Some people spend their entire lives looking backwards. They long for the "good old days" when everything seemed to be going well. According to what they believe, families were stronger, Christians were nobler, and people were happier.
The Hebrews of antiquity were experts at exalting the repulsive past. They had been in a dire situation as Egyptian slaves! However, as soon as Moses freed them from servitude, they started romanticizing the "good old days." Many of them genuinely desired returning to Egypt so they might once more yoke their necks and endure Pharaoh's whipping. It should come as no surprise that God revoked their passports to the Promised Land.
To return to the "good old days" of the church, some Christians yearn. Which church, though? Ever since the time of Paul, believers have faced enormous challenges. Sexual immorality (1 Cor. 5:1), heresy (Gal. 1:6-7), and division (Acts 15:1-2) were all problems in the early church. The first century, the sixteenth century, and the twentieth century were not the church's "good old days."
Do not fall into the trap of looking back, unless it is to reflect on a lesson learned or to exalt God's accomplishments. The best is always yet to come for people whose lives are based on Christ.
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