Nostalgia Can Mug Joy from You.
One coffee mug is in my possession from one of my grandparent's former homes. The coffee in this mug is not different than my regular coffee. But my brain releases additional chemicals when I drink out of this particular mug because of the memories associated with it.
Memories trigger receptors that cause me to smell things that are not present but were present when I drank coffee at their dining room table in the early morning, looking across the fog-covered backyard thirty years ago. Memories that affect the temperature and feel of the floor under my feet, from a warm luxury plank vinyl to a cool textured linoleum stretched across the concrete. Memories that turn Kroger brand coffee pods into a freshly brewed pot of Maxwell House.
None of it's real, except in my mind. Therefore, it feels like coffee tastes better in this mug because of the memories associated with it. But in reality, it doesn't; therefore, I enjoy the moment, drink the coffee, and move forward. And I'll likely use a different cup tomorrow. Why?
Because that's how nostalgia becomes idolatry, and if we're honest, that's how it happens in the church. We pull away from the new thing that God is doing in favor of the feeling of the past. A church can not grow back into what it was before; it can only grow from where God has placed it today.
Whether its a cup of coffee, a type of vehicle, a song, or a particular order of things, nostalgia can mug us from experiencing the joy of stepping with faith into the future story God has planned for us. Appreciate the past, don't idolize it. If your most incredible recollections of God are the things that happened in the past, then eternity will be a grave disappointment to you because, like God, it is always moving forward.
1 John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
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