I have been following Jesus for forty-eight years. That sentence can sound more impressive than the reality, so I want to be clear about what I mean. I do not mean forty-eight years of steady spiritual ascent. I mean forty-eight years of being carried by grace while learning, failing, confessing, repenting, obeying, and getting back up.
Scripture and the ancient world assumed something our culture increasingly resists: age creates real social distinction. The young were taught to honor age, and the aged lived under an expectation that their years ought to have produced gravity, restraint, memory, judgment, and wisdom. Age itself carried honor; character determined whether an older man became worthy of imitation.
That creates a healthy reciprocity: the young are taught to respect age, and the aged are taught to become respectable. Our culture has weakened both sides. It flattens generations while also relieving older men of much of the burden to become the kind of men younger men should watch.
I want to do my small part in restoring that pattern. Not by demanding admiration, and certainly not by presenting a polished spiritual résumé, but by allowing younger men to see what a long dependence upon Christ looks like. The responsibility of an older man is to become worth watching.
At sixty-seven, I am farther down the road. I am still following the same Man. Come with me.