I have noticed a thread throughout Christianity in general (please no one turn this into a UPC/Non-UPC thread!) that older is better. As usual, I am again reading an Amish book (Born Amish). I think the reason that the Amish intrigue me so much is that they not only give us permission to go against the grain of modern (read: not always better) society, but that we can learn so much in comparing Amish society against modern American society in that the Amish have a strong sense of community...the pros and cons to that....and that so much of what seems obviously extreme in Amish society compared to contemporary society is there are smaller more subtle strains in many different areas of Christianity that compare in the same way.
Why the past is seen as better...this is a common theme in larger Christianity everywhere. I want to look at why this is so and the pros and cons and accuracy of it all.
1. Community: In older times, community was indeed stronger. It was also based generally on common goals and values that are Christian in general.
- You could trust your neighbor.
- You could seal a deal with a handshake.
- People didn't divorce all the time.
- Families spent time together.
- People generally had similar values and thoughts about modesty and what a good citizen was.
This all seems simple and nice and appealing to us as we look at the larger world in general who now:
- Cannot trust your neighbor.
- Have to seal everything with paperwork and lawyers lest you get taken.
- People divorce for frivolous reasons.
- Families hardly eat meals together.
- Peoples values and thoughts are according to whims, what they learned on TV or are simply ideas pieced together that sound good.
I love the ideals in the first list. They are great goals. Thes are goals common in many Christian societies. Even though I love those goals, I have to look also at the scriptue that asks why we think the former days were better than these and that there is nothing new under the sun.
We hear all the time about why certain standards (again I am NOT talking about UPC standards but Christian standards in general that are supposed to work towards our betterment) are good for us, never really thinking about the flip side. Thinking about the flip side can be dangerous because we certainly don't want to toss away all the values that we hold dear. But it is necessary to look at the flip side in critical thinking.
For all of the benefits, there is a negative. When people have the same values and thoughts about things, new ideas can be squelched. Indeed, new revelations from God can take a backseat to tradition. People fear change. We look around us and see the debauchery and wickeness around us as obvious evidence of negative change.
In our righteous and obvious need to hold on to what is right and good and holy, let's not forget that in our holding tight we could miss the very revelation of God that could open new windows of opportunity for us to see more of God in this world. Sometimes, we need to embrace change as a path for good.
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