Senior Status
When I reached my new home for the next 6 months -- in Kyrgyzstan -- I was given my key and told that I would be living in the "Senior Leadership Dorm." Huh? Who? Me? Senior?
Recently, I had problems with my tonsils. Typically, one has tonsillitis when you're 8; not when you're 43. Maybe I've always been a bit slow. But I have managed to delay my acute and chronic condition until my 40's. When the doctor examined me, he said, "You usually want to get your tonsils removed before you get this __________(fill in the blank)______." Can you guess what he said? That's right! Old! The doctor called me old!
Then, the other day, someone asked me about my job. They asked, "What is your position?" This person, knowing that I'm a military chaplain, wanted to know what I did, specifically. So I responded, "I am the SENIOR Protestant Chaplain." There's that word again! Senior. It's seems I am having my senior moment.
Just when does one become Senior? Senior Citizen? Senior Chaplain? Senior Pastor? Where was the magic line that, evidently, I have crossed? It used to be, people would say to me, "When you're older, you'll be an excellent pastor," or "When you have more experience, then you can implement your ideas." There was always a tone in people's voice, or a gleam in their eye, that let me know, in unspoken ways, that I hadn't arrived yet but that, when I did, it would be grand.
Now, I'm wondering, did I miss it?
So I turned to my Bible...old, trusty friend. I read about Abraham, who was quite "senior" when God put him into action..."action" with his wife, and with her handmaiden. What a guy! "You go, Abe!" Then I read about a young Joseph, despised by his brothers, sold into slavery, and later, locked away in prison unjustly. Contrast that with Joseph when he is older, wise and willing to forgive his brothers, recognizing the hand of God, even when no one else did. I read about Moses as a young man: educated, entitled, and enraged by the injustice against Israel. I also read about Moses when he's old...full of excuses, but willing to trust God, and willing to talk back, plead, pray, and act when either "his" people needed it, or God demanded it. I've looked at David, anointed young, but who had to wait, what must have seemed like an eternity, to become the King that God had chosen him to be.
I've decided: age means nothing. Just because someone is old, it doesn't mean that they are wise, or experienced, or qualified. Just because someone has rank, or a college/seminary degree, or a title, doesn't mean that they can't be a complete jerk, an insensitive slug, or an incredible ignoramus. They can! Believe me. I can! People are quite capable of letting you down. Sometimes, I let myself down. Just because someone is young, it doesn't mean that they are energetic, full of youthful ideas, or ready to "take on the world."
People are as unique as Hebrews 11:32-40, in all their foibles and in moments of tremendous faith. What I want to have in common with the "seniors" of the Bible is this: they kept pressing on and never gave up. They knew that God was calling them forward, onward, and upward, to a heavenly city and an eternal hope. I hope that is evident in me, in all my senior moments!