No more Flashback Favorites
About a year ago, I learned a hard truth. It has rattled around in my brain, gone away, and then boomeranged back to the front of my thoughts at some rather interesting times since it was first presented to me:
Contempt is often a cover for shame.
But let me back up a little further…I first picked up this blog from Joe in 2013. By 2017, after writing and posting at least once per week…I needed a break. So I scheduled what I called a “Flashback Favorite” – using republished posts from previous years. Doing so gave me two weeks off from the pressure of writing, and fulfilled my concern that I didn’t want to “go dark” and leave people hanging.
In the years since 2017, I have published various numbers of “Flashback Favorite” posts – whether it was time for a break or the other responsibilities of life had crowded out my ability to write for the week. However, every time I posted one…I felt a twinge of guilt. I felt like I was letting you down. And labeling a post “Flashback Favorite” was my admittance of defeat.
I felt contempt toward myself – thoroughly convinced that if I had just worked hard enough, to get far enough ahead that I didn’t need to rely on “old stuff” to cover for me. But the contempt really was a cover for shame…that I let you down, let myself down, and (most importantly) let God down. That my efforts weren’t good enough. Or that I had been too lazy or undisciplined. Nobody would have said it out loud, and they wouldn’t have needed to…because I said it enough internally for the both of us.
Up until the last couple of weeks, I was really proud of myself for only having one Flashback Favorite this year – the week my wife was in a car accident (she’s ok now, thank you God!). But much like 2017, for the past two weeks, I needed a break. So, I reluctantly scheduled some previous posts to go out while I have worked on the next new series.
But God brought this passage to mind…and this one little verse has reshaped my thinking, dissipating my contempt and its shameful root:
Matthew 13:52
“Therefore,” He said to them, “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 treasures new and old.”
Through several parables, Jesus had just taught His disciples about the Kingdom of God. It was clear from these stories that Jesus was taking the old and familiar lessons from the law and expounding upon them with His new teachings. The old wasn’t being tossed aside…instead, a disciple would be able to see how the old foreshadows the new, and how the new fulfills the intended purpose of the old.
The observation that stands out the most to me is that both the old and the new are treasures. The owner of the house knows when it’s time to redecorate, but also when it’s time to look at the pictures of yester-year. The new does not replace the old, but instead both have value. Both have their time and place, and the wisdom of the house owner dictates when each should be brought to light.
That’s how it is, too, with our growth and maturity, right? We don’t always learn something new from God. There are times we have to relearn a lesson from before. Sometimes, it’s applying the same learning in a new context. Other times, it’s healthy for us to remember how far God has brought us.
So, going forward, I’m not going to label any posts as a “Flashback Favorite”. If I need to bring back an “old” learning, then I will do so without shame or contempt. There is value in the treasure which God has brought to me through writing this blog for the last 13+ years…and I don’t want to diminish that gift in any way.
Keep Pressing,
Ken