This is a post about Baby Boomers who have ruined everything and I am among the guilty. Idrees Kahloon wrote this thoughtful article about issues with my generation, especially in terms of hoarding wealth, staying too long in our careers and overstaying our welcome in several of life’s other arenas.
I’m a big fan of my generation stepping aside when younger people and fresher ideas are needed and this has sometimes resulted in accusations of ageism. The truth is that I hope people (in any generation) will retire when they no longer find joy and fulfillment in their vocations. Maybe that happens when you’re 80 or maybe when you’re 55. I can’t begin to count the number of clergy colleagues who stayed too long in their churches to the point that those congregations could no longer afford a full-time pastor. (I know. Ouch.)
It would be optimal, of course, for all of us to find energy and deep satisfaction in what we do for our life’s work. But some people “can’t retire” even when they’d like to because they can’t afford to retire. They are raising their grandchildren or their own children from a late-in-life marriage. They are helping elderly parents afford home health care. They still have debts to pay off. Or they can’t stand the thought of losing the identity they’ve known for the past 40 years.
How can generations work together to make the world more equitable? (Note: these ideas are founded on spiritual values rather than political ones. Wealthy Boomers: I’m looking at you in hopes we will forego some of our own comforts to support those coming after us . . . because Jesus.)
What can we do as disciples of Jesus?
- When unused church property can be made available for housing that Millennials can afford – even though those new more modest homes border older neighborhoods – do we support those efforts? Where I live in North Carolina, many churches were established on farmland with many acres of unused property around their buildings. Jesus said something about hoarding. Believe me, those churches do not need to save that acreage for future Christian Education buildings or parking lots.
- Just as term limits are good for politicians, they are good for church leaders. In my denomination, officers are limited to serving only two consecutive three-year terms as elders or deacons. And after a year “off” they can be elected for one or two additional three-year terms. Instead of saying that “nobody else is willing to serve” as the excuse for electing the same people over and over again, ask why that’s the case. Maybe you have too many people on your boards. Maybe you refuse to consider younger members (whether “younger” in your congregation means teenagers or fifty-somethings.)
- Apart from officers, have the same people been in their volunteer positions for more than ten years? Have we enjoyed the leadership of the same person to be the Vacation Bible School Director or the Lady in charge of Coffee Hour, or the Confirmation Teacher for as long as anyone can remember because “nobody else will do it” or “it would break their heart to take that job away from them” even though (respectively) they no longer like children or they grumble about baking cookies or they complain about “young people today” while fulfilling those duties? In healthy congregations, there are also term limits for volunteer positions.
Apart from what church people can do, I like Samuel Moyn’s idea (again, read the Kahloon article):
The wealthiest Social Security recipients, for instance, could forgo some of their scheduled benefits, which could instead be contributed annually to “baby bond” accounts for America’s children, a source of capital to be used in adulthood.
Love this idea. I, for one, am wealthy in spite of the fact that in the first 27 of 42 years of professional ministry I earned the minimal pastoral salary and it shows if you knew my net worth. Nevertheless, compared to the rest of the world, even those of us who made financial sacrifices in order to serve in the non-profit sector are rich. Sharing is not “socialism.” It’s the way of Jesus.
I’m guessing that many of you, Readers, will take issue with this post. But we have a great opportunity to crack open the old ways of being leaders, investors, and disciples. Let’s do it.
A Church for Starving Artists 