The Old and The New
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the tension between holding on to the past and embracing the new. The challenge is learning to live with certain things that stay consistent and unwavering, while also welcoming change and improvement for the future. As humans, we tend to drift toward one of two extremes: we either idolize the “good old days,” becoming skeptical and resistant to anything new, or we’re constantly chasing what’s new and flashy, growing pessimistic, critical, and dismissive of anything that feels old or tied to the past.
Jesus addressed this tension in His teachings: “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” — Matthew 13:52
Jesus said that teachers of the Kingdom bring forth both new and old. Not just the old—celebrating the past and preserving what was. Not just the new—discarding the past and changing everything. Jesus made it clear that both are important.
One of the great truths of Scripture reflects this same tension. We are told that God is immutable—His character and nature do not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Hebrews 13:8). But this can lead to assumptions that make change difficult. Because if we believe that God doesn’t change, it’s easy to conclude that God is anti-change—which isn’t true.
On several occasions, the Lord made His intentions known only to modify His plans in response to the intercession of people. When Abraham and Moses cried out to God, we’re told the Lord “relented.” He softened His stance, pulled back, and withheld the judgment He had planned. The prophet Hosea wrote, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger.” (Hosea 11:8–9) So, while God is unchanging in his character, His interactions with humanity are sometimes contingent on the choices we make.
We also see God calling people out of their comfort zones into things they never wanted to do. Often, they resisted because they were scared to do what He was asking for. Whether it was Moses being called back to Egypt, Gideon to lead an army, or Jeremiah to become a prophet, each was asked to do something different from what they had planned. They wanted life to stay the same, but God called them to go a different direction.
Three times in the book of Isaiah alone, the Lord speaks of doing “new things” (Isaiah 43:18–19). In the New Testament, we read about a new law, new birth, new heaven, new earth, new life, new teaching, new creation, new command, new way, new self, new Jerusalem, new name, new covenant, new regulations, new order, and a new way. The second-to-last chapter in the Bible declares that Jesus is “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). To think that God is only concerned with keeping things as they are is almost laughable.
In a similar fashion, the Lord calls each of His children to grow and mature—becoming increasingly more like Jesus. The Bible uses words like repent, convert, turn, renew, revive, restore, and transform to describe how the Lord calls both the lost and the saved to adjust their lives. God loves us right where we are, but He doesn’t want us to stay there. He is constantly calling us as individuals to grow, change, and mature.
So, while the Lord is unchanging in His nature and character, he is still very pro-change. Which is important to remember in a world filled with chaos, division, and crisis. You see it’s tempting to believe we must choose one side or the other. Those who prefer things as they are or as they were, often gloss over the sins, failures, and imperfections of the past, idealizing the “good ole days.” They try to recreate a world that was never as perfect as they imagine—and in doing so, they can reject the very improvements that might better reflect the Kingdom of God.
Conversely, in rejecting the past as entirely flawed and evil, others swing to the opposite extreme—idealizing the future as if progress alone will save us. When history is dismissed rather than learned from, we repeat its mistakes in new forms. Efforts to dismantle everything that once was, can create a world more chaotic and dangerous than the one we sought to replace (i.e. The Terror in the French Revolution).
The teachings of Jesus call us to avoid both extremes. Though it’s uncomfortable, we must embrace the tension—recognizing there is value in the past and that not everything needs to be changed. Some things are worth holding on to. Some things are worth bringing back. Yet at the same time, we must keep growing, evolving, and staying open to new ideas and perspectives—so that our lives, our churches, and our world, more fully reflect the heart and beauty of God’s Kingdom.
