One of the failures of the present day news media is that it thrives only on current and spectacular events which have a very short shelf life—today’s emphasis is tomorrow’s amnesia.
The fallacy of momentary attention is that it breeds lack of residual importance.
In other words, the out-of-focus issue loses it vitalness in the ever advancing newly arrived issue that is stage-center. Issues that should remain important and relevant will slip away into the fog of time if they are not revitalized and brought to the forefront as oft as need be.
This same scenario can be found in many church pulpits where the “new issue” is the focus and changes quickly to the next new issue coming down the chute—and the “old things” disappear more and more in the quicksands of non attention.
Preaching is not to based on the Athenian syndrome “…which …spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.” While certain issues demand current attention we must realize that the pulpit cannot effectively serve the divine injunction of perfecting the church if it is in a constant revolving of new issues only. The “old” basics must have a revival from time to time.
Paul’s declaration of Hebrews 6:1 has been greatly misconstrued by some in thinking that we are forget about the basics and go forward with new things… such a construction of Paul’s teaching does it a grave injustice. When Paul said, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;” he was not telling the Hebrews to forget the first principles of Christ but rather he was encouraging them to build a strong foundation from those principles on which to continue to build other aspects of Christ. Paul frequently, in his epistles, takes us back again and again to the foundation principles in Christ.
Some seem to think that a barn once painted is set forever—but time itself is one of the prime reasons for repainting the barn. Likewise, churches need a often refreshing in the basics in order to keep them alive and active in their lives.
Preacher don’t be an Athenian in the pulpit but rather “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
-jlg-