Remembering Our History -- Tim Phillips
Last month, our family took a vacation. It was the first real vacation we had taken in 2020. After COVID and cancellations and lockdowns, it was beginning to look as if such a vacation would never happen this year. I was supposed to have travelled to Germany in July, but of course that was cancelled along with nearly everything else this year. So when the opportunity to take a trip with the family finally opened up, we took it. And where did we go? We went to the only place in the U.S. that seemingly did NOT shut down down because of COVID-19: South Dakota.
Now, I have wanted to go to South Dakota for a long time. Mt. Rushmore has always been on my "bucket list," but there's plenty more to see in the state. The Badlands were a special treat. The beauty of God's creation cannot be expressed adequately in words. I've posted a photo I took of the Badlands above, but even that does not do it justice.
Why do we go on such trips, which cost a lot in terms of travel time (two days drive each way) and money (I won't say how much)? Certainly the opportunity to "get away" is nice, but I am especially a fan of history. Mt. Rushmore, with its display of four Presidents carved into the side of a moutain, is breathtaking enough (it even snowed the first day we were there, which was a special treat). But it is a "monument" or "memorial" of sorts; it connects us with past history, a history we would do well not to forget.
I recently began preaching through the book of Jude, and Jude early on gives his reason for writing his short letter: "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (vv. 3-4). The gospel itself is historical. Our common salvation in Jesus Christ is grounded in real, historical events (HIs birth, His life and ministry, His atoning death on the cross, His resurrection, His ascension, etc.). And this historic faith has been passed down to us -- once for all -- through the centuries.
How prone are we to forget this history? We lament the younger generations when we hear that some do not know who Adolph Hitler or Josef Stalin were. There will likely be a day before too long when the name of Osama Bin Laden draws blank stares. But are we any better when it comes to the history of the church? There is an old joke which says that for most people, church history started with Billy Graham. That probably isn't that far from the truth. In our ARP ethos, it would be good for us to know what the A, the R, and P actually stand for. It would be good for us to know the twin convictions of our ARP forefathers: the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Free Offer of the Gospel. This blog takes its name from the year 1782; do most of our people even know why that year is significant? If not, they should. As pastors and elders, we should make sure the people in our congregations know why these events and issues are important.
We are now in the middle of the month of October, the time when we remember the Protestant Reformation. To be honest, we may feel like the Reformation has been done to death in our churches, but I think there is still a hunger among Christians to connect with the past. Instead of simply preaching another sermon from Romans 1:16-17 this year (although there is nothing wrong with that), why not use this as an opportunity to introduce our congregations to Christians of the past who they might not be familiar with (they may not know of Patrick Hamilton, or Thomas Boston, Samuel Davies, or Robert Murray M'Cheyne). We never want to fall into a Reformed version of celebrity worship, but seeing the struggles and triumphs of past saints can be a great help and encouragement to Christians today. On Sunday evenings, I have started a series on the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of the early 20th century. That may sound dry to some, but I've gotten some positive feedback from members of our congregation. And the fact that we are discussing the "fundamentals of the faith" (inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth of Christ, His atoning death, His resurrection, the reality of His miracles) is a help and encouragement to Christians. Indeed, it is good for Christians to know the faith which has been handed down to us.
If you've never been to South Dakota, I would highly recommend it. It was the trip of a lifetime. If you've never delved into church history, may recommend that as well? Remembering our history would be a great benefit to us all. To put a twist on a popular quote, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to forget it. Let's not forget it.
