Because of the recent horrible events in Pennsylvania in early October, where five little girls were murdered by a disturbed man, the world had its eyes on the Amish community there. The are a fair amount of Anabaptist groups where I live. There are no Amish living here, but there are Mennonites and German Baptists. I rarely meet Mennonite folks, but I meet every so often and interact with German Baptists. They are sometimes confused with Amish folks.

Such was the case when one of my co-workers asked me why the German Baptists, (thinking they were Amish) have so separated themselves from the mainstream. I told him that it had to do with their interpretation of how the Bible tells us to be separate from the world. The Bible does tell us that, but that doesn't mean that we are to be isolated from the world. That isn't a contradiction.

Jesus spent a lot of time with "sinners." He was condemned for doing that by the Pharisees and Sadducees. The issue is that as believers, we're not supposed to think and behave like the world, and we're not supposed to be connected with unbelievers to the point that our connection with them hinders us from being free to follow and obey the Lord. We're allowed to use the world for God's greater glory, and so we're allowed to function in it. We couldn't have much of a testimony if that weren't the case.

Often, people point to the Amish as an oddity, Biblical and otherwise, but the world sure seemed to take special notice of the fact that forgiveness was given for these awful murders, and that the wife and family of the shooter were reached out to as well. That kind of forgiveness is unusual, even in Christian circles, but it is probably the biggest interaction that Amish community may ever have with the rest of the world, and an amazing example for the unbelieving to see.