What Would You Say?
July 30, 2010
The Gig:
A week from today I will be starting one of my most interesting speaking gigs to date. I will be speaking at the annual Best Years Fellowship retreat at Beulah camp. For the uninitiated that is the annual gathering of the 55+ crew of the Atlantic District of the Wesleyan Church (ME, NB, NS, PE, NL). It’s an honour to be asked to speak to any group but this one comes with a unique dynamic which I think boils down broadly into who will be there and who won’t.
Who Will Be There:
Everyone there will be older than me. Most people there will have been following Jesus longer than I have been alive. Many folks will have known me since childhood (like my parents for example). There will be a bunch of people there who are probably more like Jesus than I will ever be and know Him better than I ever will. There will also be some folks there who are carnal grumps who quit following Jesus actively years ago but were to proud to do anything about it. There will be some there who have been examples and inspirations to me and who have encouraged me more then they will ever know. A very interesting group indeed and I have put a fair amount of prayer and thought into what I should share with them and I feel like God has given me clear direction.
Who Will Not Be There:
All that said I think I feel as great a responsibility to who won’t be there. The younger folks on our district. I feel a little bit like I have been elected to serve as an ambassador between my generation (say 35 and under) and theirs (55+). And in fact I will have some very clear opportunities to do this during the weekend. I will be preaching four times and sharing in a panel discussion of sorts so I’ll have a chance to share some of my thoughts but what about those of you who won’t be there?
Younger members of the Atlantic District family (and others if you want) what do you want the old timers to know? What would you tell them if you had the chance?
If you would prefer not to share your thoughts in the comment section you can email them to me confidentially at theajthomas at gmail dot com.
One of my my biggest struggles in faith has been when I see people who have been Christians for twice as long as I have been alive and are still carnal.
On one hand, I get that sometimes people just choose to let God grow them, but on the other, it really disturbs me that people can claim to know God for 50 years, especially in a holiness tradition, who are still far from Christlike.
I can appreciate, and even applaud, the devotion to purity that I see in many of the previous generation, but too often it seems to be blind legalism, or even a cold legalism in which rules are far more important than love or warmth or reaching out. Especially when the attitude of disassociation with sin turns into disassociation with sinners and I’ve seen too frequently a hostility towards the unreached for their sins instead of a compassion. It seems so unlike Jesus to me, and I find it very hard to rectify a life of growing to become like Jesus that ends up producing people who seems so unlike Jesus to me.
That isn’t everyone, for sure, but I’ve had enough dealings with those who are to make me question, at times, if God really works in people’s lives. I know I don’t always reflect it at times, but I’ve always looked to the elder generations as examples to follow and I’m often disappointed.
I’m sure a lot of that reflects my own junk, and I don’t know if that helps you at all, but for me, I look to the elders of the church, and I wish some of them would realize that people see what they do, how they act, and most importantly, people see their attitudes, and too often, what they show to us as an example isn’t something that I would want to follow.
That should read, “…people choose to NOT let God change them…” I left out a critical word there…
I think it would be amazing if the older generation who have this amazing wealth of knowledge would volunteer themselves as mentors to the younger generation. You are so right about a lot of them being Christians for longer than we have been alive and being so Christ like, it would be so incredible if they were able to share that with us.
Feeling ‘shelved’ is not unique to them. Every generation of 55+’ers has felt shelved. It’s a fact and transition of that age. No one with a brain is intentionally shelving them. We are listening. Their voice matters.
Each generation can’t have it ‘their’ way. Unity can only be built around vision, not style. You just can’t please everyone. So, let’s unite around the vision and whatever it is that will help us to reach the most people.
Your personal preferences can’t be more important than someone else’s salvation. It takes a pretty strong personality to say, “I want what I want even if no one gets saved.”
Age gracefully. You don’t have to like everything but you do have to be nice.
Change happens everywhere. But we only fight it in the church. That’s stupid. You don’t get calls, food, tv, or mail the way you used to. But you don’t rail about those things as if they are Satan’s calling cards. If your church is attempting some change, and the pastor can explain why, be thankful. The pain of a growing church is better than the pain of a dying church.
So…what did you say?