Living in the past.

There is a little Baptist church I pass every day on my way to work. I also pass it going to my church. Apparently at the end of the month they are having, as their sign says, an "old time camp meeting". Under that it says, "Various old time preachers and singers".
When ever I see signs like that at churches, it makes me nervous. I'll tell you why. (Thanks for asking.)

I get concerned that they think if they sing the old hymns, preach the old sermons, and have the old time meetings, and then they will have the old experiences. Not that in and of it self is not bad, but it's not good either. I'm sure those old experiences with God were great, moving, and so important to who they have become, but if you keep trying to relive those experiences you won't have any new ones.
It bothers me when people live in the past, and refuse to let go. If you don't let go, you get stuck. You can't move forward.

Not that long ago my dad was preaching at my home church, and he was talking about letting go of the past. He used driving in a car as an analogy. He asked the question, "Why do you think the rearview mirror is so small?" Well that's an easy answer isn't it? Its small be because you're not going in reverse. You're moving forward. If you had a large rearview mirror and a small window to see what was ahead, you'd end up in an accident.

So, why is it so hard to get some people to understand this? If you honestly look at the history of the church, and look through the Bible you find that God never moved the same way twice, but the Church constantly tries to relive "the glory days". As if things were better then, then now.

I remember my so called "glory days". You couldn't pay me enough to go back there and relive it. I've been there once, never again.

I want the new things of God. I don't want the experiences from when I was seven, 12, or even 25. I want new ones.

I remember when I was a youth sponsor, not sure why we were called that because I never sponsored any one, at the church I grew up in. One of the girls came to me, I think it was Lydia, and asked about the youth group when I was in middle/high school. I'll be honest, when I was in middle/high school; the youth group seemed much more focused and determined to seek God. Maybe it was because of the attitudes of the youth pastors I had as opposed to the one we had at the time of the question. I just remember my response being positive to the past and negative to the present.
Perhaps what I said was the truth, but I gave no hope to the future with that youth pastor. I know I did a disservice to her and any one else listening.

When we get into situations that we are unfamiliar with, I guess, we search for comfort, and if we can grab hold of it we know we'll be fine.

I remember at a men's retreat at that same church, we had an amazing service. Great praise and worship. The message was powerful. And we all got to see something of each other we hadn't before.
After the service was over, we were all talking in groups around the building or outside by the lake. When all of a sudden some one was playing the piano. Then about four or five older men started singing old gospel songs. I just remember having to get out of there, because it felt like they were trying to dig up the past.
Now, I grew up hearing that music, and I knew all the songs they were singing. In fact, I still listen to those songs from time to time, but they were trying to take a new experience and force it to look like the old.
I went outside and started talking to a friend, Peter, who was fishing in the lake. (How's that for a metaphor) And we talked about the new thing.
Yes the old is important. Without the old you don't know where you came from, and can't stay on the path to get where you're going.
But if you focus on the old you get off the present path and miss the future you're meant to have.

The rearview mirror is to remind you of what is behind you. That's why it's small. The wind shield shows you where you’re going. That's why it's large.

I hope this makes sense and thank you for your time.

Mr. Keith