I Love Old People
The late George Younce who was the bass singer for the Cathedral Quartet, is remembered for a phrase he often used. He would look over at his singing partner, Glen Payne, and say, "I love old people, I really do." The audience would always erupt in laughter.
Recently I had one person ask me; "what will happen
when all of the old people die that are in the Church?" To this I replied,
"there is never a shortage of old people." A fact of life is that
we all get older. As one generation passes there is another one to take its
place. All too often in my years in the Gospel ministry, I have heard some well
meaning people say things like: "the youth are the future of the
Church," or "a Church without young people is a dying Church."
I understand what they are trying to say but I'm going to be very blunt here
when I say, the elderly generation in the Church is the life-blood of the
Church. It is the older congregants who are the most devoted, the most
prayerful, the most caring, the most sharing, the most giving, the most
faithful, and from what I've witnessed, the hardest working.
So many Churches are spending all of their time, resources,
and money on trying to attract young people to their Churches all while
neglecting the older crowd. They change their music style (which nearly none
of the older folks like), they change their worship style (which nearly none of
the older folks like) and they change their preaching style (which absolutely
none of the older folks like). The problem with all of these changes is that
they are only fads. They are popular one day and out of style the next, so one
must move on to the next fad to try and appeal to some young person. Too many Churches are driving their older congregants away from Church by doing this.
In Paul's writing to Timothy (who by the way was a younger
pastor) he is instructing him on the ways of the Church. He says in 1Timothy
3:15 "But if I tarry long, that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is
the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." Did
you see that? The Bible says that the Church is "the pillar and ground of
the truth." Sadly, by changing the Church to worldly music styles, rock
type worship, and feel-good messages, you are chipping away at the foundation
of the Church and you are no longer "the pillar and ground of the
truth." You are simply an imitation of the world.
You may say, "well, isn't it good that we are
attracting young people to the Church?" That all depends. Are they simply
attracted to the things that they can get in the world, or are they attracted
to the message of Jesus Christ? A Church without the message of Jesus Christ is
not a Church at all, it is simply a social club. Is your goal just to fill up a building, or is your goal to teach and preach Jesus Christ? Young people can go to any of
the world's venues to hear the world's music and messages. They need to know
that the LORD's Church is different. It's not like the world, it is something
out of this world. As Pastor Clarence Sexton often says, "the world
doesn't need another copy of itself."
You
may counter with "well, we've been seeing these young people get saved."
That is good if that is truly the case. May I remind you of one of the most
sobering messages from the Lord Jesus which is found in Matthew 7:20-21 "Wherefore by
their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." This
applies to people of all ages, not just the older, wiser Christian, but the
young one's as well.
I
have personally witnessed young people that are attracted to some huge
"youth event" where they flash the lights, beat the drums, and burst
the ears with loud music and a feel-good pep talk, and they make some type of
profession of faith. Then everyone goes out celebrating and talking about how
many they saw saved at this so-called "youth event". The problem is I
have seen these same young people that claim they "got saved," go
right back to living the same way, acting the same way, speaking the same way,
and have no further interest in the things of God than they did before. Oh they
may come to Church for a while during the early stages but eventually the
excitement wears off and they slip right back into the world from which they
came and long for.
I
can't even begin to tell you the number of people that I have heard from over
the years that tell me after they got older they realized that they were never
truly saved. They had only professed they had out of some feeling of guilt or
because everyone else was doing it, or they got caught up in the excitement.
Many have fallen into the "1-2-3
repeat after me" salvation, or the holding up of the hand if you want to be
saved salvation. But they had never
truly repented of their sins and by faith trusted the Lord Jesus as their
Savior.
Now,
having said all of this you probably think I am against young people in the
Church. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think a Church should have a
good mix of both young and old people, however, the message I am trying to
convey here is the fact that many Churches have neglected their most important
resource, and that is the older generation. It's time to stop catering to
the whims and passing fancies of the young crowd and focus on being "the
pillar and ground of the truth."
I leave you with these words from the Psalmist: "O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have
I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God,
forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy
power to every one that is to come." Psalm 71:17-18
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