Children today have obviously broken the old mold of ‘being seen and not heard’. In the church I see the child rearing techniques of yesteryear applied to our current senior population. Here are a few reasons I think the church leaders want their seniors to be seen and not heard. --Their presence allows the church to boast of being ‘inter-generational’. --Even though their physical stature is shrinking, they still make good ‘pew filler’. --They are obedient…standing through lengthy praise songs as long as possible. --They are financially generous and have given up attempts to question the budget. --They are deemed mature and therefore low-maintenance. Their requests are answered by God, relieving the church of any responsibility. Personally I’d like to see ‘seasoned’ members speak up and insist on receiving the honor, respect and attention that Scripture grants them.
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Gail;
----Now remember, "It's not about you!" Or so these contemporary leaders would cry out. And if that were a reference to me, they would be right. It is not about me. From my perspective, and from the perspective of the seniors among us, it is about the "other". So, I will agree with our contemporary leaders: for the seniors, it is about the children, the "others".
----So then, if it is about the children, just what is it that is about the children? Is it the frivolty, party-time, and whims of the children that it is about? Or is it the nurture, the edifying, and the spiritual safety? I vote for the latter.
----Who exactly is more trained in the knowledge of the Lord, more matured in the practise of the Word of God, and has the more perspective from more life experiences, the little ones just out of the foolishness of their teenie years, or the filled ones two sets of teen years and more beyond their foolish teen age? I vote for the latter.
----Paul exhorts us to put away our childish passions, to be sober, and to grow up into the fullness of the stature of the Lord. That is aged perspective. So, it is only reasonable that the ones who, by holding influential and respected stature among the saints, would do the church the most benefit towards this ambition of Paul are the seniors. They have lived, perservered, and humbled themselves the longest. Even Peter tells the younger men to be submissive to the older men. These well aged ones are the treasures who can make the church rich in godliness. But not when they have been quarantined.
----Therefore the elder can not sit down in silence and allow the younger to reign unfettered in the church. Any good daddy knows when his child needs corrected. A good daddy does not sit down in silence and allow the child to run the household. Where has our commitment to the household of the Lord gone? Where has our commitment to the Lord led us? Godliness must well up in all of its gentle expression and stand against sin when it presents itself, especially when it is present in the leading from the elders and ministers.
----Partiality is a sin. And we all know how partially you precious seniors have been treated. Responsibility to the Word is about you, and it is about time.
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