A man who can give his own meaning to Scripture can also read what he wishes into history. But that is no way to establish the authority of the church, or confute heretics.

Martin Luther
“The Pagan Servitude of the Church”
Martin Luther: Selections, ed. John Dillenberger (Anchor, 1961), 263.

Detail from Raphael's 'Constantine at the battle of Milvian Bridge' (Wikimedia Commons).

1. Hope. When you know what people did, what God did, you know what they might do. You get a sense for what’s truly possible. Expanding our knowledge of the past becomes a way to expand our hope for the present and beyond.

2. Understanding. Our world is built with bricks of past events. History gives us the context to understand our own times and places, and the people we share them with. Consider:

• issues such as immigration
• practices such as prayer
• institutions such as governments
• movements such as revivals

Each of these is affected by the past. Our intelligent, responsible, intentional action in the present requires the understanding that history affords.

3. Imagination. Stories fire our imaginations. In this way history has the same potential to captivate and inspire as do great novels or epic movies. Romances, wars, sacrifices—these are the stuff of history and their resonance in the minds and hearts of readers is only limited to the storytelling ability of the writer.

4. Connection. As people created by a personal God we crave personal connection in any number of forms, but particularly in sympathy and empathy. Reading about the lives of others, their struggles, their victories, we can connect with them and our lives and experiences find enrichment that would otherwise remain lost.

5. Perspective. We don’t look at the world the same way our ancestors did. Every age has a different angle on life. History helps us pick up glimpses of how our forebears saw the world and so helps us glimpse the differences in our own outlook. While we might see some things more clearly today (e.g., slavery), their take on another issue may highlight flaws in our present-day outlook. History is corrective lens through which to view our circumstances.

6. Defending Truth. The past is always remembered. It’s not here any longer so we have to recall it, retell it, re-member it. But it can be re-membered by anyone with any point of view; that means that history can be used as a weapon against the church. Take the reverse of that and something else emerges: Christians telling the story of God’s past providence is one of the most important forms of apologetics.

7. God’s Call. In the scriptures, when God’s servants called upon his people to live up to their potential in him, they recalled the Exodus—how God brought Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm. Reading history is vital way to hear God’s call on our lives through the stories of others. It speaks to his faithfulness in the past and our lives in the present.

Wikimedia Commons

Neighbors witnessing to neighbors is a marketing technique suited to Americans, who are increasingly sequestering themselves in communities, churches, and clubs with those who share similar ways of life and politics. The churches created over the last three decades have become some of the most politically segregated institutions in the country, a result of an organizing strategy built on the intentional molding of a “homogenous unit.”

These tactics aren’t designed to “sell” people something new or different but to show that the product (a church, a new concoction of PowerBar, a candidate) embodies the community’s beliefs and lifestyle.

Bush did it well in 2004, and Obama is doing it extremely well in 2008. McCain has been less effective, but the defense of Sarah Palin (“I am Sarah Palin. Her story is my story”), as an example, depends on this strategy. The appeal has nothing to do with whether policies are on point. It’s all about identity and community and belonging.

The strategy is also key to successful product marketing in today’s environment.