Too old? Says who!

This post is not aimed at a particular church or a particular pastor and is not in response to a recent event. It is a commentary on things that have occurred over the last ten plus years and in response to a general mindset in the church today..................................Jim Chitty

I’m 42 years old, and the “conventional wisdom” among most churches in America seems to be that I am too old to serve in the area of ministry that God called me too back in 1991. I’m talking about youth ministry. It’s amazing how so many churches and pastors purport to know better than God does about this. When God called me to youth ministry, His calling did not come with an expiration date or an age limit.

To say someone is “too old” or “too young” to fulfill their God given calling flies in the face of scripture and the very nature of God. God can and will use anyone regardless of age, weight, appearance, race, sex, you get the idea. For any church or church staff member to discriminate against someone based on these criteria when God Himself NEVER would is the same thing as elevating themselves above God and in effect saying that they know better than He does who should and who shouldn’t be called. That is a very dangerous thing to do.

The Bible clearly tells anyone who cares to pay attention that “God is no respecter of persons”, and that we are to “judge not, lest we be judged”. This should serve as a wake up call to churches to change their practices and their ways of doing things.

It seems that far too many churches are more concerned with appearance and perceived relevance than they are excellence, integrity, and scriptural accuracy. It appears that they would rather be led by the resume than by the Holy Spirit. One of the sad things is that they don’t see just how incredibly wrong and off base they are. They haven’t the slightest clue.

They pass over someone with experience, someone who may very have forgotten things about youth ministry that the young, good looking kid they hire hasn’t even learned yet. And this benefits the church and the youth group exactly how?? They will overlook the person who very well may be hand picked by God for a ministry role in the church in favor of someone who is not because the former is “too old” and/or doesn’t have “the look” that the latter does. How pathetically sad this is.

Hopefully this article will reach the heart of some churches and some pastors and cause them to change their ways. So many capable, qualified people are passed over and denied their destiny and their opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our youth because they are “too old” are for other ridiculous reasons. This has got to stop, and for the sakes of the churches and pastors doing these things, I hope it does. They are the ones who will have to stand before God and answer for what they have done, not the people they prevent from fulfilling their calling.

Jim Chitty