Old age is not the end of youth. It is the beginning of a new chapter in your life. But we live in such a youth oriented society and we go to church in such a youth oriented Fellowship that we think of growing older only in relation to our youth. We have pastors who believe that the only worthwhile ministries are those our youth perform. Music, drama, impact teams, and pioneering new churches are all youth focused and youth driven.
It is a good thing to know where you come from. History is worthwhile to study and to understand. It can provide the context to how we got where we are today. But past performance is no guarantee of future results is not only true of investments. If your doctrine is one of doing what we did over and over and over to keep it going then you have some unbiblical and erroneous doctrines.
Mid-life is the time of transition from children to grownups and from youthful ability to the new world of changing abilities. Success in life demands that we shift our focus to where we are and away from where we used to be.
In my church there are 50 something guys who think that they will be sent out. I wouldn't send them out. But they are still focused on time gone by and are ignoring the reality of life as it is going forward. There are older men who talk about the ministries they used to do and the outreaches they used to do like it is current events. We fool ourselves when we think that talking about something is the same as doing it.
Youth may be the focus and the future of church planting and discipleship. But in an aging church and an aging Fellowship will we ask people like me to leave so that God can move, or will we value the aged like some cultures do.
"I once was young and now am old..." Psalm 37:25
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