As far back as I can remember and increasing in veracity in recent years, there has been a call to bygone eras, a simpler time, a time when Christianity was once the dominant force in our society. A time when churches were churches, decrying modern worship and everything associated with our current presentation of the Gospel.
But was it ever truly this dominant force that we claim it to be? Did the method we used and operated in before have an advantage when compared to where we stand today?
I've done some reading over the last few years and while we have seen the number of Christians falling in America, it appears that it is truly the nominal Christians who are slipping away, while faithful believers are growing and flourishing. That the Churches who refuse to be tied in by methods but instead are focused on the message of Christ are changing lives forever.
So then, why the appeal to an era that never seemed to exist, at least by most historical accounts? It is because the yearning for something past invokes nostalgia in the hearts of people, and that nostalgia is what drives many to action, but nostalgia is often nothing more than a cheap trick.
If our claims are untrue, how can our pleas regarding the Gospel be trusted? And why would we want to return to something that never was when the future has the potential to be even better?
The writer of Hebrews discusses some of these topics in their letter - in fact, the entire point of the Epistle was to write to Jewish believers who had once received Christ, but were being tempted to return to a bygone era of lawkeeping that was full of nostalgia rather than the Gospel of Christ which has power to save and change lives.
We see it over and over again throughout this letter, where the author encourages the Hebrews that Moses was faithful over a house that wasn't his as a servant, but Jesus was faithful over His house as a Son, and we should remain steadfast and faithful like Jesus in the truth rather than regressing to something prior. (Hebrews 3)
The entire point of the letter is that we are not to regress to try to bring things back to how they were but rather to progress to the fullness of Christ.
Progressing to fullness. Seeing Jesus more clearly. The veil being lifted.
Friend, God is trying to take us somewhere, but we won't get there with our eyes on the past.
When I played football I was a linebacker, and one of the things they told you as a linebacker is that the offensive player's eyes will tell you what he's doing, and where the eyes go, the body will follow. So, if a blocker had his eyes facing downward, as a linebacker, my job was apply pressure to the back of the head to take his eyes and head to the ground so his body would follow and he would be out of the play, allowing me to stop the runner.
We also had to learn to read our keys that week - to lock in on them during the play even if something else was going on around us - so that we could be in position to make a stop, whether it was deflect a pass or make a tackle.
No matter how you look at it, the eyes were the key to success on the football field.
It's the same way in the body of Christ. Our eyes are the key to success. What are we focused on? Are we longing for the way things were, or are our eyes fixed on Christ, pressing on to the goal He has for us? (Phil 3:14)
The past has a lot of good things for us to learn from, but ultimately, it's keeping our eyes fixed on Christ and what He longs to do in us and through us for the future that will change the world, not a return to what we once deemed effective and useful.
By Grace,
Dave