It’s hard to get old in America. People become old and disposable as they age. You reach a certain age and your employer wants to push you out the door in favor of somebody younger. That can happen to people as young as 40. If you are 50, 60 or 70, it gets increasingly more difficult to be taken seriously.
When God called Moses to take His people out of bondage, the poor man was 80 years old. He led the Israelites for 40 years. That would never happen today. America is a disposable society.
What do we value?
It gets down to what we value. We worship money, status and celebrity. Church attendance today is not what it was years ago. There is no truth in this post-truth era. Everything is relative. Think about that for a moment.
Church folk regard the Bible as the inspired Word of God, inerrant in it’s original form, that is the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic scrolls. From those come countless translations. Then come the paraphrases, not really translations but more like interpretations of translations.
So, the point is more and more people do not view the Bible as authoritative, just a nice book of stories.
Absolute truth is essential
So what’s the fuss? Truth is important. Absolute truth is essential. What God says is the truth and to be taken to heart. We don’t get to define truth, although a common phrase gives us a way out of any conversation… “Well, what’s true for you may not be true for me.” When saying that about the Bible a person is actually saying, “What’s true for God isn’t necessarily true for me.”
Good news, God does not throw away older people
God does not throw away older people. The truth is God uses older people to counsel younger people. But even in churches, older adults are pushed aside. God seems to see things differently.
Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:32)
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. (Psalm 71:9)
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)
The simple truth is older adults have experience, wisdom and depth of knowledge. In our culture, that doesn’t really matter. “They’re old. What do they know?” God gave Moses a whole lifetime of experience before He called him to ministry. That wasn’t an accident.