An Amish Murder Critique

References:
- An Amish Murder
- 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 NAS


The other day, I watched a very interesting movie on Netflix called, "An Amish Murder." In a nutshell, a young lady grows up in the Amish community, a traumatic event happens in her life, and she leaves the Amish community to pursue a career in Law Enforcement. Years later, after making detective, she returns to a small town in Ohio near where she grew up as the police chief. While she is home, a series of murders take place. These murders are eerily like the ones that were committed when she was growing up.

One of the reasons why I enjoyed the movie was because it was a very good thriller. Throughout the movie, one thinks that the serial killer might be one person. Then, maybe someone else. The end is a bit of a surprise. I always enjoy movies like that because it challenges me to be observant of the facts. Most thriller movies like this one will have the clues needed to make the right connection at the end. It's just that many of them are very subtle. At least for me, it's a fun game to see if I can guess correctly. With this movie, I have to admit, I almost didn't catch on to who the real culprit was until near the end.

Having been a military analyst and currently being a MP (Military Policeman), I enjoy a good crime thriller at times. It was also good in that two of the main characters were wrestling with different traumatic events in their lives. Different but similar enough that they were able to relate and help each other. At least to me, that gave it a more interesting and human twist. How many of us have experienced major difficulties, even a traumatic event, and then the growth and healing that we experienced was then used to help someone else? I know that God has used difficulties that I've experience to be a blessing to others. There has also been times where God used lessons that I learned while not dealing with a situation well to help someone else facing a similar situation. Although it was extremely painful to deal with at the time, seeing how God has helped others always gives me a good feeling.

Something else that I really appreciated about this movie was the theme of being an ambassador between two very different cultures. As I have mentioned several other times in my blog, I have had the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world. Most of my experiences have been in Europe and Iraq. But, I have gotten to know people from many other cultures, too. There have been times when I did not represent myself well to others. We all do that. Over the years, I have made it a point to learn from my mistakes and to better understand the cultural background of others.

Because of the lessons that I have learned over the years, I am typically able to interact with those from a foreign country. This is not always easy. There are things that some cultures do on a daily basis (or don't do) that many Americans find offensive. An example that comes to my mind has to do with deodorant. I had several friends in seminary who were from Africa. Both of these men had good hygiene habits, but neither of them used deodorant. Because of this, they both had bo (body odor). In my conversations with fellow students, I found out that many of them found this annoying or even extremely aggravating. I'm not sure if any of them talked with these two individuals or not. But, they were definitely vocal about it to fellow students.

Although I wasn't happy about their bo, I did understand that in their home country, deodorant wasn't often used. So I accepted them as they were. Something interesting, though, was that I noticed that both men had a unique scent. This made for a few amusing situations when one of them approached me and I was able to correctly identify who it was without looking.

When I was working in Iraq in 2010-11, I was interacting with people from all over the world. Not just Iraqi government officials and Iraqi military personnel, but business people from Iraq and many countries all over the world. Each of them had their own cultures. I was able to do my job well because I strove to treat each person that came into my office with respect as a person and to their native culture. This enabled me to not only get my job done effectively, but it also helped to foster positive relationships between the US Army and those who did business or worked for other governments. Several people were so touched by how I did my best to respect their cultures that they asked to work with me or even gave me unique gifts from their business or embassy.

To touch on the Scripture passage from 2nd Corinthians, that is what God calls us to do to everyone around us. God calls each of us to be His representative to others in this world. The Greek word that Paul uses in Galatians 6:20 and the 2nd Corinthians passage is προσβευο (pres-byoo'-o), which means: 1. to be older, prior by birth or in age, or 2. to be an ambassador, act as an ambassador. It is used only twice in the New Testament, with both being the second definition. But, how can we do this?

An ambassador must be highly knowledgeable of two different cultures and (often times also languages). Of course, he has to fully understand his native culture and language. That is a given. But, the ambassador must also be highly knowledgeable of the culture and language of the country that he is living in. He or she must understand both extremely well so that they can effectively translate what his or her native country wants to something that the host country can understand. And, since some things that are acceptable in country may be extremely offensive in another one, he or she needs to keep this in mind as they work with their host country in understanding what their native country wants.

When we become a Christian, our new residency is now in Heaven with God, though we still live in this world. As we grow as a Christian, we need to learn as much as we can about who God is and what He expects of us and Followers of Christ. As we learn more about our adopted homeland (Heaven) God expects us to tell others of this world about Him. To do so, we have to understand the language and culture that we live in. That is often a given, having grown up in a particular state or town and, now as a Christian, teaching others about Christ. However, God often guides us to someplace new. When this happens, we have to learn about the new culture, traditions, and language. Because of regional slang being different throughout any country, there are things that one always has to learn that are unique to that area.

Each of us has become a Christian because God used someone to introduce us to Christ. God has also used many people and circumstances in our lives to teach us more about Him. Some people sought to purposely direct us towards Christ. Others sought to do evil to us, but God used the circumstances to bring about His good will. As followers of Christ, God expects us to direct others to Him. He wants us to be His ambassadors to this fallen world so that others can receive His salvation. That requires us to not only understand His Word (the Bible), but to understand those with whom we interact with, as well as seek to teach others about God. All of this requires time and effort.

I have seen all to often people visiting a foreign country and, either because they lacked interest in learning about another culture or arrogance that their culture was superior, they caused friction, ill will, or even caused severe problems. And, that particular person or group of people may not have suffered the consequences of their laziness or arrogance, but someone who was totally innocent of the previous event. There have been a few times during my travels that people have not wanted to be respectful towards me because of what others have done. Sometimes my actions and attitude help them change their minds towards Americans or towards Christians. But, that isn't always the case. Should we not strive to be the best representative of God to the world? Should we not live in such a way that others will want to know Christ as we have come to know Him?