In Praise Of Old People
June 11th, 2007
I have a lot of soapboxes but allow me to climb on one in particular this week-- I am frequently frustrated by the way our society views older adults. Although older adults (adults over the age of 55) make up the largest bulk of our population and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future, they are often relegated to the sidelines as irrelevant "fuddy-duddies." Senior adults are seen as out-of-touch or obstacles to change.
The unfortunate reality is that we in the church have picked up on, and in some cases perpetuated, this attitude. We constantly talk about wanting new members, but by new members, we mean new members who are young. And we put our money where our mouth is. Just witness the number of youth or children's ministers in comparison to ministers for senior adults. Some churches have even made it their mission to target only young families, choosing to take older adults' participation and spiritual needs completely for granted. This, despite the fact that the overwhelming number of people who come to church in any denomination are seniors.
What is going on here? Why are churches with a large older adult population considered to be less successful than churches with huge youth groups and children's programs? Could it be that we have swallowed our culture's myth that older people have nothing to contribute? Is a 35 year-old new church member really better than a 75 year-old new church member? This myth is so pervasive that many senior adults come to believe it themselves. All too often, I have heard a senior in church say something to this effect--"Well, I don't have to do anything anymore. I've already done my part. I'm getting too old to do all this work." Notice the implication is that "doing work" and "doing my part" is something that can only happen when you are young and spry.
To those of you who have bought into this lie, I can only say look around. In the United States, many people are leading vibrant lives well into their 90s, and this statistic will only increase as our population ages. To write off senior citizens because they happen to be old is to devalue them as human beings. If we read the pages of Scripture, we will come up with many examples of senior adults who continued to serve God as they grew older. Equating old age with irrelevance is to limit God's ability to work among his people. The cultural worship of youth should be resisted and rejected by those of us in the church. We should reach out to "old people" just as much as we do "young folks." Not to do so is to assume that old people have nothing to contribute to our future and that young families are the only solution to our problems. I don't believe that is true. Do you?
Let's stop and think about this one for a minute. I would certainly love to have more young people to church. But it's not a case of either/or. Every person is valuable in God's sight. When I look out at the congregation on Sunday morning, everyone I see is a child--a child of God. And no matter our age, each one of us children is called to work and do our part. We don't have to be ashamed that we're an older congregation. We can be proud of who we are and what God is doing in our midst--and I am.