November 5, 2025

“You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honor the old. Fear your God; I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 19:32

I have gotten to the age where, when something needs changed or fixed on a computer or smart phone, I often hand it off to one of my kids. They have lived their whole life with these technologies, and they are usually able to figure them out much quicker than I can. As a society, we have come to depend on technology quite a bit. Because of that, the people who are good with these technologies are often thought to be the “smartest” people around. As this is our measure of intelligence, we have come to value the youngest minds and write off the vast majority of previous generations as being “old,” “simple,” “confused,” and “out-of-touch.” As we value technology more and more, it seems we value the older people in society less and less, even joking about how our elders can’t seem to navigate this complex, digital world.

The Bible has a very different perspective on things, however. Wisdom, which is much more valuable than simply being “smart,” comes with age. The Bible is full of phrases like “wisdom is found in the elderly” (Job 12:12), “gray hair is a glorious crown” (Proverbs 16:31), “you who are younger, be subject to the elders” (1 Peter 5:5), “speak to older men respectfully” (1 Timothy 5:1), and “honor your father and mother” (more than 8 times in the Bible). Quite the opposite of being lost in this world, Scripture teaches us that our elders are full of wisdom and worthy of our respect. Those who you think are “out-of-touch” might possibly be the wisest people in your life. The more we devalue the older people around us, the more wisdom we miss out on. So, I encourage you to set down your smart phone and have coffee with the old man or woman at your church. You probably won’t learn anything about computers, but they have an abundance to teach you about life.

Father, teach us to honor our elders. Let us be a people that is obedient to your Word in this area of our lives, not being fooled by the world’s emphasis on technology over wisdom.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Shane Cannon