Good Old Days
Looking back on a lifelong love of cars, automotive authority Ralph Stein wrote, “In 1912, electric starting and lighting revolutionized the world of the automobile… [they] put an end to the motorcar’s role as a pure article of pleasure. Although future millions upon millions of automobiles would be little more than household appliances, a tiny fraction of this multitude of machines would be built for those special people who delighted in the contemplation of beautifully built mechanism and imaginatively designed bodywork, and who knew how good a car ought to feel in action on the open highway.”
Sounds like life in 2022, does it? Well, Stein wrote this in the 1960s, one of the high points for car culture throughout the world. In America, 77% of new cars were sold with a V8, most were carbureted, and most had manual transmissions and generally more points of contact between the automobile and the senses. Maybe Stein’s diatribe was too early. What would he say in 2022, amid fears of an impending all-electric, all-autonomous future automotive landscape?
Pining for the good old days is an ancient tradition for car folks and Christ followers alike. Something about our present experience seems less pure or important than yesteryear. Maybe the good times have already passed us by, or there’s nothing new to learn. Matthew Henry, the 17th century minister, theologian, and author, once said, “Take pains while you live. The scriptures still afford new things to those who search them.” The fact that he had to warn people about this suggests an awfully dismal view on God’s movement at the time. People probably thought the good old days of the church were behind them. Imagine what they would think of the centuries of powerful revivals, life-changing social good, and soul-nourishing Biblical analysis and application since then.
Much of the epistles in the New Testament are written with this mindset: something from the old days has passed, but the people living now will be the ones to carry the torch in the future. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he constantly urges the young leader to stick to the teaching he learned from Paul and others, have confidence in the “laying on of hands by the elders,” and to remember the truth that was passed on to him as something to cherish and put into action for the rest of his life. Undoubtedly, Timothy was faithful to his charge, and found ways to apply the good aspects of his past to his brand new world of the future.
The book of Hebrews includes this message, which is for us too: “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” The author doesn’t suggest imitating their lives, customs, or traditions, but their faith. Faith unites all Christ-followers, from the very first ones until now. We continue that when we apply the same faith in the same God through whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, from the family in their Model T on the way to church on a dirt road to the bionic person hovering to a spiritual revival service in a self-driving space pod that runs on old Styrofoam Super Gulp cups from way back in the 21st century.
If you think the glory days are behind you, you’ll miss the glory of today. God has a plan for each person who fears Him. The next great theologian or automotive authority is among us, being shaped by God to impact His people in a powerful way. All those internal combustion engines, carburetors, and hand-crank starters from yesteryear still live on as inspiration for the people imitating that spirit of ingenuity today.
