Amish Kayakers

The Samaritan woman said to him [Jesus], “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
John 4:9











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The challenge is literally as old as our Bible itself. We see someone who fits into a single category, and we then fill in all of the rest of the gaps with our assumptions. 

The formula goes like this: I can see that you are a (blank), so I know that means you are also (blank blank blank blank blank blank blank blank blank blank blank blank blank.)

All of our additional blanks, then, keep us from listening better, learning more, and forming relationships. Why look at someone with curiosity when I already know all I need to know about them? 

Over and over again, Jesus gives his first disciples (and us) surprising glimpses of people who would otherwise be seen as one dimensional. And it always leads to fresh connections and barriers breaking down. 

The woman at the well in John 4 was shocked because Jesus was a Jew, so that meant he was arrogant and standoffish around Samaritans. She also saw his gender as a huge barrier. When he spoke to her, she learned that some of her blanks were wrong. When the disciples returned, they saw the woman and made similar assumptions about her as she spoke with Jesus. Jesus helped them see that their blanks were incorrect too, as she headed back to town to share good news about Jesus. A Samaritan evangelist! I promise they weren't expecting that.

Matthew was a one-dimensional tax collector until Jesus helped people see him in a new light, and it brought out the best in him. Mary Magdalene was just a wounded and troubled woman to many, until they saw her faithful heart and listened to her testimony about meeting the resurrected Jesus. 

There is so much more possibility to people than our categories allow for. Jesus brings it out in his stories. And because of that, Jesus teaches us to be careful about what we think we know. 

Bethany and I were hiking in a gorge this weekend to celebrate her birthday, along a beautiful whitewater tributary to the Susquehanna River. Two miles in, we came upon a group of 4 Amish couples. The women were dressed in prayer coverings, dresses, and without shoes. The men had plain shirts, Amish hats, and black dress shoes. 

And they were whitewater kayaking. 

I didn't know that Amish people were adventurous. Seriously. I didn't know Amish people even enjoyed recreation, to be embarrassingly honest. I didn't know much. But as I watched them laughing and hauling their kayaks over boulders past a waterfall while having lunch, I realized that I certainly thought I knew plenty about them. 

Why do we fill in so many gaps about people? Why do we think we completely know someone by the way they dress, or talk, or vote, or date, or whatever else we can notice from a distance? 

For us in the US, the next few months will bring a fresh wave of tribalism. Labels, assumptions, slogans, and sound bites will drive us into our ideological corners, promoting assumptions about all the people out there who don't look or think like us. We will be wrong, and we will not be living as disciples of Jesus if we play into that game. The problem is not in having opinions or convictions. The problem is the way we think and talk about those who don't share them. 

Friends, let's ask good questions. Let's assume goodness and complex humanity in the lives of people we're quick to make assumptions about. Let's not be surprised when we see a group of Amish kayakers, and let's constantly remember that Jesus reveals new layers in people that go beyond our quick assumptions. 

We are complicated composites of family, culture, life experience, wounds, and DNA. You know it's true for yourself. Make sure you acknowledge that it's also true for your neighbor. Keep your blanks from getting filled in too quickly, beloved. 

Jesus, I can only see a tiny glimpse of anyone. So lead me be gracious with the rest of them, rather than judgmental. 
 
Peace,
Keith

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