I love movies like "The Patriot" that are full of honor, sacrifice, courage, love, and grace for the sake of others, however in today's society it seems that everyone has been disqualified from something, for some reason, by somebody. Our society has become more and more judgmental and elitist to the point that we seem determined to do the opposite of honor, sacrifice, courage, love, and grace by excluding people, cutting them down, and ultimately disqualifying them.
I believe one of the "elitist" areas of our society has to do with age. It seems we have over glorified people in their 20's and everyone else is either too young too understand anything or are too old and therefore are obsolete and too old to understand anything...
Although we shouldn't overlook the Timothys, the Davids, the Solomons... in this blog I want to focus on the lost art of listening to the wisdom of those who have a lot of wisdom because they have run the race well over the long haul... grey hair and age alone is not a qualification to be an "elder"... because frankly there are many unwise people both young and old!
Below is a portion of an email I sent to some "Elders" in my church:
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I want to encourage you, I want to speak directly to your hearts and hopefully you will hear mine as well. I need you in my life! I need your council, wisdom, insights, love, experiences, & humor... OK well maybe not your humor :) , but the rest of it I DO need in my life.
As most of you know my mother committed suicide when I was in 8th grade, my Grandfather passed away a few year after that, and my Dad passed away a few years ago... this has left a void in my life because I can no longer call my Dad and ask his opinion and insights on things. Yes this void has been part;y filled by other men and God, but there is room for more...
I am NOT the only younger man that has this void in their life. I need you men... "The Elders" in my life... and I have heard this more and more from many young men in our church...they are eager to hear from you, hear your stories, hear your hearts, and Godly insights. We want to honor you and hope you will hear us inviting you to become even more involved in our lives.
Here is a short video I would like to share with you:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=6862b0f13133736da5c0
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=6862b0f13133736da5c0
Here is a scripture I would like to share with you:
1 Peter 5 - "To Elders and Young Men 1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness ofChrist's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to berevealed: 2Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care,serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you arewilling, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager toserve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examplesto the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receivethe crown of glory that will never fade away. 5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. Allof you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."[a] 6Humble yourselves,therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in duetime. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls aroundlike a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him,standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothersthroughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory inChrist, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restoreyou and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power forever and ever. Amen."
I welcome any and all of your thoughts and feedback on this email and really hope you hear this as encouragement that "You ARE Needed and useful"!
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That email has started a conversation with these men and I believe more to come!
Lastly, I want to leave off with a powerful story about a little known program called "Honor Flights for Veterans to D.C."
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