All we want to do is to grow old in God. This is hard to do in our Fellowship where the focus and emphasis of our church is on young people. The focus of this conference has been on youth. On Wednesday night pastor Roman even announced that his sermon was for people under 30 years old. I understand the need to stir and call our youth to follow our footsteps in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. But, what about the rest of us?
Last night on foreign missions night of our conference we had some exciting announcements of new works and new workers. And then they called up Tony and Pam. These are good folks. They love the Lord with all of their hearts. They are grandparents. They are not in great health. But they are going overseas to minister. So, in a building full of young people and church kids, they sent out grandma and grandpa. This is a problem that I see with old folks in a youth oriented Fellowship; the spirit is still willing even though the flesh is worn out.
We live in what my friend calls the Peter Pan generation. A generation of people who are growing older by the day and who think that acting young makes them young. A generation that won't grow up. Why is it so hard to grow up? Why do we feel ignored or useless or unappreciated as we get older? Why can't we be honest about our diminished abilities without feeling guilty? Who are we trying to impress?
The Peter Pan syndrome does not just affect people. It affects churches. We spend a lot of effort trying to stay a young or new church. We chafe at being responsible. We like the status of success but we yearn for the exciting and zealous days of our youth when we had nothing to lose. We talk a lot about when we were first saved or when our church was fresh and new. Pastor Mitchell did not do this.
It is not easy being old in a youth oriented church. But, it can be done. He who endures to the end will be saved. Flash in the pan folks don't last.
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