There are several reasons, I think, the Bible makes it a commandment to honor our parents and the New Testament commands us to care for the old folks in our family, but one of them is undoubtedly this: God knows we tend to ignore them, which is really a form of hatred.
Yes, I know that sounds harsh. But can anyone doubt that the modern evangelical church has marginalized seniors and the elderly into ecclesiological inconsequence, that we have assimilated worldly culture’s idolization of youth?
I once read in a friend’s Facebook status that all the “old people” are gonna hate heaven if they think the worship music in churches is too loud. You know, because heaven’s worship is going to be exactly like the laser light rock and roll concerts we got goin’ on in evangelicalism right now. (Eye roll.)
Church would be so much more fun if it weren’t for all these lame old people and their lame musical tastes. They don’t get “real” worship, do they?
Oddly enough, I thought about the youth-idolatry and pushing of our elders to the margins once while watching the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. At the end, after the king has been crowned, the entire procession—men, elves and dwarves—bow a knee to the fat, furry-footed, diminutive hobbits. Why did it make me think of ageism in the church? Because I think when we do get to heaven, we are going to find that we are honoring the people we wouldn’t think to honor in real life (with any meaningful consideration).
Do we tend to think our churches are better off because we think old people are unbending, unhip, unsophisticated, unable to get “the vision”? As we push for multicultural ministry, do we forget multigenerational? When we get to heaven we will fully realize all the wisdom and experience and authority we not only squandered, but ridiculed. I fear the reason we don’t pour much ministry into the elderly is because we don’t figure we’ll get much return on our investment when it comes to realizing our church vision, filling the seats, etc. (A church of all old people, of course, is just as much in danger as a church of all young people—just a danger of a different kind.)
Yes, some old people don’t “get it.” But a lot of young people don’t either. Why are we more eager to work with the young than the old?
My friend Darryl Dash once wrote:
Don’t get me wrong here. I’ve been part of sleepy churches full of seniors who are resistant to change, and that holds no attraction to me.
