The Entanglements of "Rumspringa"

I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard, He surrounds and defends all who fear Him. Psalm 34:4-7

WHAT IS RUMSPRINGA

“Rumspringa,” is a Pennsylvania Dutch term that translated in English means "running around.” The Wikipedia explains it as “to jump around or about” which also sounds accurate. It is a multigenerational practice among the Amish and certain Mennonite youth that traditionally starts at the age of sixteen. Once a young person turns sixteen many rules and behavioral restrictions they have experienced up to that point are out the door and it’s party time. It is also a time when young kids gain the rite of passage to start dating and find a spouse.

It’s not a secret that in the culture of the Amish, they live their lives in a way outwardly, that separates them from society as a distinct and separate people group. They largely live according to their own traditions and customs that have been passed down for many centuries. Many of their customs are a group pattern of habitual behaviors that continue to be transmitted from one generation to the next. Some of these customs are good and wholesome and some unfortunately, are harmful. Many have been practiced for so long that they have been established as a force of “law.” The phrase “that’s how we have always done it” is a term often used to describe their customs when they have come into question by others.

Rumspringa has had so many years to establish itself as a custom in these communities; from grandparents to parents, to children, to grandchildren, and on and on it has gone. The longer something has been entrenched in a culture as a way of life, the harder and more difficult it seems that it becomes to change it, because it has been woven so deeply into the tapestry of their social identity and who they believe they are as a people group. Different people in the past, have provided alternatives for the young kids so they won’t choose to follow the path of Rumspringa. While a small percentage may see the need to follow an alternate path, and succeed, the majority will still follow and practice Rumspringa.

THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM IN RUMSPRINGA

Rumspringa appears to free young kids by giving them access to leave the stifling parameters they were raised in, and explore what's been forbidden, giving them access to sow their "wild oats," with the idea that they get it all out of their system. Once it's out of their system, the idea is that they join the church, and become loyal followers. To join, one has to make an oath that they will promise to live the rest of their life fulfilling all the customs and practices of their church.

Some of the things young kids get access to explore during Rumspringa are: owning a vehicle, getting haircuts and dressing like "English" people on the weekends, going to the movies, owning a smart phone, getting social media, partying, dating, drinking, smoking, drugs, sex, etc. Not all the kids will necessarily get involved in doing all these things, but it is NOW all at their disposal, whereas all of it had been deemed off limits and worldly before. Most young kids are still considered to be a part of the community, during Rumspringa, and get to live at home with their parents, while they participate in Rumspringa. While the parents don't like it, some will take a position of passive non-resistance, because they chose to do it when they were young and the expectation is, that they won't be able to stop their own kids from choosing to practice it. This is usually why young kids can hold drinking parties out in the barns, fields, basements or shops, during all hours of the night, while the parents are in bed sleeping, and very little is said about it.

During this time, some youth will determine if they will end up staying in the community and join the church or leave altogether. The percentage of those that leave during this period are very small in comparison to those that join the church. After several years of Rumspringa, many grow tired of the party life and become aware of its inability to add any value to their life. Going back to what is familiar, with the support of family and community, is usually easier than to leave altogether. Rumspringa provides you a season where you can still maintain a sense of belonging and connection inside the community, and allows you to be able to keep a foot in both worlds. For the majority (not all) who choose to leave, they lose that integral sense of connection and belonging. It’s a tough and complex choice to make, and it ends up costing them everything they have ever known and are familiar with.

STIFLING AND FASCINATION WITH RUMSPRINGA

When you have been restricted for so many years, and all of a sudden are handed unlimited amounts of liberty to do whatever you want, without much time devoted to developing any skills to manage your freedom in a healthy way, the likelihood of overindulging should not come as a surprise. It would have been easier to be taught how to govern and steward liberty in smaller increments, alongside the discovery of ones individuality, gift and natural talents. Instead it was death to individuality, talents, gifts and an adherence to customs and rules. So now you have all these young kids who have no idea who they are with unlimited amounts of freedom, and almost zero knowledge of the consequences of the harmful things associated with Rumspringa. I was one of those kids, and I know what it was like to be overwhelmed by it all. I felt the exhilarating feelings that come with trying new things for the first time, that were once forbidden, but I also know the terrifying and inner turmoil that came with having to make difficult decisions without much understanding and knowledge about what I was doing. I also know the disappointment with Rumspringa when it wasn't a solution and couldn't bring the freedom it appeared to behold.

I think there is a bit more liberty for some of the children while they attend public schools today, that wasn’t allowed during my time of attending public school. I have noticed that more kids are being allowed to play in competitive, organized sports, draw, sketch, and invest in developing some skills that they have talents for, in the surrounding community I came from, while they attend school.

I believe there is a connection between the stifling atmospheres these young kids grow up in that translates into this fascination with Rumspringa. As a kid, I used to see Rumspringa as a remedy or a way out of the sheltered, stifling, authoritarian, and legalistic atmosphere I was raised in. The stifling, left me with this sense that there must be more to life than what I knew and was allowed to experience. Some people can go on and suppress this idea that there is more, for the rest of their life. I believe there are some people who never come into the fullness of life and who they were created by God to become. I saw an example of this in a recent film I watched called,” An Amish Sin,” where it followed the true story of a young Mennonite girl who was being sexually abused. In the midst of all the trauma, she ran away and miraculously found her way out of the community, only to make a brief return at the request of her mother who was dying. After her mother died, this young girl, and her sister, were digging around in her mothers hidden treasure chest. What they discovered were her mothers drawing talent and secret things she liked, that she had forsaken and buried in her chest, in order to follow the customs and rules of the culture. Excessive restriction in this context, doesn’t starve our flesh as I was taught, it snuffs out the life of our individuality and person, and buries our God given gifts and talents.

RULES CAN'T MAKE YOU RIGHTEOUS

Following these excessive rules doesn’t make you more righteous, and doesn’t starve our flesh, although they do make you self- righteous, which feeds your flesh, but doesn't starve it. Overindulging and abusing our freedom isn’t a remedy for the stifling effects that come from following excessive rules either. The Holy Spirit offers guidance in ways that following excessive rules (that He never asks us to follow) and abusing our freedom never can or will. I am not saying you throw out all rules, context here is important. I am talking about self made rules that people are being taught while following them, helps them avoid sin and become more righteous. Of course, there are natural laws and rules that help in maintaining order, safety and boundaries, and I would include emotional boundaries, which are important to the health and well being of others. An example of natural laws might be traffic laws. If you run a red light you could end up having an accident and harming yourself and others. I am not negating these rules. I am talking about excessive rules people make up themselves in order to control people with, that overburdens(the Pharisees were notorious for this) them, with empty promises attached to them. A classic example would be the idea that driving a buggy is going to help you live a more holy, sinless life. While driving a buggy can be fun, and relaxing, it doesn’t make you more righteous or sin less, because it can’t drive the distance to clubs or bars. Sin doesn’t originate in a bar, it originates in the heart. There is no biblical support for an external cause for sin. If you choose to ignore the heart, then you will ignore dealing with the stuff that is in it. Jesus told the Pharisees it’s what comes out of their mouth that is unclean and defiles them.

They were obsessed with following outward rules that they felt made them look more righteous. Instead of them learning how to be transformed and changed from the inside out, they thought they knew better than Jesus and could create a system of laws that changed them. Rules can’t change you or deliver you from sin, only the inner work of the Holy Spirit can do that. Jesus had some harsh words for them and at one point He called them “ white washed tombs” who looked beautiful on the outside but inside they were full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.(Matthew22:27)

THE PENDULUM SWING

Another way of describing this dynamic between the legalism in the culture and the unlimited freedom with Rumspringa, could be the swing between legalism and license. Legalism is simply, an excessive adherence to a law or formula and license is an excessive use or abuse of ones liberty. I remember thinking, "Finally, I'm free, with no more restrictions,” thinking I was walking into freedom, yet with no understanding of healthy restraints or boundaries. I kept one foot in both worlds, for a long time, thinking the one was going to solve the problems with the other. The hardest one for me to get free from was legalism. It provided a false sense of comfort and security from the things I feared, and was so intertwined with the false identity of who I thought I was. It's roots had been driven deep, which is why I would find myself turning back to legalism in different ways, even after I left the community. The truth is there is no true freedom found in either of those. One leads one to become a slave to the law while the other leads one to become a slave to lawlessness. The idea that our flesh automatically loses its grip by limiting ourselves to following a long list of restrictions and rules is nonsense.

To be governed by the Spirit is to put off our flesh. It REALLY is that simple. Your truly liberated when you are walking in obedience and in step with the Spirit of God. You're not free, when you are controlled by excessive rules or the appetites of your flesh. True freedom is not to do whatever you want, but the freedom to choose not to sin and do things that cause harm. Following the Holy Spirit is an internal exercise that grows with the practice of seeking the influence of His Spirit who supports the truth and authority of God and makes it known to you. Once it’s known to you and you understand, the Spirit then empowers you with His grace to help you to choose to actively walk in His ways. In this way you will no longer be controlled by the flesh. The idea that we grow to a certain point where all our flesh is completely dead and we never have to deal with our flesh again in this lifetime, while living in our bodies, is twisting and stretching the truth. I think we can grow in our surrender and connection with the Holy Spirit to where our flesh becomes more nullified, and doesn't control us, but it doesn't mean it doesn't have the ability to regain control when faced with trials and difficult circumstances, because we don't always follow the Spirit's guidance and directions perfectly.

I wished I would have been more educated with a broader perspective of all this when I was younger. It could have helped me avoid so many pitfalls in my own life.

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND

There was a documentary put together and directed by a girl from England, named Lucy Walker. Lucy and her boyfriend at the time, interviewed me for this documentary, when I was twenty-three. It was initially going to be about people that left the community. They were seeking people that would be able to tell them more about the way of life in the community; at that time they didn’t believe any from inside the community would allow themselves to be filmed. However, as they traveled around the small town I was raised in, they came across someone that informed them about the practice of "Rumspringa" and the documentary was changed to be solely about Rumspringa. They followed and recorded the activities of many different people that were actively practicing it at the time. They titled this documentary, "The Devil's Playground" and it is still readily available to watch on YouTube and other streaming services. This documentary brought a lot of exposure to the practices that most in the world had no idea existed within the closed circles of these communities. If you watch this documentary, you will see some of the damaging effects and harm this practice causes to these young kids; I think it’s clearly displayed in the film. This film has been used to educate those who study psychology, a scientific study of the mind and behavior. I have gotten several messages from students who were looking for more information and a first hand account about Rumspringa to further aid their studies.

CONSEQUENCES OF RUMSPRINGA

The consequences from practicing Rumspringa can be life altering for some. They develop addictions to things and return to join the church and secretly keep their addiction under wraps and struggle in isolation with their problems, and never receive the help they need to get through it. The dating process and bed sharing with ones date was exposed in the documentary. I remember being told not to tell outsiders about this dating practice as outsiders would not understand. I believe there is a lot of shame for many surrounding this practice, and is a very damaging and harmful aspect of Rumspringa.

I think the greater scope of all the conditioning that I shared that happens with children beforehand could be one contributing factor that keeps the practice of Rumspringa alive. Rumspringa is an outlet that invites teens to self indulge themselves in harmful ways, in order to find some kind of relief from the oppression of all the stifling and legalism. Only, it doesn't provide the solution for the issues with legalism, and can't meet the real needs these young kids have for identity, purpose and true freedom.

My heart breaks for those stuck in this dynamic and all the things they have to face and navigate thru in order to come out of this. I think a lot of these youth, like myself, experience great levels of uncertainty, confusion, identity crises, and condemnation. Condemnation from others but also the condemnation that comes from things they do that are harming themselves and their person. Some will come through it, and recover, with very little ramifications while others won’t be as unscathed and live with severe ramifications and life altering consequences, and never find their way in life.

RUMSPRINGA CONTINUES EVOLVING

From what I have observed, Rumspringa has evolved quite a bit since the days when I participated in it. What I mean is, that it has evolved in becoming more dark with its practices. The things that these young kids practice today were unheard of in my days of practicing Rumspringa. This should be no surprise, if you look at it in the context of the nature of evil. Evil that is allowed to live in the dark, will continue to grow and thrive in the dark until it is exposed and brought into the light and properly dealt with. I know it’s a complex issue with not a lot of easy, quick fix, solutions, but have looming concerns for where it keeps going in the future, and the many lives that will continue being harmed.

What I share here is not an exhaustive list of all the entanglements there are to Rumspringa. I do hope I was able to convey some of the complexities of it, and how the freedom it promises doesn't bring true freedom. While Rumspringa is an integral part of the customs in some of these plain communities, there are many people I have met, who were never part of Rumspringa, who had a season in their life where they sowed their "wild oats" too. They have a testimony of how the Lord rescued and helped them come out and overcome the addictions they dealt with. I believe He still hears the cries of those who are desiring to be rescued from the darkness, and works to truly liberate and set captives free. Seeking true freedom was a quest of mine for many years. It took quite a few years before I would see it come to fruition, but I never gave up, until I saw the fruit of what I was seeking. Selah.