Proclaimer Blog
Mind the gap
I enjoyed watching the youtube clip of a very young Joan Bakewell interviewing Lloyd-Jones, his only – I believe – television interview (see below). There was much about it that cheered the heart. He was clear, direct and full on gospel.
But.
But I worry that in posting such things, Christians today are not much helped.
"Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is wise not to ask such questions." (Ecc 7:10)
Christian nostalgia can be a killer. It is right to be thankful for the past. It is right to take comfort from it (it is good to know about the revival that broke out in our church church in the latter part of the nineteenth century, for example, with several thousand saved and a prayer meeting of over 1,000 each Saturday night).
But nostalgia itself – wishing we were back in those days, is bad, bad, bad. It's easy to be nostalgic about this particular clip. Easy to be nostalgic for a great leader for those who remember him. Easy to be nostalgic for a leader who is able to say things with this degree of clarity in public. Easy to be nostalgic for a different era of interviewing where the interviewee was allowed to answer and the interviewer was not rude (take note Mr Humphrys).
But nostalgia is a denial of where we are now under the sovereign hand of God. Solomon was right. Don't say it. Watch, by all means. And be encouraged – as I was. But keep your nostalgia at bay, if you please.