The idea that we are all meant to just retire into a hopefully long season of leisure funded by decades of work (or indeed the work of others) — is very recent, barely two generations old.
Before the modern welfare state existed, most people worked until they died absolutely couldn’t work any more. That wasn’t hardship. It was normal and expectations were different. No party that expects to survive long would ever dream now of interfering with our ‘right’ to a good pension.
But how should Christians, and the leaders I write to serve, think biblically about this?
The Bible never treats physical aging as a reason to step off the spiritual battlefield, rather – it presents seasons of life as opportunities for deeper obedience, greater influence, and renewed purpose that should accompany added maturity not just added years.
The modern retirement dream is simple: Work hard. Step back. Slow down. Enjoy comfort as long as you can.
It sounds reasonable. It feels earned, deserved, however, have we baptised a cultural script and called it Christian?
The Unsettling Truth: Retirement Is Cultural, Not Biblical
In biblical thought, life doesn’t divide neatly into “work” and then a long period of entitled rest. This Sunday at Ivy I’ll be talking in the morning about life’s rhythms of Sabbath and Jubilee — times of rest and release – changes are inevitable, but not withdrawal from purpose. The modern idea of retirement as a long, comfortable pause between 65 or so and death is a cultural invention first dreamed up by the Kaiser for retired soldiers, not a biblical bye for Christian warriors.
What’s more, expecting life to end in comfort runs directly contrary to how God forms leaders and disciples. God doesn’t make believers for comfort — He makes them for obedience.
Caleb at 85: The True Model of Faithful Later Life
In the Old Testament, Caleb is my counter-cultural hero on aging. At 85 years old he stands before Joshua and says:
“I am as strong today as the day Moses sent me, and now give me this hill country…”
He doesn’t ask for a quiet cottage or a long cruise. This Braveheart still wants to pick a fight. He doesn’t step back into ease he steps up to the giants. He doesn’t redefine life by comfort and consumption – he chooses conquest. Imagine is God’s people recovered that view of biblical aging: not as a time to withdraw and walk the dog, but to press on and take hold of the inheritance of promise.
Caleb didn’t see all those years as a disqualification. He saw them as providing residual strength forged in battles of faith. That’s a model the Church desperately needs today.
This Is the Age That Needs a Sage
We are living in the most ‘informed’ generation in history – and one of the least formed.
Never have people had so much access to info through Podcasts, AI, YouTube, courses, content on demand. But information is not wisdom. Data’s not discernment. Memes don’t grow maturity. This is precisely why the Church must rethink retirement. Because this is the age that needs a sage.
Younger generations are not lacking knowledge. They are lacking anchors and examples. They are not short on content. They are short on covenantal models of faithfulness over decades. They need men and women (whether single, married or widowed) who have walked through suffering (as parents or not) without losing conviction. Who have navigated disappointment without abandoning hope. Who have seen cultural tides come and go – yet remained steady because their house is built on rock.
You can’t just Google any of that. It’s learned in life and death and grief and laughter and can only be passed on life to life, as Caleb’s daughters went on to receive their inheritance later because he never gave up the fight.
Caleb Christians are not trying to be young and cool. They are trying to be faithful and remain hot not lukewarm. I’m just getting to the age and stage where I talk more about pensions than I ever did, but what scares me most is not that I don’t have enough to live on, it’s that I forget what I and really meant to be living for! If and when older believers quietly withdraw into private comfort the Church loses its generals. But if they step up – mentoring, modelling, praying, speaking with gentle and humble authority everyone wins when they become the sages this restless age desperately needs.
Information is getting faster but Wisdom walks slowly. And someone has to walk ahead.
The Church’s Problem Isn’t Aging — It’s Misunderstanding Callings
Culture says: Work until you’re old enough to stop and spend your pension.
Scripture says: Spend your whole life bearing fruit — at every stage.
The psalmist declares that the righteous will still bear fruit in old age (Psalm 92:14). Paul says, “I have fought the good fight” – not “I’m glad to be done.”
So the question I want to be asking isn’t:
“When can I retire?”
It’s:
“Where’s God still calling me to fight now – and next?”
Caleb didn’t retire from the mission — he reclaimed more of it – saying ‘GIVE ME MY MOUNTAIN!”
Retirement vs Reassignment: A Kingdom Distinction
Of course as I will say on Sunday, the Bible says there’s time to rest. Our bodies need rest. Wisdom recognises seasons of renewal. But resignation – the idea that purpose fades by default as strength fades — is not biblical.
I love the idea the Japanese call ikigai – your reason for being. The reason you get up in the morning. It’s not all about money! Ikigai = the convergence of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can contribute.
The Christian vision goes even further when we realise that our “reason for being” is not self-discovered – it is God-given. Calling doesn’t clock off. It matures. It simplifies and is shaped. It deepens. It does not disappear. You may change lanes or even slow down. But you don’t have to lose your direction. God never designed human beings merely to exist. He formed us for meaning, stewardship, and contribution. That dignity has no expiry date until we are called home.
When purpose remains, joy follows! True spiritual maturity reshapes how we see aging:
Not as an exit,
Not as an easy life plan,
Not even as a retirement
But rather
a refinement where
experience earns authority and
faithfulness is the inheritance you pass on
So yes: you can stop paid employment. But you never stop being a disciple of Jesus, or a steward of what God has entrusted to you.
The Modern Script Is Dangerous, the Biblical Story Is Redemptive
Our culture’s retirement narrative tempts us toward:
self-protection,
consumption,
withdrawal from influence, while making sure your funeral plan is paid up so you don’t leave a fuss for anyone after you.
The biblical story calls us to:
stewardship till our last breath,
wisdom offered to the next generation,
obedience that outlives our strength with a message to pass on of hope beyond the grave when we are promoted to glory.
A Better Question
So what if instead of asking:
“What will I do when I retire?”
Ask:
“What hill country is God still calling me to take?”
That’s the question Caleb wanted to figure out at 85. It should challenge and shape our faith today.
Be a Caleb: A Call to the Church’s Later Years
I want to be a Caleb Christian as the years roll on. I’ll keep running Parkruns as long as I am able, stewarding my body – not trying to be forever young so much as always up for it. Wholehearted. Embracing the inheritance God has in store for me. Nobody knows the future and it’s wise to plan financially as best we can but Spiritual retirement is not a thing. When I look at so many Bible characters I see that later years are not meant to be less, but greater years.
Moses was 80 when he entered the ring against Pharaoh.
Abraham and Sarah’s answer to prayer didn’t arrive when their bodies were in their prime – but they ended up laughing when what was humanly impossible happened.
Anna was praying and prophesying in the temple every day until she saw the answer in her 80s.
Someone reading this is just counting down to retirement. What if heaven is counting on your refirement?!
The world says, “Slow down, stay safe, protect comfort, fade quietly.” Caleb says, “Give me the hill country.”
How about us?
You can retire from a job. You cannot retire from a calling. Ask now for a REFIRE. And ask God for one more hill to take.
However long we have left – may we not spend our final years asking for comfort, but crying out for calling. Not, “Pass my golf clubs,” but, “Lord, give me my hill country!”
PS. I knew an old lady who started walking 5 miles a day when she was 80.
