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I live on a busy street in a walkable town. Nearly every day out of my home office window I can watch groups of middle and high school students walking or riding their bikes to the pizza shop and convenience store just down the street. There are two primary emotions that I feel observing these adolescent packs on their pilgrimages: concern and nostalgia. I’m concerned, because they seem to always be glued to their phones and/or recording TikTok videos when crossing the road, completely unaware of approaching cars. I’m also nostalgic, because they are wearing clothing styles from the late 90s and early 2000s that I wore when I was their age.  Think cargo pants and baggy jeans.

To be sure, my emotional reaction to these groups of kids makes me feel old, but it also reminds me of the fact that trends—especially in fashion—are cyclical. Things come and go, and come back again. As the writer of Ecclesiastes wisely notes, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9). What goes around comes back around. 

One of the primary obstacles that British theologian and Oxford professor C. S. Lewis had to overcome in order to convert to Christianity was the ancient nature of the faith. Should not a two thousand year old religion simply be regarded as an outdated, irrelevant relic of the past that can be ignored in our modern world? It’s a common objection of seekers and skeptics, and one that can’t be easily brushed off. 

The problem that Lewis came to believe was at the root of this argument was one of “chronological snobbery,” which he defines as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.” Simply put, we should not believe that something old is necessarily bad and something new is inherently good. 

This an important concept for us to wrestle with as followers of Jesus. If we truly believe that not everything new is automatically better, that fads inevitably will fade, and that old things can become relevant again, how might we engage in spiritual formation? Should we uncritically disregard old-fashioned methods and strategies of discipleship and worship in favor of more modern, trendy ones? I believe the answer is “no.” Why? Because not everything new is better!

The late historian and Yale professor Jarsolv Pelikan wrote a wonderful little book called The Vindication of Tradition. In it he argues against the assumption that tradition is always bad and innovation is always good by helpfully distinguishing between the concepts of tradition (“the living faith of the dead”) and traditionalism (“the dead faith of the living”). He rightly points out that tradition, when practiced well, can be full of life and creativity and freedom. It’s not something to be tossed out, but embraced. 

I have grown to appreciate Pelikan’s discussion over the years and use his definitions regularly in our church’s membership class when we are explaining our use of ancient liturgy in corporate worship. However, this whole idea came home to me in a new way last summer while on sabbatical I was meditating on these words from 2 Corinthians 10:3-4:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

What Paul is communicating to the church in Corinth is that the battle we engage in as Christians is not to be fought on human terms. The tactics, strategies, and tools of our world and culture simply will not work. The “weapons of our warfare” we must use are divine in origin and have divine power! As I reflected on this truth, I became convinced that the weapons and tools we need are what the historic church refers to as the “ordinary means of grace”—the Word, prayer, and sacraments.

As our world becomes more secularized, it has never been more important for the local church to produce faithful, gospel-centered, and resilient followers of Jesus who are both spiritually, emotionally, and relationally healthy and equipped to love and serve our Savior in every sphere of life—wherever they live, work, and play. Christians in a polarized, pluralistic society must be formed holistically (hand, heart, and hands) if they are to withstand the temptation to worship the false gods being offered by secular ideologies on both the political right and left.

That being said, what we need in order to help men, women, students, and children walk in the way of Jesus is not more effective church growth strategies, novel ministry philosophies, and secular leadership tactics. Instead, what we need to do is simply rediscover those things that the historic church has always used throughout her history to form the faithful: preaching, catechesis, spiritual disciplines, and so on.

One of my favorite songwriters is Andrew Peterson, and one of my favorite songs of his is called “You’ll Find Your Way” on his album Light for the Lost Boy. In it he is speaking to his son about a time in the future when he will inevitably feel lost, alone, and unsure what to do. 

When I look at you, boy / I can see the road that lies ahead / I can see the love and the sorrow // Bright fields of joy / Dark nights awake in a stormy bed / I want to go with you, but I can’t follow // So keep to the old roads / Keep to the old roads / And you’ll find your way

This exhortation of a father to his child is a good word to us as adopted sons and daughters of the living Lord. The way forward is actually backwards. Return to the old roads. It is when we faithfully walk the ancient paths that we will find rest for our souls.

Eric Mitchell is the Executive Pastor at Liberti Church Collingswood.

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