The body slows down. Memory starts playing tricks. Stories get repeated without meaning to, and sometimes there’s a pause to find a word that used to be right there. The world starts looking past people at a certain age. Like the lines on a face are evidence that someone’s done now, that whatever they had to offer has already been given. Usefulness gets weighed up and found wanting.
Look around. You can feel it, can’t you?
Young people prize speed. Novelty always seems to win out over actual knowledge. There’s that sharp dismissal in someone’s voice, or the patronising smile, or the way conversations just happen around you instead of with you. Your grandchildren know their phones better than they know your stories. Care homes get built on the edges of towns, and visits get less frequent, phone calls shorter. We might be watching the first generation that gets archived while they’re still alive.
When the church follows suit
And sometimes the church mimics the world. We do it without even noticing. We platform youth and sideline the senior saints. We assume energy and creativity matter more than endurance and character. Our rotas fill up with the keen and the tireless. We forget the quiet oak in the corner, the one whose roots reach so much deeper than the latest trend.
God sees differently
But God’s perspective? Completely different.
He sees depth where we see decline. He celebrates growth while the world laments ageing.
Scripture offers a clear view of growing old. “They will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green” (Psalm 92:14). This promise is not just a twee saying. It represents hope. Roots grounded in grace. Sap that continues to flow. The kind of fruit that doesn’t come quickly or easily. It requires decades of faithfulness, a journey through all of life’s challenges.
This is why the Lord instructs older men and women to teach and guide the younger generation (Titus 2). Not because they were flawless in their twenties. Not because they haven’t struggled since. But because wisdom develops through grace.
Years spent in the Word create a beautiful transformation. God sanctifies through life that’s then reflected in growth in patience, courage, self-control, and hope.
To youth ministers: you need them
If you lead youth ministry, listen. Your young people need more than someone skilled in memes. They need real-life examples of how the gospel is sufficient for life in all its fullness.
They need to hear laughter that has endured sorrow. They need to see eyes that have cried but still look upward. They need stories of God’s mercy shared without rush or pretence. Faith that stands firm during setbacks, relationship break ups, job losses, funerals.
Your older church members hold treasures. Somewhere in your church, there’s a ten-year-old who needs to borrow someone’s hope. She needs to witness joy that has weathered storms. She wants to hear a prayer from a voice that shakes yet still trusts.
The young don’t just mimic our methods. They absorb what we love.
Don’t assume the older saints can’t connect. Bad knees and loud games? Sure. Names they might forget by the second week? Maybe. But they hold a treasure chest of truth that your young people desperately need to see lived out.
To older Christians: you’re needed
Do you feel hesitant? That’s understandable.
You might think you’re finished with hectic schedules. True. But your ability to be fruitful hasn’t ended. You may not engage with TikTok. Fair enough. But you can speak truth. Think about what you carry. Your wrinkles demonstrate the enduring nature of grace. Your grey hair declares, “He kept me.” Your slower pace tells others, “He walked with me.” Young people need to see and hear your testimony. Not once. Repeatedly. Until it truly sinks in.
Why this matters for the whole church
This isn’t just about filling a rota.
When older believers serve in youth ministry, they provide something the rest of the team simply cannot. Stability. When everything feels frantic and shallow, their presence grounds the whole ministry. Their quiet strength becomes a sermon without words.
Youth leaders can point to them. They can say to a nervous teenager, “Look there. Do you see that? That’s what faith looks like at eighty.”
Then the realisation hits. Faith is not just a phase. It’s life.
The joy you might discover
There’s joy in this as well.
Children have a unique ability to reignite your sense of wonder. Their questions get right to the point. Why did Jesus cry? Does God hear me if I whisper? Can he forgive me?
You might have become routine in your worship. Then a child asks something simple, and suddenly the gospel comes alive again. The room fills with curiosity and chaos. The kingdom feels very close.
What this could look like
So what might this actually look like in practice?
Be the steady presence who shows up. Listen to their doubts without panic. Share honestly about your own struggles with faith when you were their age. Let them see that wrestling with God is part of following him.
Answer their hard questions about suffering, about science, about why church feels boring sometimes. Tell them stories from your own life that show how the gospel holds up under pressure. Pray with them in ways that feel real, not performative.
Show interest in what they care about. Ask questions. Remember what they told you last week. Let them see you fail and recover. Let them watch you trust God when things don’t make sense.
Stand at the door and remember names. Offer comfort to those who feel anxious. Encouragement to those who are struggling.
All of this sits within your church’s safeguarding framework and team training. None of it needs to be flashy. All of it is planting seeds.
A call to both of you
To every youth minister reading this, invite them in. Persist gently when they say no the first time. Train them. Walk alongside them. Let your young people see what seventy years of walking with Jesus actually looks like.
To every older Christian reading this, set aside the excuse that someone else could do better. That someone else might actually be you. God has granted you these years for a reason. Use them to invest in the next generation.
Share His faithfulness until the children in your church understand.
Remind them Jesus is enough for all stages of life.
