An Important Part of Knowing History

“And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:7–10, ESV)

The Importance of History

There is a cliche that has come about regarding the importance of knowing history: “Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it.” Cliche’s become cliche because they are true. We need to know/understand history so we can learn from the successes and mistakes of those who’ve gone before us. 

Since this has become cliche in our day, however, many see this as the ONLY reason we must understand history. They see no other reason for reading history. 

Quotes to Ponder

As I’ve been thinking about this, a couple quotes jumped off the page and made think deeper. Here’s what I read: 

“Our youth live in a world which has been almost completely seized by Materialism. American life today is characterized by a rush after material things. People want gold. They want goods. They want pleasure…For many of our nation the dollar is the idol before which they bow.”

“Our present age is sex-mad, sex-crazy. Our amusements, our art, our music, our literature reek with sex filth…Our age is not only brutally but frankly sensual…There is no domain where sin has wrought more havoc than in that of the sexual instinct.”

So, Why the Big Deal?

You may be asking yourself, “Yeah, we already know these things about our culture. Why did these quotes cause you to think deeper?” To answer that question, you need to know when those quotes were written. The first quote—about materialism—came from an article by S. Eldersveld written in 1915. The second quote—about our sex-mad, sex-crazy culture—came from an article by H.J. Kuiper in 1929. BOTH quotes were describing our society ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO!

So, what’s the big deal? At first, I read these quotes and said, “Not much has changed, huh?” 

Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that A LOT has changed in the past one hundred years. Actually, in our current cultural climate, we look back on the society of a hundred years ago and call them a bunch of prudes. Some even look back to those days with fond memories of how morally wholesome our culture was. Yet, pastors of that day did not think their society was wholesome. They saw it filled with the sins of sensuality and materialism. 

What About Today?

As this percolated in my brain, I increasingly felt convicted. When I look at my current lifestyle compared to those around me, I live pretty conservative (I definitely lean more conservative than moderate). Yet, when I compare my current lifestyle to those living a hundred years ago, I live pretty licentious. That cut to my heart. 

A Sliding Scale

We like to draw lines in various places of our lives and societies. The lines help us know when we’ve “crossed the line” and fallen into sin. Yet, as I have read more history, the line moves A LOT. Think about what people  considered “crossing the line” a hundred years ago regarding sexuality. Then, think about what people consider “crossing the line” today—even those who are more conservative. The line has moved a long way.  

By What Standard?

My point is NOT that they put the line in the proper place a hundred years ago, NOR that we have the line in the right place today (I’m sure we don’t). None of that matters. 

The only thing that matters is where God draws the line. God hasn’t changed and His standard doesn’t change. God’s “line” doesn’t move. That’s where we need to keep our eyes. We need to keep prayerfully reading scripture to reorient our lives to the “lines” that God draws. 

A History Lesson

Yet, it’s also important for us to keep reading history. When we read history, we not only can learn from past mistakes, but it also transports us outside our current cultural reality. It gives us new glasses to view the world. This helps break us free from our cultural assumptions. 

When we have broken free from our cultural assumptions, we can think more deeply about what it means to honor God with every aspect of our lives. We may even read/understand scripture more clearly.