New 9Marks Piece on Congregational Ageism

The new 9Marks issue is online at the 9Marks website, and I encourage you to check it out. This issue, the November/December edition, deals with the church's role relative to culture. Various authors address this matter, men like Michael Horton, David Wells, and John Frame. There is much good material to be read and digested, and I hope to do so myself.

I have an article in this issue. It is on the problem of congregational ageism. I'll leave it to you to read it or not, but I'll attempt to entice you to read it by leaving you with the article's teaser:

"As early as I can remember, Miss Elsie Dennison was my Sunday School teacher. The years have swiftly passed, but I can see her now, clear as then. She’s 75, a little hunched over, with brown hair that I now suspect wasn’t entirely natural. She’s standing in a classroom in our small Baptist church in coastal Maine. There aren’t many of us; just three or four kids. Yet a magic is in the air. Miss Dennison loves us, and she teaches us the gospel, using the church’s flannel-graph board and her own earnest faith. There, in that little classroom, young and old joined together in the name of Jesus Christ.

This kind of gospel unity across generations is challenged today, as some Christians over-emphasize friendship with their peers and lose out on opportunities for cross-generational fellowship. This separation—called ageism—diminishes the gospel’s power."

Please don't hesitate to voice any comments or questions in the comments section. I read every comment posted on this blog and chew them over. They often influence, affect and help me, and so I thank any who do comment. With that said, enjoy the new 9Marks issue. There is probably no better collection of Christian writing and thinking on the web that is totally free. Check it out, and link to it so others can do the same.