps we even need to downplay the culture of our founders in order to make space for the new cultures that are beginning to embrace the Mennonite faith. To use Jesus’ words, “. . . unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). What is it that needs to die in the Mennonite church today so that it can be reborn and revitalized as a multi-ethnic church embracing one faith and one Lord?
David Martin is executive minister of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.
Comments
It is not our reputation as pacifists that makes us good Mennonites and Christians; it is separation from the world and the worldly that makes one a true Christian (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 6: 14-17). Even though the earth belongs to the Lord, Satan runs the world thru freewill decisions humans have made (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Rev. 12:9).
In order to be true Christians we must not be worldly and we must not accept worldliness. God is Love. Christian love is completely different from the versions of association and affection that the world offers. All the changes that the world and the lukewarm are clamouring for Mennonites and Christians everywhere to accept are not from God. They are from Satan (Rev. 3).
Both Jesus and Satan came to this earth to separate us into two distinct and completely opposite groups: Christian and non-Christian-anti-Christ (Luke 12:51; Matt. 10:35). There is a spiritual war going on (Eph. 6: 11-12). It is impossible to serve two spiritual masters. Lukewarmness places an individual firmly into the non-Christian group. Not only is God’s gate to life everlasting very narrow, but the road is narrow as well. The Bible stipulates that there will be few individuals actually found on it (Luke 12:51; Matt. 7: 13-15).
During the Reformation, the Anabaptists who became Mennonites and Amish separated from the Catholic church and the Reform church. They were convicted that infant baptism was not scriptural and baptism as an adult believer was scriptural, which was the exact opposite of what the most powerful state church practiced and enforced. “Being separate from the world” is just as biblical as doing the Great Commission. In fact, being a true Christian requires us to do both.
Growing up Old Order Mennonite and much later becoming a Christian and being baptised in a modern Mennonite church, I have witnessed how the Old Order Mennonites have failed in accomplishing the Great Commission, and I have witnessed a modern Mennonite church that failed in remaining non-worldly. We Mennonites can be obedient to the Great Commission while obediently not being a part of “the world,” and we must.
If we want true Christian reform we must search for the truth, hold fast to the truth, and be repentant non-conformers to all the lukewarmness and worldliness that is from Satan (John 8:32).
Add new comment
Canadian Mennonite invites comments and encourages constructive discussion about our content. Actual full names (first and last) are required. Comments are moderated and may be edited. They will not appear online until approved and will be posted during business hours. Some comments may be reproduced in print.