The Good Ole Days

 Every congregation that is experiencing decline can, and generally does, talk about the good ole days. The good ole days – back when … back when things were different, not like they are now … back when there were more people, especially more children and youth, in the church … back when there were more people in the pews … back when things were good. These congregations spend much of their energy looking back at what was, longing for what was back then, and wishing things were like they were back then. Any vision they might muster is always in terms of what it was like back then, in the good ole days.

Holding onto the memory of the good ole days provides a bit of comfort in the face of what is. It provides a sense of value for who they (we) are today based on who they were back then. Holding onto the memory of what was is, at best, a topical salve that masks the pain of the symptom, but doesn’t address the underlying sickness.

By masking the pain, holding onto the memory of the good ole days prevents healing. It prevents them (us) from dealing realistically with what is. It keeps them from doing the evaluating, learning, and adapting that are necessary if things are ever going to be different from what they are now. Holding onto the memory of what was blinds them (us) to God’s presence and God’s work in what is. It acts as though God was at work back then, but not now. Consequently, holding onto the memory of the good ole days blocks any openness to what God wants to do in and through them in the current situation. Ultimately, it keeps them from changing, thereby guaranteeing that things will never be any different than what they are now. Having turned their back on what God wants to do now, the only thing the future holds is continuing decline. The decline will continue until the congregation ages out and dies.  

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19)