A Challenge to Remember Where We Are
A week ago, Brad, over at 2st Century Reformation posted the following:

Bob Dole and the 1950’s
I remember in 1992 when Bob Dole gave his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. He spoke of the values of his youth in the 40’s and 50’s. He spoke of returning to those values. I had to hang my head. I turned to my wife and said, “Get ready for four more years of Bill Clinton”. How could anyone be so out of touch as to look with loving affection at the 1950’s and think that message is going to connection with America? Did he miss the civil rights movement? Did he miss the attack dogs and the fire hoses and the assassination of Martin Luther King? Is he so clueless as to not realize that the majority of Americans from my generation associate the 50’s with racism and segregation? Different generations and cultures make different associations with different cultural symbols. Bob Dole sounded to my Generation X ears like a plantation owner.

Today, Bob Dole has been trampled under foot and is remembered as the politician with E.D. The same thing happens to the church when we cannot discern the proper symbols and cultural mechanism to use to translate our transcendant values to the surrounding culture or even to our own children. We are laughed at and deservedly so.

Bob Dole made the ultimate mistake. He romanticized the past. When we do this, we alienate the present generation and rob them of their opportunity to speak with their own voice. True spiritual renewal and authentic beauty only comes from a free heart that expresses transcendent values of the gospel in their own voice. Jesus Christ is Lord of all the nations and has redeemed all nations and all generations to speak their praise from their heart.

As one who spent the last five years of my parish work trying to say these things, I have to add to what Bruan has said that I wish more people would realize that. There is a whole strain of thinking in the church that if we could only go back to those golden years when the church was the center of the political/social/community world and controlled what happened (like Blue Laws) the world would be a better place. Brian's remembrance of the true picture of the 50s is an important perspective.

The church- actually human beings- have trouble with change. We are afraid that we will lose whatever it is we think we had. We are afraid that the new will replace the comfortable. We equate the old with God and the new with the Devil. (Nothing new- remember the people and challenges that Jesus faced?) It is always an uphill battle.

So how do we do it? How do we manage to work through it? Being faithful is probably one way. Not to lose hope is another. And finally, getting on our knees and keeping in touch with our Creator so we know we are at least trying to do what He wants us to do. It can be a tough journey to walk. But when that happens I remember that nothing I face, at least in the United States, can be anywhere near what my Savior faced. That gives me the strength to do it again when I can.