Reliving the Glory Days

by Zeke Flores

Have you ever known someone always trying to relive their "glory day?" Maybe they were a star athlete in high school, the number one salesperson at their company, or the "big man on campus" in college. You know the type: Someone always looking at the rearview mirror in life. Have you been one of those people?

Christians can make the mistake of thinking their best days are behind them. They look back to when church membership was booming, and their mission was being well-regarded and accepted in the community. Restorations and baptisms abounded. And then the bottom fell out. The work got harder, and fewer people wanted to listen to the message, and they began to be looked upon as fanatics and fundamentalists. And they think back to those "glory days" and pine for what once was.
The Hebrew writer reminds his audience that looking back is not necessarily bad if it propels you to the future. The Hebrew recipients' glory days were days of suffering and persecution. They banded together and joyfully counted their hardships as a reminder that they longed for something far better. They were a church on the move: Dynamic, undaunted by opposition, and active for the gospel. The lookback was intended to bolster their confidence and renew their resolve to carry on stronger than ever.

When you think back to the church's "glory days," what's different?

• The message hasn't changed.
• People's need for it hasn't changed.
• Your responsibility to it hasn't changed.

But maybe what's changed is your attitude toward it. Once, you were enthusiastic and zealous about sharing the life-changing truth, but now you've shrunk back and become complacent, hoping someone else will do it.

What was true for the Hebrew writer's audience is true for us: We need confidence and endurance not only for ourselves but for the sake of many we could reach out to.

Read Hebrews 10:32-39, then take a look back. Then, look ahead.

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised" (Hebrews 10:35-36).