Foward Is Our Only Option

“You cannot step twice into the same river; for other waters are continually flowing in.”  --Heraclitus

It is human nature, especially as we get older, to idealize portions of our past. Some of us have fond memories about our childhoods, early days of school, lost moments of summer, our careers... These memories help form who we are and help guide our lives forward, but forward is our only option. 

Churches, like the humans who comprise them, can often long for the past. Every member who has been around a particular church for a few years has some past story, ministry, activity or program that was wonderful and meant something special to them. These ministry memories make up the “ideal” that can, if we are not careful, capture our hearts and keep us looking in the wrong direction. We cannot return to the past no matter how intensely we long for it. Even if we could recreate all of the past’s details, things still wouldn’t be the same because we are not the same.

God never intended for his children to live in the past or to fear the future. The Apostle Paul states in Philippians 3:13-15, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.”

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have not yet reached the place of entire sanctification that God invites me to pursue. As a church, Oakdale Emory has not reached that place of entire sanctification, either. Neither my heart, nor in my opinion, the heart of Oakdale has become so filled with the love of God that all other desires and vices have been cast aside. We may even want to debate the possibility of this theological position. But what is certain is that God is calling all of us forward and we cannot move forward if we are clinging to the past or fearful of the future.

The grace of God is the answer to both sides of this struggle. My past and Oakdale Emory’s past is spattered with sins of commission and omission. These can only be put to rest through repentance and God’s grace. This is God’s desire for all of us. And we have no need to fear the future. God has already been there and is strong enough and good enough to be our covering and our guide. We cannot go back. We will not stay here. Forward in grace and truth is where and how we are heading. I hope you will come along into the reality God is creating for us, because such a journey is always better when it's lived out together.