To Hutterites Everywhere

I write this paper because I see a people who are suffering and dying, colonies of them. They have a form of godliness. They dress and act religiously, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they do not know or please Him. Instead, they displease Him in all their ways. I write this paper for all Hutterites, but especially for those who struggle and search, wondering why they are empty, wondering if there is not more to life somewhere, somehow. I want to tell Hutterites that there is indeed more, much more. There is eternal life in Christ Jesus, outside the Hutterite society.

You have been taught that unless you remain within, you will not have life. Truly, unless you come out, you will not have life. You will have religion, teaching, and activity that may salve your conscience from time to time, but you will not have a true relationship or favor with God. This I know because God has given me that true life in Him, and because He has given me to see that He has not given it to you. Your sins separate you from Him, and I will tell you what your general sins are. As for the personal sins, you know well what those are in most cases, and if you are ignorant of those, God is faithful and will reveal those to you, so that you may repent from them and be saved.

You have been raised up sheltered, not only from the world as you are taught, but from the Truth. You have been taught that only you have the Truth, or that you are closest to it of all peoples. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I boldly declare to you today that you have been taught wrongly. I will point out to you, by revelation and by the Holy Scriptures, how you need salvation and deliverance. You need to take the time and the trouble (and trouble there will be) to search out the Truth for yourselves individually. The Hutterites have departed from the original Biblical faith.

It is said that God has no grandchildren, meaning that neither your parents nor anyone else can pass on the oil to you, as children. As much as your parents may love you, they cannot bring you into faith simply by teaching you what they believe, though it is their duty and instinct to do so. Generation after generation has come and gone since Jacob Huter. If there ever was any life in the beginning, there certainly is no longer.

Your Sins Stand Between You and God

There is great sin, antiScriptural and antiChrist activity, in your midst, in your ways, and in your thinking. Because of this, God’s wrath is everywhere manifest in your colonies. Yes, those words sound harsh and extreme, but I will show you what is meant by them. Many are sick and dying, of cancer and several diseases. Many drink, many are lonely, bored, desolate, depressed, without purpose, without conviction, without the joy of life. If they don’t hang around their colony, they hang around town, watching TV in stores, getting drunk and smoking in bars, cursing, stealing, lying, mocking and scorning others, trying to find some kind of meaning or pleasure in life. Should it be that way with you, if you are walking in true, living religion? Of course not!

Jesus said, “The thief comes not but to steal and to kill and to destroy. I come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10).

One can tell what or whom you serve by the wages you earn. Your physical needs may be taken care of, but in soul and spirit, do you indeed have that abundant life of which the Lord Jesus spoke? Be honest with yourself now. Do you have peace and joy and victory in your life? I do! And only because the Lord Jesus Christ is real, and He has given those to me. Do you have purpose in your life? I do. Are you eager to share your life with others, that which you personally have within? I am, and so I write to you!

Let’s take a look at some of your religious activities, which are contrary to God:

Denominationalism

The Hutterites go against the admonition and clear teaching of the Scriptures. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, saying:

“But I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. But I say this, that every one of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)

Are not the Hutterites guilty of saying, “We are of Jacob Huter”? Are you justified in calling yourselves Hutterites while others are not justified in calling themselves “Paulites” or “Apollosians” or “Cephites”? Of course not! What was Paul saying? “Don’t focus on men. Don’t exclude others. Don’t follow the doctrines of men.” Are not you people doing just that? You have dressed yourselves, separated yourselves, indoctrinated yourselves, and said, “We are Hutterites!”

You have come to worship the doctrines of men, and so you have done wrongly. For that reason, the blessing of God is not upon you. Understand that Paul was not saying these things of himself, but he was speaking by the Holy Spirit. Does God speak for nothing? Are there not consequences for disobedience and unbelief? Of course there are! The Scriptures clearly declare so. Therefore, if you do that which is contrary to God, be assured that you are presently suffering consequences. The wrath of God is upon you. Come out from under there!

Did not Jesus say, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”? If in Heaven no divisions are allowed, then why do we allow them on earth? How does one disallow divisions? By not participating in them! By not calling him or herself by the names of men. It is that simple. Otherwise, are we not hypocrites who pray, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven” if we participate in religious divisions, saying, “We are of so-and-so or of so-and-so”? Paul rightly rebuked such man-made divisions. He knew that Jesus did not come to start a religion or to indulge in parties, as in politics. In this do the Hutterites greatly contradict themselves. They claim to separate themselves from the world by living in colonies, yet they separate themselves from God by claiming to be of Huter.

Jesus Did Not Wear Black

The disciples of the Lord and their followers did not wear black, and they also did not wear uniform, conspicuous clothing. You say you wear uniform clothing as a sign of equality amongst yourselves. Does clothing make the man? Of course not. You say you wear black so that the world may know that you are Hutterites, that you are different from everyone. You say you wear distinct clothing as a testimony for God. The problem is that God never asked for such a testimony. He called for faith in, and obedience to, Himself. He did not ask for an external religion. He desires obedience and not sacrifice, not substitutes. He desires that people worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

To declare those reasons for wearing distinct clothing is to declare your own righteousness. “See how I am serving God, everyone! See how devoted and obedient we are to Him!” The Pharisees did exactly those kinds of things, in different forms but of the same spirit and nature. They wore phylacteries, prayed publicly, and announced their good deeds. Jesus boiled down such behavior to a simple conclusion: “They do these things,” He said, “to be seen of men.” And there you go, unashamedly, boldly declaring that you do these things “to be seen of men”! Jesus had no harsher words than for the external religionists, the Pharisees. Are you not guilty of the same? Is it any wonder that the Hutterites are under the wrath of God?

You may say that I am of the world, because I am not a Hutterite, not with or like you, but let me tell you what I see from where I stand. With few exceptions, I invariably see sadness and depression. There is no life. I often see cynicism and hardness of heart in both young and old.

Self-Righteousness

There is no freedom to talk about the Lord, about the Scriptures. We who are deemed to be of the world, in your sight, seem to be unworthy to be spoken to about these things. There is self-righteousness among the Hutterites, they thinking they are better than others. Let me tell you something: When you worship by external religion, you must of necessity begin to believe that you are better than others in religion, in relationship to God. That is self-righteousness.

Covetousness

Almost always, in dealing with Hutterites, they try to get every penny out of a deal. They agree to something, then change after the commitment has been made, and they try very hard to drive home a new deal, more favorable to themselves. They have done this to me, to us, many times, and it leaves one with a very bad taste in the mouth and in the belly. In this matter, however, I have to acknowledge that there are some colonies who do not operate that way. Some can be decent to deal with.

How is it we hear so many reports of how Hutterites steal, that you cannot trust them, whether in work in the fields or in the stores? I see many Hutterites not only distrustful to the extreme, but they go so far as to despise others who are not Hutterites. Yet they themselves cannot be trusted in many cases. They deal dishonestly, covetously, shrewdly. I see Hutterites worshiping mammon - money. Money appears so very important to them.

Breaking the Sabbath

You think you are different from other people, from other “Christian” religions, perhaps especially from Catholics. Yet you are similar in several ways. For example, you do not keep the Sabbath. The Catholic Church boasts that it changed the Sabbath of rest from the last day of the week to the first, Sunday. They declare that they have the power and authority to change the laws of God.

They mock the “Protestants,” saying: “You claim to be broken away from us, and to preach the Bible and only what is in the Bible. Yet you keep Sunday and not the Sabbath! Where in the Bible does it say that the Fourth Commandment of God has been changed? Nowhere! Show us if you can! The facts are that we changed that Law, you follow the change, and our mark of authority is on you!”

The Hutterites, like so many other denominations, are still daughters of the Catholic Church! It is indeed true that there is no Scriptural foundation for changing the Sabbath to the first day of the week. God never gave us a choice. The argument that Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day does not wash. So what if He was raised on the first day? There is no reason to believe that therefore the Law of God should be changed. (There is no Scriptural evidence that He was raised on the first day, anyway. People only discovered on the first day that He was already risen from the dead.)

Did not Jesus say that Heaven and earth would pass before one jot or tittle of the Law would be done away? As you well see, earth is still here. As for Heaven, I invite you, now, to consider it.

Destroying the Earth

There is a Scripture that says: “And the nations were full of wrath, and Your wrath came, and the time of the judging of the dead, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to the ones fearing Your Name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth” (Revelation 11:18).

The Hutterites destroy the earth when they use the chemicals of the heathen, of the multinational corporate giants of the world. When they ought to be setting an example to the whole world, professing that glorious Name, they do exactly as does the world. Do you think because you wear black and live in a colony you are a light? Indeed, when you use herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and chemical and artificial fertilizers, and kill wildlife - butterflies, bees, birds, and other animals, as well as the necessary microorganisms in the soil, and ultimately domestic animals and people - are you not destroying the earth? Of course you are.

I have often thought that of all people that should be producing wholesome agriculture, it should and could be the Hutterites. They have the communal life, the manpower; they have the Scriptures to guide them; they presumably have some holiness of life. I was wrong, dead wrong. Hutterites keep their chickens in the dark; they abuse their animals; they eat the garbage and poisons of the world. I have seen their farming practices, their diets, meals, and snacks. It is no wonder that the diseases God laid on the Egyptians, which He promised He would not lay on the Israelites if they obeyed His commandments, He has laid upon the Hutterites. Why? Because they destroy the earth and He destroys them, according to the Scriptures. They do not keep His Commandments. They are as lawless in agriculture and food production as the world. They are of the world. But the greater sin is that they profess to be of God and not of the world. The wrath of God is therefore so much heavier upon the Hutterites.

Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain

The Hutterites have great wrath upon them because they practice the customs and traditions of the world while using the Name of God. Therefore they break the Third Commandment, which says, “You shall not take upon yourselves the Name of the Lord your God in vain.”

This Commandment alone of all Ten specifies that the Lord will not hold guiltless those who break it. When I go to the hospital, I often marvel at how many Hutterites are there. I marvel at all the disease and sickness I have witnessed among them. Yet when I see how they live and eat, and how they farm, I cease to marvel at their diseases. I marvel at their evil habits instead. No wonder they suffer and die, languish and cry! God’s Word is true, His laws unalterable.

Let me make a note here: The wrath of God comes not only in terms of diseases, such as cancer, but in terms of birth defects, alcoholism, boredom, desperation, loneliness, lack of understanding, lack of wholesome spiritual counsel, pride, strife, fear, unbelief, to name but a few.

Contradiction and Hypocrisy

Hutterites presume themselves to be separate from the world, yet the world’s hospitals are filled with their people, and they rely heavily on the world’s doctors and nurses to heal them. They rely on the educational systems of the world to teach their children, and they forbid themselves to learn how to teach and take care of themselves beyond certain levels. They rely on the world not only for guidance and healing, but for manufacturing, production, skill, and knowledge, but they think they are separate from the world. Is this not great contradiction and hypocrisy?

Judging After the Appearance

The Hutterites suppose that by wearing conspicuous clothing, they testify of the Lord. They suppose that because I do not dress as they, I am not a true believer. But what does the Lord say?

“Do not judge according to sight, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

Furthermore, Jesus Himself was at times not recognized in a crowd:

“Then they took up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went forth out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and passed on by” (John 8:59).

When He went up to the feast, He went up secretly:

“But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in secret” (John 7:10).

His brothers thought He should be advertising Himself. Why? Because they did not believe, just as the Hutterites do not believe. As it says:

John 7:3-5
3) Therefore His brothers said to Him, Move away from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see the works that You do.
4) For no one does anything in secret, while he himself seeks to be in public. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.
5) For His brothers did not believe in Him.

Many have an external religion, but that is not what true life and true worship of God in the spirit are all about. As it is written:

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

And:

“Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. When Christ our Life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:2-4).

Those who have an external religion made up of customs, traditions, religious observances, clothing, and such have their reward. As the Lord says:

Matthew 6:2-6
2) Therefore when you do your merciful deeds, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.
3) But when you do merciful deeds, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does,
4) so that your merciful deeds may be in secret. And your Father Who sees in secret Himself shall reward you openly.
5) And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.
6) But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father Who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

Do these principles apply only to prayers and good deeds? No. They apply to all aspects of our lives.

Hutterite Women the Outspoken Ones

How is it that the women speak so boldly, and the men go about as castrated calves? They break yet other laws of God. As it is written:

1 Timothy 2:9-15
9) In the same way also, I desire that women adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and sensibleness, not adorned with braiding, or gold, or pearls, or costly clothing,
10) but with good works, which becomes women professing godliness.
11) Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12) But I do not allow a woman to teach, or to exercise authority over a man, but to be in silence.
13) For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
15) But she will be kept safe through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with sensibleness.

These are eternal, and not merely circumstantial, principles described here, as explained by the apostle Paul. If Hutterite women try not to be gaudy or conspicuous in adornment, then they ought also to be silent in terms of teaching and authority. You may argue that in “church services” the women do not preach or teach, but the men do. But what good are “church services” when you live lawless lives the other days and hours of the day? Several times have I encountered the women being the spokespersons, those in authority, in both carnal and spiritual matters, while men stood around, meekly and silently listening.

Paul had similar things to say to the Corinthians concerning these matters:

1 Corinthians 14:34-38
34) Let your women be silent in the churches (not buildings or services), for it is not permitted to them to speak, but to be in subjection, as the Law also says.
35) And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in a church.
36) Or did the Word of God go out from you? Or did it reach only to you?
37) If anyone thinks to be a prophet, or a spiritual one, let him recognize the things I write to you, that they are a commandment of the Lord.
38) But if any is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Again, Paul cited eternal principles, laws, and rules of order of God. Everywhere I go, I see the women ruling, whether they and the men will admit it or not. It is not right, and God is not at all pleased.

Communal Living - A False God

While I do not fault communal living in principle, the Hutterites have placed communal living as a god above God Himself, thinking they serve God with their god. There is much proof in Scripture that people often lived independently of communal life. This is one of the great sins of the Hutterites. As with many other things, it might be fine to have a communal life if it did not take priority over God, in Whose Name they presume to live communally. If the Hutterites were to discover the Lord Jesus Christ in reality, their dead community could then be recognized by them as just that...dead, and they would begin to have new life with true joy, peace, and purpose. The wrath of God would be removed; death, sickness, depression, desolation, and desperation would be removed.

Celebrating Christmas and Easter

Why are Christmas and Easter celebrated? These are pagan festivals instituted by the Catholic Church that are kept in the Name of Christianity. They are, however, nothing less than adulterated mixtures of true and false, which God hates. Search the Scriptures, and see that He never commanded celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. If that event was so important, don’t you think God would have arranged more guests than three wise men, the mother, her husband, and a few poor shepherds from the surrounding hillsides? If He arranged for those, He could have arranged for multitudes. And this was a birth, not a mere birthday. Pagans keep birthdays; true believers in Christ do not. Among witches, birthdays are one of the most important events. Witches, according to the Law of Moses, were to be condemned, not followed or emulated.

Christmas is a pagan celebration with an origin before the time of Christ. Yes, Christ was born, and we are thankful; but God does not call on us to celebrate His birth externally. True believers have His birth within, as a spiritual reality. He especially did not call upon us to celebrate it on the day of the birth of the sun god, December 25. What does Jeremiah have to say about this?

Jeremiah 10:1-8
1) Hear the Word which Jehovah speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2) So says Jehovah, Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are terrified at them.
3) For the customs of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the workman.
4) They adorn it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, so that it will not wobble.
5) They are like a rounded post, and they cannot speak. They must surely be lifted, because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them; for they cannot do evil nor good, for it is not in them.
6) There is none like You, O Jehovah; You are great, and Your name is great in might.
7) Who would not fear You, O King of nations? For fear belongs to You, because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
8) But they are all at once foolish and animal-like; the tree is an example of vanities.

Easter is also a pagan celebration, named after Ishtar, the pagan goddess of love and fertility, the “queen of Heaven.” We rejoice that Christ laid down His life for us and was raised from the dead for our justification, and we dare not despise that precious gift by celebrating the pagan festival of Easter. People partake in these evil things only because they do not know the Lord or His will. Here is what Jeremiah had to say about worshipping Ishtar:

“The sons gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger” (Jeremiah 7:18).

Read these Diabolical Doctrines:

17) “Christmas is a holy, God-ordained celebration.”
18) “Easter is Christian and Biblical.”

I declare to you today that the Hutterite way is not the Way, that the wrath of God lies heavily on the Hutterites, and that Hutterites everywhere need to repent, lest they be destroyed. There is the true Way, the right Way, and the Hutterite way is not It. Their sins are many and grievous. Yes, in the beginning, Jacob Huter suffered persecution, even being burned at the stake. Yes, his followers also suffered severe persecution. But, today, it is the Hutterites who are not only in the world, but they are also of the world, against Christ because not with Him, sitting in the seat of the scornful (Psalm 1:1). Thus they persecute those of true faith, even if only passively.

As it is written:

“The one who is not with Me is against Me, and the one who does not gather with Me scatters” (Matthew 12:30).

Do we condemn Hutterites? No. We speak so that they might be free, free in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray, Hutterites, pray that your eyes will be opened. Pray that you will be given grace to escape the wrath of God, that you will be able to escape the works that are of men and not of God.

As it is written:

“Concerning the works of men, by the Word of Your lips, I am kept from the paths of the destroyer” (Psalms 17:4).

The paths of the destroyer are not merely houses of prostitution and drinking bars and night clubs, but all the works of men...churches, denominations, religious organizations, including and especially those in the Name of God and Christ.

Your Covenant

Now I must address a very serious matter. You have taken an oath before witnesses and before God that you commit yourself to the Hutterite way of life. Tell me: Are you bound by an oath that was made in ignorance, against the ways, laws, and will of God?

Saul of Tarsus took vows as a Pharisee, as did many people who were later saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. They all had to break those vows. Publicans (tax collectors) took vows, Roman soldiers took vows, as did Roman citizens. In taking up the cross to follow Christ, they had to break those vows. Mormons take vows, Catholics take vows, as do many others.

I was confirmed as a Catholic, and I have been told that the mark I received on my forehead as an infant is indelible, impossible to wash away. That is not true; I am free of the Catholic Church. The Lord has made my oaths of ignorance and darkness null and void. He has redeemed me from darkness and bondage. I am now free, and I am His. Is it the will of God that you destroy yourself, living against His will, as sincere as you might have been when you made your covenant? Of course not! He wants you to live for Him, not for men, for truth, not for error, for Heaven, not for earth, in light, not darkness, for His work, not for the works of man. He wills that you have His joy and gladness born of reality, not man’s sorrow and depression born of men’s works.

In obeying God and coming out from among the ungodly, the works of men, you are betraying nobody. In obedience to the will of God in Christ Jesus, you are doing the best possible thing for fellow Hutterites and others. You become a true witness unto God, and not merely a religious one. You become a spiritual witness rather than a carnal one, a potent one in your obedience.

In that obedience, there is great impact for good among all men, though it may not appear so at first. You will be hated. Those of your house will be your foes. You will shed many tears, wanting the best for your loved ones. They will not understand. They will be bitter and perhaps even cruel. But remember that Jesus promised that you would be hated by the closest to you. Read Matthew 10. Count the cost. If you cannot pay the price to be worthy of Christ, then you must stay where you are and perish. Count the cost, and be prepared not only to count it, but to pay it, because pay you must. It is the only way. Only by taking up the cross can anyone come to life.

May the Lord grant you mercy and deliverance. May the Lord open your heart and grant you to know Him, to hear His Voice, to love Him, and to rejoice in Him greatly. God grant us to minister to you of His goodness. To those who wish to pursue their faith in God, our doors are open.

In His service,

Victor Hafichuk