"Give instruction to a wise man and he will be wiser still,
Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning."
Proverbs 9:9
Ever since I was a child, as much as I can remember I have always been around older people. I remember so fondly growing up with my grandparents for the first seven years of my life, how having them in full view was perpetually inspiring. I don't remember a day of boredom. They were also my very first mentors. I never forget their counsel.
That's why I love this article by Josh Riley who writes of the value of learning from those who are both older than us, and those who have gone before us. It is these who often tell us about most crisis, "It's not a big deal." Or, "Pray about it child, God will take care of it all." Chuck Swindol once said that he feels sorry for anyone who does not have a mentor. It's such an undeniable pity. I must remember by God's grace, to stay close to my mentors and listen to those who have gone before me.
The more I “mature” in age, the more I find myself listening
to old people.
Source: http://worship.com/2013/08/why-i-listen-to-old-people/
We sometimes hear about the difference between new writers
and dead guys. The appeal of the dead guys, of course, is that they have
gone on to glory and its too late for them to become heretics or major moral
failures.
And the new guys have some fresh insights, having been
exposed to a different world growing up than older folks. But there is a
middle ground of life experience we need to pay attention to: the old
guys who have most of life behind them and the reality of impending glory
before them. They have much to say worth listening to.
And by old folks, I mean people in the last quadrant and
season of life—roughly 60 or 70 and over.
Here are a few reasons why you should listen to old people:
- Old
people have lived more of life than the rest of us. When they stand
up to speak, they have a long track record of life from which to
draw. And much of that time was spent actually focused on living
life rather than memorizing passwords, tweeting trivia, engaging with
video games, Facebooking, and texting. Much of that time was spent
thinking, reflecting, and doing real things–often hard things– rather than
watching people pretend to do real things on television. They know more
about the human experience and the struggles of the human soul. They
have regrets. Regrets we can learn from and, if we are wise, strive
to avoid.
- Old
people are done with ladder-climbing and can speak the truth without fear
of losing a job, donors, followers, blog readers, a career track,
supporters, customers, conference invitations, record deals, or a popular
reputation (those things shouldn’t impact any of us…but let’s be
honest. They do). Do you ever wonder why modern-day preachers
rarely speak out against heresy the way New Testament apostles did in
virtually every New Testament epistle? It’s simple,
really. We don’t want to lose our platforms. If we speak the
truth, we’ll anger the liberal heretics on the left, the conservative Pharisees
on the right, and the money-changers who rule both and who control more
of the religious trinket and publishing empires than we’d like to
admit. Truth is, we value acceptance over faithfulness—that’s why
we hoard influence rather than dispensing 100 proof Truth. Old
people just don’t care about that kind of pretense any more. They’re
no longer trying to climb the ladder, so if they offend gatekeepers and
aren’t invited to the latest conference, it’s OK. They probably
don’t want to fly all the way out there anyway. They don’t have to
walk on eggshells, fearful their church following might shrink, which in
turn would shrink their own reputation, which would in turn shrink their
own income and lifestyle. It’s already shrunk, due to empty nest
syndrome, age limitations, and the general downsizing of life that takes
place at that age. It’s so easy to justify compromise when we’re
seeking fame and influence that we don’t recognize we are doing it…. until
we get old and don’t need the fame to feel good about ourselves, the
income to sustain a very comfortable lifestyle, or the reputation to impress
the flock into buying our stuff. Old people can truly view people
as…well, people, rather than religious consumers. They are prepared to
give people what they need, rather than what they want. Having lived
most of life, they have a better understanding of what people need,
whereas younger people have a better understanding of what people want.
They are willing to dispense spiritual surgery to address the rot in the
soul, rather than hand out pretty Band-Aids, pain killers, and
entertainment that do little more than cover up soul pain and make it feel
good for a while.
- Old
people have walked with God and have seen and heard most all aberrant
theologies and pharisaical perspectives. They’ve seen personal
shipwrecks caused by every kind of perverted theology from liberal “grace”
abusers who turn grace into licentiousness, to conservative, legalistic Pharisees
who have extra rules and rules and more rules for everybody. Most of
them have lived on both sides of the fence at some point in their lives
and have learned to major on the majors and minor on the minors.
They fight for the gospel and ignore secondary issues, where the younger
guys still fight for influence, acceptance, and a viral blog post, Instagram
shot or video.
- If
they are truly regenerate, the older they get the more aware they are of
their own shortcomings and the vastness of the grace of God. They’ve
learned to enjoy growing and living in grace, and responding to it with
obedience and gratefulness rather than callousness or performance
standards. They aren’t impressed with themselves and don’t waste
much time on nonsense. They realize how silly 95% of the stuff
people on earth get excited about on earth really is. They know they
don’t have another 50 years ahead of them and so the things of eternity
are becoming clearer to them as the clutter of life is pulled away.
They still believe God has a sense of humor but they somehow sense He
isn’t laughing at most of the stuff we are laughing at on television.
They are more serious about life, and yet often less anxious at the same
time. They spend less time stressing in the pursuit of coolness, and
more time resting in the pursuit of godliness…less time striving to be
accepted by ungodly people or churchy people and more time enjoying the
acceptance of God they already have.
Sure, there is a tendency in old age to become a grump, a
curmudgeon, and a luddite resistant to change and technology. But that
shouldn’t prevent us from learning and listening. After all, young folks
have a few undesirable tendencies too.
So, that’s why I increasingly listen to old guys, not just
dead guys and young guys.
Do you want to know what is temporal and cool? Talk to
a millennial. Want to know how to make money? Talk to a boomer.
But if you want to be wise? Listen to some faithful
old guys and ladies who have walked with God two or three times longer than
you’ve even walked the earth.
The internet is filled with wisdom from some of these
folks…people like Alistair Begg, J.I.Packer, Peter Lord, or
Steve Brown, John Stott (recently deceased,
sadly) and Billy Graham come to mind
for me.
But you don’t have to just listen to “professional”
Christians. Some of the godliest and wisest men and women you’ll ever
meet might be just down the hall in your own church.
Or even in your own family.
Lets learn from those who came before us and are still with
us.
Source: http://worship.com/2013/08/why-i-listen-to-old-people/
