Now that I am a senior citizen and the Lord has blessed me with over seven decades on this earth I have learned from experience about respect. Unlike many children, youth, and young adults of today I was taught respect by my elders and superiors.
Serving in the military and from day one respect was demanded by training instructors. I had no choice but to show respect to him, the United States of America, and to our flag. Many in my boot camp hated the first few days of training because of the harshness and rudeness given to them by the instructors but by the end of our six weeks they had learned the meaning of discipline, respect, and honor. Yes, there were some that stuck to their rotten attitudes and unwillingness to change so they washed out of boot camp and were sent home with a discharge other than honorable.
The same holds true in our workplace, communities, and our churches. Spending many years in the media business I have seen tremendous talented young people come into the business only to exit early because of unwillingness to follow instructions, listen to their older counterparts, and properly learn the trade. I have also witnessed young political officials lose their positions in the community because of their arrogance and lackadaisical demeanors toward the people that elected them and then put them out of office the same way.
Many churches have also adapted to new modern day ideas that have pushed the senior adults to the back. Instead of respecting the opinions and their ideas it seems that the younger generation of ministers have their way of doing things and the respect for the ones that have lead the church for many years doesn’t seem to work anymore. Change is good even in churches but losing respect for the ones that worked in the church for many years is detrimental to the church also.
There are many churches flourishing because of the senior adults. These people are respected and their activities and ideas are revered because it is as the Lord leads them. My wife and I visit churches in several states because of where our children and grandchildren live and it is amazing to see the differences in leadership. Many are young churches with a young crowd and are doing very well but the few senior adults with them are very well respected and their opinions are valuable and appreciated.
Please don’t take this in wrong way. New and young leadership is great and their ideas are very valuable however, don’t push aside what has worked for many, many years. Ministries change, some for the better and some are not so good. All of us need to remember that God is in control and we need to stay in touch with Him instead of learning and leading the way of the world.
Proverbs 19:20 tells us, “Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise.”
