Column by Sumter Pastor Joey Durham: Our elders are a treasure in church
I want to thank you for reading our Gleanings from the Open Bible Baptist Church. The thought that my Lord has laid upon my heart for today is, "The Jewel that a Senior Saint is to God and His Church." We are living in a day when great value is not being placed upon the older generation of our day. In fact, many religious leaders of the Emerging Church movement feel that the older saints are not as needed in their churches. I recently read where a leading religious leader of today stated concerning the senior saints in his church that "there needs to be some blessed subtractions before there can be any real additions." I believe that to be very inconsiderate of the precious people that have paid their dues, kept the lights on, paid the bills by sacrificing and praying and serving in their church through one hardship after another. They were not presumptuous; instead they were and have always been faithful servants to their Lord and Savior.
I find a king in the Word of God by the name of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and he is about to make the greatest decision of his career. Rehoboam is the newly placed king of Israel, and he seeks counsel from his top advisers. In 1 Kings 12:6-8, we read these inspired words, "And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men, that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, How do ye advise that I may answer this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him:" (KJV)
What a blessing it is to have older people in your church and life that are able to counsel you and share things with you that will head off potential mistakes by imparting sound Biblical counsel. It is a treasure of intrinsic value to be able to sit at the feet of an elderly saint and just listen to how God has brought them through one valley after another, through one tragedy after another and through one heartache after another. These saints are people whose steel has been tempered in the fires of all that life and Satan have thrown at them, and they have come out on top with great strength because of great faith in the God of Heaven! So, please don't set aside these treasures and think that they have nothing to contribute to your life and ministry. They are rare jewels that God has placed in our life to help us. After Rehoboam's kingdom collapsed, he probably realized the mistake he made. May we not make the same mistake.
Dr. Joey Durham is pastor at Open Bible Baptist Church at 180 Old Manning Road in Sumter. You can contact Pastor Durham at durham.joey@yahoo.com or call the church office at (803) 481-9315.