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Culture may see retirement as a time to step back, but Scripture never suggests that our calling retires with us.
In fact, the psalmist prayed, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:18 NIV)
Even in his old age, the psalmist petitioned God for more time on earth to continue living out the calling set before him and to declare the truths of God to the generations who will follow.
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Contrary to what culture says, one’s role in the community becomes most urgent in his later years. Paul told Titus the same thing and instructed older believers to teach what is good and train those younger than them. Neither the psalmist nor the Apostle Paul considered age as a legitimate reason to pull back; rather, both considered it the qualification for stepping further in.
A church group holds hands and prays in a circle. Younger churchgoers say they want mentorship at their places of worship. (iStock)
It can be easy to treat retirement from a career as retirement from the church as well, as though stepping down from a job also means stepping away from service. The transition is gentle. A person might move from active participation in ministry to being on its prayer list, from teaching a class to sitting in the back row.
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While the shift away from a lifetime of active service in the community is well-intentioned, treating retirement as a phasing out opposes what Scripture prescribes for older churchgoers, which is to draw even closer to the younger generations.
When elder believers draw from deep reservoirs of life experience and Spirit-led sanctification to counsel younger or more immature believers, they’re faithful to the charge by the Apostle Paul to see to it that all can be presented mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28-29). In fact, the church has benefited from and treasured this kind of discipleship for centuries.
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The practical case follows directly from the theological one. A congregation losing its younger members to another church or to religious disaffiliation may not be because of a lack of programming. It may be that folks leave because of a lack of engaged older mentors.
The generation now entering retirement has spent decades leading households, raising children, weathering seasons of doubt and staying in the church through it all. They don’t lack wisdom. They just lack the opportunity to extend it to the rest of the congregation.
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Barna Group found that 77% of adults 55 and older have a close relationship with someone younger, but only 19% of Christians say their church provides opportunities for people from different generations to connect. Yet, young adults say the top social reason they come to church is to build deeper relationships with other Christians.
So, what would it look like for aged wisdom to be championed within a community?
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Senior living communities like ours offer a glimpse of what this can look like lived out. Residents lead the choirs at their life plan communities rather than simply attending them. They volunteer in chaplaincy work alongside our caregivers, sitting with residents who are further along in illness or grief than they are. They chair resident associations and continue serving in leadership roles at their home churches. None of this is unusual for them. It is simply what continues when nobody has told them their season of contribution is over.
A congregation losing its younger members to another church or to religious disaffiliation may not be because of a lack of programming. It may be that folks leave because of a lack of engaged older mentors.
Congregations bear fruit when they deliberately recognize this opportunity, rather than assume it will happen on its own. Mentorship can be built into structure, rather than left to whoever happens to volunteer. A church that wants its retirees mentoring its twentysomethings will bear new fruit when it asks for it directly, pairs people intentionally and treats that pairing as real ministry work rather than a nice idea.
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This can look as simple as an established deacon walking a new one through a hard pastoral visit, or a retired teacher counseling a young couple through their first year of marriage. The alternative — leaving it informal — can easily become the same thing as not asking at all.
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Scripture never frames old age as a countdown to irrelevance. It frames it as the season with the most to declare and the least time left to declare it in, which makes this time of life more urgent, not less. The picture of retirement that most congregations envision, a quiet transition into rest and gratitude, was never the biblical picture. Even in the psalmist’s telling, old age comes with an assignment, not a discharge from one.
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Our retired churchgoers don’t just have time on their hands, but — what’s even more beneficial to their congregations — plenty left to give, and no shortage of people who need their wisdom and experience. The question now becomes: Will the church call on its older members to step into this crucial role?