Living in the Past?

Last week, while on vacation in Virginia, I entered the realm of the 1700’s.  Colonial Williamsburg has been rebuilt to look much like it would have looked around the year 1776.  For a time, Williamsburg was the capital of Virginia, and when we toured governor’s palace and the state capital building the tour guide took us back in time, reflecting on important points in Williamsburg’s history.  Colonial Williamsburg goes out of its way to make sure that the experience is as authentic as possible.  Everyone working at Colonial Williamsburg dresses in clothes from the period.  We watched the blacksmith make nails that would be used in building construction.  The shoe maker made shoes for the workers, using original tools to hammer the shoe nails into place.  The wig maker dusted the wigs that the ‘gentry’ wore.  We were fortunate to be in Williamsburg on a reenactment weekend, so the town teemed with ‘Redcoats’ who captured the town.  As a history buff, I soaked it all in.   Life has changed so much since the 1770’s.  We no longer have slaves doing our work.  We no longer put lead powder on open sores to help them heal.  We no longer have governors appointed by a far off king.  We no longer draw water from wells and use outhouses!  While I enjoyed living in the 1770’s for a day, I’m glad that I don’t live in them!  The past remains the past.  We can’t go back and live in it again.

Last month I had the pleasure of meeting Tom Gillaspy, the demographer for the State of Minnesota.  It was fascinating to hear him talk about the changes that are taking place around us.  We live in a state (and nation) that is aging.  The number of retired people will soon expand greatly.  The population continues to grow more and more diverse.  The day when ‘minorities’ outnumber the ‘majority’ is just over the horizon (if there are more minorities, might we have to call it something else??).  Mr. Gillaspy talked about the changing work force as well.  While many jobs were lost due to the recession, he pointed out that many of the jobs lost won’t come back when the recession ends.  Some jobs just won’t exist anymore.  Jobs that can be automated (even in check out lanes!) are going away.  People long for the day when manufacturing jobs abounded, but factories are now run by machines and not people.  As much as we might wish that we could bring back the past, we can’t do it.  Times have changed.  There’s no going back.  It will never be 1980 again!

There’s something in all of us that longs for the past.  We look at the ‘Good Old Days’ (usually from when we were young) and wish they could return.  Complaining about how life has changed from those days has become a favorite pastime for many! 

The church is one place where people want to relive the past.  Many people want their churches to look just as they did 20…30…40…or 50 years ago.  I hear people talk about the days when churches were filled every week, when Sunday Schools burst at the seams, when the church held a central place in society.  Like it or not, those days have come and gone.  Church attendance in ALL denominations had dropped significantly in the past decades.  Some throw up their hands in despair, saying, “People just don’t care about God like we used to.” 

I disagree!  We live in 2011, not 1776, 1950, or 1980.  We live in exciting days to be God’s people!  The world has changed…we have the opportunity as God’s people to adapt to these changes.  The Gospel we proclaim does not change, but the WAY that we proclaim it adapts to fit the current era.  How might the Holy Spirit lead us out of our desires for the past into God’s future?