Past it?

We live in an ageist society.

I am not just saying that people deliberately discriminate against people who are older; what is equally noticeable is the way that youth is lionised. These days, if you want to catch anyone's attention as a social commentator, you have to be young - and the younger the better.

Of course, the irony of me even making these comments as a fifty-something is that I come across as a grumpy old woman, when what I really want to ask is: why is society in general - and the church in particular - content to dismiss the wisdom that only comes with maturity and decline the gifts of older people?

I remember my parents telling me about their experiences of ageism. Little did I know, in my early forties, that I was just about to experience the same thing! When I was about 42, I had a discussion with a minister about whether God might be leading me in to the ministry. He pointed out my age and warned me that I would soon be considered "too old" by those who made the decisions about accepting ministers into training. When I expressed surprise about this attitude, I was told (by someone else in the denomination) that the church would be investing in me and needed to make sure that the investment was “worthwhile”. Since then I have had many such experiences.

I understand, in worldly terms, why people make such comments, but what do they tell us about the view within the church of God's calling on a person's life? Are we supposed to believe that God stops calling those who are over 40? If so, what are we to make of the calling of Abraham (at age 75) and Moses (at age 80)? And what of the Holy Spirit? Is he incapable of acting through anyone with a few wrinkles on their face?

In case you think I am drawing these views from my own experience alone, I recall some older members of a church telling me how hurt and dismayed they had felt to be told by someone senior in their denomination that the church was full of “old fossils” and needed to change. These “old fossils” were the people who were most active in their church. They longed to see new people in their church but did not understand why they were regarded as somehow less valuable members. And we have all heard people complaining when members of their church want to retain at least some of the old hymns and saying they are fuddy-duddies and “stuck in the past”. Since when did we start dismissing the validity of people’s views on the grounds of their age or when they were born?

The Church is supposed to be a place which questions societal norms, including those which value the contributions of some and devalue those of others; which calls the people of God to work for his glory every day of their lives; which believes that those whom he calls - however strange the call may seem - he also equips; which values the unique giftings of each, whatever their age, and wants to use those giftings to the fullest extent for every day of their lives. Lest we forget, some of Simeon’s last words were a prophecy from God (Luke 2:29-32).

The Lion of Judah roars just as powerfully in the voice of an eighty-something preacher and the mighty hand of God stretches out to heal through liver-spotted fingers. It is time the church rose up and started acting and speaking prophetically about the value of people of all ages (young, middle aged and old) instead of mimicking the youth-idolising culture of today.