I don't think I could ever count all of the anti-aging products sold at a cosmetics shop, or how many Ellen DeGeneres Cover Girl commercials I see on TV. This culture is obsessed with youth. Why do you think calling someone "young" is at the height of compliments, while calling someone "old" is offensive and tactless? This culture, unlike most in the past, values young over old.
Now make no mistake - the physical effects of aging are no blessing. They're a curse, one which resulted from the Fall. But the underlying maturity and intense societal value of those older in age is a blessing that no young person can have. Yet culture mocks. With an obsession over looks, the remarkable role that the elderly play in our society is brushed aside. Young people are prettier than old people - so in the eyes of this culture, that somehow makes young people better.
I began this post by calling this cultural theme strange. And it is. This idea has only become mainstream in the last few hundred years, and compared to the Bible, it is shown to ring sharply false.
Over and over throughout the Scriptures, we see the model of the old training and teaching the young (e.g., see Paul's counsel in Titus 2:1-10 and Solomon's (among others) wisdom in Proverbs and Song of Solomon). The older generations are given the greater tasks and responsibilities, and the young are meant to watch them, learn from them, and grow because of them. The older are the wiser and the more godly; the younger the more foolish and spiritually immature. That is the way the world works. Yet in God's economy that doesn't make the old necessarily better as people than the young. We are all of equal value and inherent dignity in God's sight.
That is how God designed it - older should be greater in wisdom and spiritual maturity and the younger should respect and grow from them.
"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life." (Proverbs 16:31)
That doesn't mean that there aren't some young people who are wise and mature beyond their years or older people who lack that maturity. But it does mean that with more years comes more wisdom. And we should praise that! We should rejoice with age and celebrate the birthdays that mark more maturity.
But recently I've discovered that this peculiar cultural theme is not always just "out there" in the world; rather it has leaked into the church. May we strongly combat this! Age is not a curse. Scripture shows us that with it comes wisdom and abundant blessings.
This strange cultural theme has had a massive impact on how we (even as Christians) view age. Let's reject this false trap that youth is the ideal and growing older is a curse. May we shun the devaluation of age. May we embrace the ideas presented in Scripture that with age comes blessings and maturity, and may those of us who are still young seek out those older than us and learn from the wisdom that they have.
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