Strohschein: Needless repetition

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Published on Thursday, March 7, 2013

By: Neil Strohschein

myWestman.ca

During my high school years, I developed a passion for history—a passion that followed me through my years in college and seminary and remains with me to this day. As a result, I often preach from the Old Testament historical books and share insights for life gleaned from those informative books.

Ancient Biblical history is filled with stories of two types of people—those who honored God and obeyed his commands—and those who didn’t. But as with any historical record, the information found in the Scriptures is only as useful as the accuracy and honesty of the records themselves.

Of that, there can be no doubt. The Biblical writers acted under the inspiration and oversight of the Holy Spirit of God. So what they wrote was factual, accurate and honest. The positive qualities of Biblical characters were not overstated. Their negative qualities were not hidden. The historians of the day reported the facts—nothing more. If comments on or evaluations of a person’s life were to be made, God was the one who made them; and the historians recorded them as words that came from the mouth of God himself.

In 1 Corinthians 10, St. Paul links ancient history to our day. He reminds us of the things that happened to people in ancient Israel and then, on two separate occasions, he tells us that “the things that happened to them are examples for us”. God’s hope has always been that as we read the stories from Biblical history, we will pay attention to warnings contained in them and resist the urge to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t often happen. As King Solomon pointed out in Ecclesiastes 1, we humans are reluctant to learn from the mistakes our ancestors made. We often delude ourselves into thinking that we are smarter than they were and that we won’t make the same mistakes.

St. Paul’s words (found in 1 Corinthians 10:12) suddenly become very relevant: “Let those who think they are standing take heed least they fall.” In other words, the more we believe that we won’t repeat the mistakes of the past, the more likely we are to do precisely that. As one observer put it: “Those who will not learn from their past will be condemned to repeat it.” But it will be a needless repetition — one we should avoid.

During Lent, God invites us to reflect on our own history, the histories of our families and the histories of our respective church denominations. What were the things we did right? What benefits did we receive from God for doing right? What mistakes were made in the past? What lessons can be learned from them and what steps can we take to ensure that we do not repeat those mistakes?

One word of caution needs to be added here—a warning we must heed when we identify the mistakes of past generations. It is very easy to blame them for the problems we experience today; and to absolve ourselves of all responsibility for the state in which we find ourselves. Those who have made mistakes in the past will be held accountable for their actions. God’s word guarantees that. But we will also be held accountable for those times when we have blamed past generations for problems that we have brought upon ourselves.

On judgment day, we won’t be judged for the sins of others. We will be judged for our own sins and for our refusal to take responsibility for them and deal honestly with them.