I want to start by apologizing for both the lateness of this post as well as the entire absence of Friday's post. I also want to encourage you all to comment on my posts should you have thoughts that you believe will expand and add to the topic. I, by no means, am in possession of all the right answers and I don't want to pretend like I am. Please, if you have a constructive comment to add, by all means post it. Thanks for your readership!
"The good ol' days" are often spoken of, but rarely reflect any manner of fact in reality. The trend of seeing things as better "back then" is not a new one, but rather one that has stretched through human history for as long as there was a moment to look back to.
Christians, or even simply those who are religious, have a tendency to look happily at traditions and frown at those rising trends in the faith today. One of the most notable looks at this is the attitudes of church members regarding the music in services. Few will speak about the ever-revered hymns beyond the simple "they're boring" spoken by the over-exposed youth. What is it that makes these songs inherently superior to those that are produced today? Is the music quality that much more sophisticated? This seems unlikely, as most hymns hold a rather simple structure. Are their messages more theologically sound? Doubtful, as some pretty deep stuff is the subject matter of many a new worship song. No, the reason these things are held as the greatest good is because they have become safe--no one debates a song found in a hymnal, but those new songs are often questioned.
Now I don't want to turn this blog into some sort of crusade against hymns--nor do I want to give off the impression that I do not like hymns. They are simply the best representation for the point I want to get across here. Humans desire to remain in the "safe zone" of life. No one wants to go outside their comfort zone. This is natural, though. But what is natural is not always what is best. We make saints of those who have long since passed and we make flawless work of those things we long to keep. While retaining an optimistic outlook on the things of the past is an admirable view, there comes a problem when this view either distorts the past or it distorts our view of the present.
Holding those "old things" at a higher level than those things being produced now is a special kind of irrationality--one that every one of us is guilty of. We can actually gain a lot bigger and better perspective in life from the realization that not everything about those things was and is perfect. That organ that is so beloved by churches today was once thought to be the work of the devil in its first days. The deified Martin Luther King Jr. was hardly above reproach, but look at the work he was able to accomplish as a flesh-and-blood man in the service of God.
I think the same thing often applied to the main men and women of the Bible. We think of just how much of a connection they had with God and just how naturally these acts of greatness came for them. This is wrong, though. Those men and women suffered from many of the same faults we all wrestle with. Many described in the Bible questioned what they were being told to do. Many questioned the existence of God, or at least His sovereignty. The Bible is filled with perfectly flawed individuals. Individuals just like you and me.
So I leave you with this: go and be like those in the Bible. The deeds God can and will accomplish through you are no less great than those accomplished through David and Paul. find encouragement from the flaws we all share and overcome.
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