Elevation Church:
Hillsongs:
And these pastors. Steve Furtick:
We picked these because they are visible and popular, not because they are necessarily representative of the Church as a whole. Nevertheless, these young hip people are becoming the face of the Church.
There is undoubtedly a shift to youth in recent years, particularly in worship teams. In fact, we were unable to locate a worship team picture where any of them appeared to be more than age 35. Among pastors it is much easier to find older men, but nevertheless, skinny jeans and hip language is getting much more common.
Is this automatically bad? No, but there is a risk if these churches are purposely installing young attractive people regardless of their maturity in the faith, or even, regardless of whether or not they're Christians. And given recent reports that certain prominent younger people have fallen from the faith, it certainly seems like there could be a lack of maturity that makes elevating a younger person to public ministry risky.
Another risk is to be in opposition to the Bible. The Bible counsels us to consider the age of a person when godly wisdom is required. Young people certainly can be wise, and we should not disdain them (1Ti. 4:12), but a combination of age, a long walk marked by faithfulness, and extensive wisdom gained from a deep faith experience must be properly acknowledged and valued in the Church.
We are personally acquainted with situations where the older persons in the church are not valued, their wisdom and experience is not commended, and their abilities and insights gained from experience and study is not consulted. This should not be.
Let's consider some Scriptural counsel:
Le. 19:32 “‘Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.
Job 12:12 Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.
Pr. 16:31 Grey hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.
Pr. 20:29 The glory of young men is their strength, grey hair the splendor of the old.Old Testament Stories
The famous story of Moses' father in law, Jethro, speaks not only to Moses' failure, but to Jethrow's wisdom borne of age and experience:
Ex. 18:13-24 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood round him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand round you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”
17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.
21 But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.
In this case Jethro addressed a too-common phenomenon, that is, the guy in charge trying to do it all himself. But the biblical principle we wish to note here is, an older man gave wise counsel to a younger man, a man in leadership.
The next story is of Solomon's son Rehoboam, who rose to power after Solomon died:
1Kg. 11:43-12:16 Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.12:1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away. 6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. 7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, `Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, `Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’ — tell them, `My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’“
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13 The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfil the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. 16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home.
Rehoboam properly consulted the elders, but apparently didn't like what he heard. So he went opinion shopping and got what he wanted from his friends. The result? This was the beginning of the divided kingdom, which lasted hundreds of years.
It is interesting that Solomon, for all his wisdom, did not impart understanding to his son Rehoboam; or maybe Rehoboam simply didn't implement it. We know Solomon understood this. He writes about the disgrace of his people:
It is interesting that Solomon, for all his wisdom, did not impart understanding to his son Rehoboam; or maybe Rehoboam simply didn't implement it. We know Solomon understood this. He writes about the disgrace of his people:
La. 5:7-12 Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. La. 5:8 Slaves rule over us, and there is none to free us from their hands. La. 5:9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. La. 5:10 Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. la. 5:11 Women have been ravished in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. La. 5:12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect.Solomon knew that they were under judgment, and one of the pieces of evidence was that the elders were not respected. Ezekiel repeats this theme:
Ez. 7:26 Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will try to get a vision from the prophet; the teaching of the law by the priest will be lost, as will the counsel of the elders.There is value in the counsel of the elders, and if it is absent one might rightly think that it could be because there is sin in the Church.
The New Testament
The old stories are interesting, but how do they come to bear on the contemporary Church? How did God intend the Church to be organized? It is clear that the pastor/top dog/CEO model is not biblical. Peter clearly spells out the leadership structure of the local church:
1Pe. 5:1-4 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Paul agrees:
1Ti. 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
The elders are the shepherds are the overseers. They direct the affairs of the church. This is why Paul and Barnabas went from church to church to install elders (Ac. 14:23). God intends the local church to be governed by wise, experienced, faithful older men.
Paul wrote to Titus, who was on assignment in order to put churches in order.
Tit. 1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.Paul instructed Titus about what he was to teach:
Tit. 2:1-5 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no-one will malign the word of God.
Unfortunately, age does not automatically yield wisdom or maturity. Sometimes the older people need to be taught to be what they should be. Paul knew it was important, because the proper order of the church was to have wise and faithful older people.
Paul discussed with Timothy the proper order of the church as well. Timothy was also at a particular church on assignment:
1 Ti. 5:1-3 Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers. Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.That respect keeps in view the critical role older people ought to be playing in the church. A church that cannot or will not keep older people close to or in the leadership will not prosper in the Spirit. It may have all the trappings of a young, vibrant, up-and-coming church, but the foundation will be suspect.
Peter comes out and directly tells his readers about older people:
1Pe. 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.
Conclusion
It is our considered opinion that the local church must find a way to utilize and honor the older folks in their midst. Not only is this a matter of obedience to God, it's a matter of having a healthy, thriving church that is filled with the Holy Spirit.
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