church history is dangerous

i admittedly am ignorant of church history. the subject of church history has always finished last in my ordering of subjects and therefore has never been considered beyond a random reference every once and awhile.

my focus has always been on the here and now. i expose myself as a person who questions the past in terms of institutions as well as methods. what can a past of endless denominations and battles have to teach me? isn't it better just to forget everything and start fresh? i guess that my start-up side continues to rage on even as i consider the ways of the church.

i have come face to face the reality that church history is alive and dangerous. i am starting to see that reading about the past shows me how little i know about the present. this is a very very basic fact for those who love history and understand the purpose of studying it. all of us need to discover the value of studying history by ourselves.

i am learning classic lessons.

the theological conflicts that i have encountered in my life are not new conflicts. in fact, a disagreement about typology was first raised in the 2nd century.

the scary part is that i see how much the church has changed over the years. i am starting to question the assumption that the 20th/21st century church is the best way to "do church". that assumption looks foolish now that i write it but isn't that what most people (still including myself) live under.

on a different (more positive) note, i am amazed at how close i feel to the writers of the past when i read their works. the amazing figures like st augustine express spiritual truths and spiritual struggles in similar ways, even if they composed them in a different time period, in a different place, in a different language (latin, greek, etc)...

there truly is a connection between the followers of Christ throughout the years of church. my prayer is that i will live with the understanding of that connection and learn how to not be surprised by anything that comes my way as a leader in the church for nothing is new under the sun...