Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
Matt quotes Jacob Ammon rejecting “good-hearted Christians” who were sympathetic but would not make the sacrifices of enemy-love, truthfulness, and marital faithfulness; what does that early Amish/Anabaptist insistence on visible obedience challenge in modern evangelical assumptions about assurance, “not judging,” and what counts as authentic faith?
Another way to ask: How does the early Amish/Anabaptist push for clear, visible obedience challenge today’s ideas about being “sure you’re saved,” “not judging,” and what real faith looks like?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
According to the speaker, early Amish/Anabaptist teaching challenged the idea that sympathy or verbal profession is enough; authentic faith required visible repentance and a “new life,” even if naming that feels like “judging.”
- Matt notes Amish “do not relish judging individuals,” yet says Christians must still “outline what faithful Christian life looks like.”
- He explains Jacob Ammon rejected “good-hearted Christians” sympathetic to Anabaptists but unwilling to sacrifice: “love your enemies, not lie, not divorce.”
- He quotes Ammon: if a person does not turn from “fornication… drunkenness… or other immoralities… such a person is no Christian and will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- He summarizes: becoming a Christian “means… a new life. You can’t just persist in the old things.”
- He contrasts this with supporting a magistrate because “he talks about Jesus sometimes and… makes the economy good.” Ammon’s implied response: “you need to join the kingdom of God.”
- He suggests Christians shouldn’t feel “guilty or sheepish” for saying that some behavior is “a parody of Christian life.”