Let's Go Back
In a day when “progressive” is a word of commendation
used to applaud a man, a method or even a local church, the idea of
“going backwards” seems incongruous and wrong.
Recently, all articles in a religious magazine referred to the distinction of' believers as Conservative and Progressive.” We hope that the writer would not suggest that “conservative” and “progressive” were mutually exclusive. Yet as one read that title it was clearly implied that to be “conservative” one cannot be “progressive.” Certain words have a euphony and they sound well together, but they are totally unrelated. It is like asking which fruit one would prefer for dessert, “peaches or leeches.” Their poetry does not conceal their real nature. The implication that to be conservative was to be different than progressive is of course a false assumption.
It is a shocking thought to some that the time has come - indeed it is past time - for the assemblies of God's people to go back!
How and when could it ever be right and good to go back''? C.S. Lewis said it well, “We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road: and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. We have all seen this when doing arithmetic. When I have started a sum the wrong way, the sooner I admit this and go back and start over again, the faster I shall get on. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake... We are on the wrong road. And if that is so, we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”
The Lord of the churches showed the church at Ephesus that the only way to go on as a light-bearing testimony and not be extinguished was to go back (Rev. 2:5). Ephesus didn't look like a fallen church. But it was. They were busy and had qualities that the Lord commended, but they had fallen in the most significant area of spiritual life and responsibility. They had left their first love. They had placed activity above heart-love for the Lord Himself. Therefore every other quality was assessed in the light of that departure, and they were in danger of extinction as a scriptural witness. The Lord did not say he would remove them, but the “lampstand.” He would let them go on in their activities, their works, their programs, but they would cease to exist as a Christ-centered testimony to His Name, whatever else they may claim as “success”.
So it was with Israel in the days of Ezekiel. The Lord moved out [of the temple and Jerusalem], but they were so busy in their religion and activities that they failed to realize that He was no longer “in the midst.”
The Lord gave Ephesus a threefold exhortation for their recovery The first was “Remember.” Beloved child of God, remember the ready testimony we had to all and sundry when we were in our first love? Remember the real tears as we first took the bread and wine with a tender heart and a chastened spirit? Remember the resistance to temptation and our clear-cut separation from the world and its sensual, seasonal pleasures, from which we had just been delivered? Remember our respect for the Truth of God and our unquestioning obedience to the Lord as He led us on in the way? Should we not go back to those evidences of first love and lead a simpler, holier, happier and more restful life, rooted and grounded in the love of Christ?
The second exhortation was “Repent,” that is, to “think again.” We are to change our minds and agree with God. Even though we may have pursued a wrong road of self-pleasing and mistaken zeal these many years, and seem to be locked into a system that is deemed by many to be permanent, popular, profitable, and “progressive.” Repentance is not so much dealing with the failure of the past, but with the new direction our future path must follow, “or else” suffer the consequences.
The third word is “Return” to the first works. Not the childish things, not the simple tasks we did at the beginning, but, with hearts free from the clutter of carnal organization, and full of love to Christ, and His beloved people, to undertake even the lowliest of service as at the beginning. Trembling at God's Word, praying about every slightest service, recognizing our utter dependence on God and submitting daily to the claims of the cross and the call of the Spirit.
Recently, all articles in a religious magazine referred to the distinction of' believers as Conservative and Progressive.” We hope that the writer would not suggest that “conservative” and “progressive” were mutually exclusive. Yet as one read that title it was clearly implied that to be “conservative” one cannot be “progressive.” Certain words have a euphony and they sound well together, but they are totally unrelated. It is like asking which fruit one would prefer for dessert, “peaches or leeches.” Their poetry does not conceal their real nature. The implication that to be conservative was to be different than progressive is of course a false assumption.
It is a shocking thought to some that the time has come - indeed it is past time - for the assemblies of God's people to go back!
How and when could it ever be right and good to go back''? C.S. Lewis said it well, “We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road: and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. We have all seen this when doing arithmetic. When I have started a sum the wrong way, the sooner I admit this and go back and start over again, the faster I shall get on. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake... We are on the wrong road. And if that is so, we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”
The Lord of the churches showed the church at Ephesus that the only way to go on as a light-bearing testimony and not be extinguished was to go back (Rev. 2:5). Ephesus didn't look like a fallen church. But it was. They were busy and had qualities that the Lord commended, but they had fallen in the most significant area of spiritual life and responsibility. They had left their first love. They had placed activity above heart-love for the Lord Himself. Therefore every other quality was assessed in the light of that departure, and they were in danger of extinction as a scriptural witness. The Lord did not say he would remove them, but the “lampstand.” He would let them go on in their activities, their works, their programs, but they would cease to exist as a Christ-centered testimony to His Name, whatever else they may claim as “success”.
So it was with Israel in the days of Ezekiel. The Lord moved out [of the temple and Jerusalem], but they were so busy in their religion and activities that they failed to realize that He was no longer “in the midst.”
The Lord gave Ephesus a threefold exhortation for their recovery The first was “Remember.” Beloved child of God, remember the ready testimony we had to all and sundry when we were in our first love? Remember the real tears as we first took the bread and wine with a tender heart and a chastened spirit? Remember the resistance to temptation and our clear-cut separation from the world and its sensual, seasonal pleasures, from which we had just been delivered? Remember our respect for the Truth of God and our unquestioning obedience to the Lord as He led us on in the way? Should we not go back to those evidences of first love and lead a simpler, holier, happier and more restful life, rooted and grounded in the love of Christ?
The second exhortation was “Repent,” that is, to “think again.” We are to change our minds and agree with God. Even though we may have pursued a wrong road of self-pleasing and mistaken zeal these many years, and seem to be locked into a system that is deemed by many to be permanent, popular, profitable, and “progressive.” Repentance is not so much dealing with the failure of the past, but with the new direction our future path must follow, “or else” suffer the consequences.
The third word is “Return” to the first works. Not the childish things, not the simple tasks we did at the beginning, but, with hearts free from the clutter of carnal organization, and full of love to Christ, and His beloved people, to undertake even the lowliest of service as at the beginning. Trembling at God's Word, praying about every slightest service, recognizing our utter dependence on God and submitting daily to the claims of the cross and the call of the Spirit.
JBN
“Where is the blessedness I knew,
When first I saw the Lord,
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus in His Word?”
When first I saw the Lord,
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus in His Word?”
From an old issue of Counsel Magazine
