This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel

by Trevin K. Wax

We must beware of both the myth of progress and the myth of decline. The buzzword for progress is the future, and the buzzword for decline is return. For the myth of progress, the focus is on shedding the baggage of the past as we lean forward into the future. For the myth of decline, the focus is on returning to some pinnacle from which we have fallen. It’s time now to see how the gospel challenges both of these myths. First, the myth of progress. I’m convinced one of the reasons people love to talk about the future is because they’re scared of the past. It’s easier to look forward rather than backward because the future is vague, amorphous, and from our vantage point, it doesn’t yet exist. The past, on the other hand, is a real and solid thing. We meet our ancestors, who built the world we have inherited. Like it or love it, the past is there, and too many who label themselves “progressive” would rather not deal with it. The myth of progress leads you to downplay the past. And why not? Once you believe you are part of the most privileged, progressive, and advanced era in human history, you will find it unnecessary to reach into the past and retrieve insights that may be useful for contemporary society. The past is something people are escaping from, not something they would ever turn toward. Whatever is found in the past that does not fit with our contemporary mind-set can be swept away without even the slightest engagement.