Is age just a number?

Last week at the dog park, I mentioned to a couple of ladies that I was a pastor at one of the churches in town, and the immediate response was, “aren’t you a little young to be a pastor?” 

While I am always tempted to tell people that I am older than I look, that isn’t really the issue at hand.  The questions I would like to pose are these:

Since when do you have to be a balding or grey-haired man to look like a pastor?
(Trust me on this, when I am with my colleague, strangers will actually ask him if he is a pastor, tell him that he looks like one, and then after it is pointed out that I am also a pastor, apologize and tell me I don’t-I take it as a compliment.)

But more importantly…
When did it become surprising for a person to decide to do something respectable with their lives before they reach middle age?

Is this not really the issue? 

We have become a culture that values youth, but not what young people have to contribute to society.  I constantly hear concern about the lack of young people in the church, and yet almost as often hear, “what’s wrong with young people these days is…”  Many older adults want young people around, but assume there is something wrong with them?  Is it just me, or is that a contradiction?  This attitude stretches far beyond the reaches of the church.

My fear is that it has come to a point when the desire for the presence of youth/young adults is to make sure that there is someone to carry things on.  But carry things on just as they have been is not what young people will do.  Instead, the young of our culture have ideas and dreams for what the world should be like (and what the church should be like), as well as frustrations with how things are.  In fact, young people today are much like young people of the past: idealistic and hopeful.  They will look to make improvements when and where they can.

Unfortunately, after years of not being listened to, hearing what is wrong with them, and basically being treated like they have no voice until they are in their thirties (at least), young people have just sort of given up on the chance to have a voice, do something significant, change the world.  They are settling in and acting like other people expect them to.  Only the very determined and stubborn have fought their way through to a place where they can be heard…like the pulpit.

And so, in response to the question: No, I am not a little young to be a pastor.  I am a young adult who has chosen a way of life that comes with power and respect, and opportunity.  I pray for the wisdom to lead, the compassion to serve, the courage to stand up for what is right, and above all the words to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.  These are qualities I believe do not belong only to the aged.  I have hopes that the future holds something different than the past and the present when it comes to hearing the voices of all who have something to contribute.