A while back I had a conversation with a young man. He asked me what church I belong to and I told him, “I do not belong to any organized church.” He told me he was moving close to where I lived, and he went on to say that what he really wanted was to get in a Bible study with men his age. I told him of some churches in the area he could check out to see if they have what he was looking for.
After this conversation I began to think why would he want to meet only with men of his own age? What he said was, “I want to meet with young men going through the life issues he is going through.” My thought was why not have some older men involved as well, who have gone through life issues that he is facing? I was impressed by his request for the knowledge of God, but was a little disturbed by his request of only young men.
The more I thought about this on my prayer walk, a thought came to me that it was a sign of the times we are living in. A new generation has come that does not want to hear from those who have already gone through life’s experiences with sound wisdom to impart, but rather to hear from those who think there are new ways of successfully going through life experiences. I was reminded of a young man in the Bible who had the choice of listening to older men or to his young friends. He listened to his friends and it split the nation of Israel in two.
As I talk with older people today, most young people do not ask the elderly about their life. As a matter of fact, most reject any wisdom they might have. I’m thankful for some who still want to hear from the older generation about their struggles, and to pick their brains on how to overcome, and mostly, to allow the older generation to pray over them.
Throughout history the young went to the older folks for their thoughts and wisdom from experience, or answers to personal questions, but this is not the case today. Maybe I see it more now than when I was younger since I am one of the ‘old folks.’
Could this be a sign that we are living in the last days when the godly wisdom of the old is not honored or even tested by most of the younger generation?