12 Reasons Why We Need Godly Men More Than Ever
by on Oct 19th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
#10 - Our Lack of History is Making Us a Mile Wide and an Inch Deep
I often think about all of the church wars that could have been avoided had the members been better informed about church history. The fact that church buildings did not even really exist until three hundred years after Christ could have helped to soften all of the petty fights over building decorations, materials, colors, and architecture. The fact that most musical instruments, including the hallowed piano, experienced great resistance at the time of their initial use in worship settings could cool all of us down when we fight over new styles and instrumentation.
American Christians, like American culture, do not generally gravitate toward an appreciation of history. We are a future-focused society. Even in our churches, we talk about vision for the future, seek ways to be relevant tomorrow, and cringe at the thought of holding “Heritage Sundays” or attending celebrations of the past. Of course, as we age, we see the error of our ways, but the younger generations won’t care about the past either so the cycle simply continues.
This disdain for the past and all of the lessons that it has to teach us makes us worthy candidates to be pitied. The people of God in the past were not so ignorant. In fact, they would verify the strength and importance of their biblical stories with genealogies (see Genesis 4:17-5:32; 10:1-32; 11:10-30; 1 Chronicles 1:1-9:44; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). They built history lessons into their worship songs so that the story of God could be preserved from generation to generation (see Psalm 78). They reminded themselves that they were attached to God by including the names of their ancestors under His rule (see “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” Acts 3:13). They even used history to remind the living of the failures and faithfulness of the men and women who had preceded them (see Hebrews 3:1-4:13; 11:1-12:1). Because of their connection with history, they understood their role in the larger story of God’s kingdom, and we could benefit just as much if we attached ourselves to this cloud of witnesses instead of selfishly thinking that history exists to get out of our way so we can live for the future.
Beyond the history of Scripture, we could also benefit from learning about the history of the Church from the time of Jesus’ resurrection until today. There are too many reasons in favor of my point for this short blog, but a few will hopefully make the case. First, the way in which God has preserved His Word throughout the centuries is remarkable. Few Christians really know the story, and if we had a better grasp of it we would both grow in our confidence of Scripture and be able to expose the weaknesses of those who ignorantly claim that it is fraudulent.
Second, our understanding of church history would help us to realize that many of today’s arguments and assaults against Christ are, by nature, the very same issues that have been addressed by Christians as far back as the first few decades after Christ’s resurrection. Instead of freaking out every time another author or scholar presents a “groundbreaking” or “paradigm-changing” argument against the reliability of Christianity, we could historically shatter their selective scholarship against the bedrock of centuries of effective apologetics.
Third, a better grasp of church history could discern what aspects of Christianity were truly biblical in origin or what practices have been adopted over the centuries. Practices like meeting in church buildings, celebrating Christmas, singing hymns, gathering together on Sunday nights, or going to Sunday School would not be idolized or canonized by well-intentioned, but uninformed disciples. We could appreciate all of these things, but not make the mistake of putting more weight on them than they deserve. After all, if Christians are judged according to their Sunday School attendance or knowledge of “the Good Old Hymns” then the original disciples, along with Paul, are in big trouble!
Fourth, we would not idolize redeemed sinners, but we could still appreciate how God worked glorious things through them. Right now, in my circles, John Calvin is the hero of the world. In a few years, more attention will be given to Martin Luther (as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation). There are plenty of other believers that would rebuke us for our near worship of them if they could return from glory and talk to us again. Studying their lives helps us to realize that they sinned like us, struggled like us, grew weak like us, but never let go of their trust in Jesus, hopefully like us. Studying the history of God’s people can have the effect of properly diminishing man and glorifying God if we do it right.
Today’s believers are a mile wide with all of today’s issues and Christian trends, but we are also an inch deep when it comes to our connection to the believers of the past. Church tradition clearly does not hold the same weight as Scripture, but the men of God who anchor themselves to Scripture and carefully weigh the actions of God’s people in the past will be able to confidently navigate the challenges of the future. They will also spare the church a lot of pain by not repeating the errors of the past, and grasping that which has proven lasting.
Right now, you might not value you history very much. Those of us who take the long view on the Kingdom know that a day will come when you will eventually value it. Perhaps it will take a younger person’s disdain for your contribution to the Kingdom to rouse in you this sense of being a part of something greater. Whenever it is that you long to be connected, we will do our best to point you in the right direction.
To get you started in your studies, we will provide a resource for your Leadership Library this Friday, and point you to some sites that are equally helpful.