maturity not age

In an earlier post I linked to a Pyromaniac post regarding "old soldiers to defend old truths". The Pyro post was a quote of Charles Spurgeon. David Mohler added a wonderful comment there that I think is worth posting here. He reacted specifically to Spurgeon's point that "New converts furnish impetus to the church, but her backbone and substance must, under God, lie with the mature members."

Interesting words for a man who preached his first sermon at age 17 having been a "recent" convert only fourteen months prior.

While reading this, I was also recalled that Calvin was only 27 years old when the Latin edition of Institutes was published; Luther was only 34 when he offered his challenge against indulgences.

Weren't these three men young soldiers who had yet to fully brace themselves for the smoke and fire of the tempest? It seems to me that such is often the case; the fourth man in Job's story, Elihu, articulated his own frustration with the de facto notion that "old" means "wise" or "tested".

Many examples throughout Church history, even recent history, show that age - even experience - is not the key to eldership. Spurgeon does, of course, tell us what the key is: "mature Christians".

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Spurgeon's concluding statement, "...we need also the cool, steady, well-disciplined, deeply-experienced hearts of men who know by experience the truth of God, and hold fast what they have learned in the school of Christ." is altogether true. But at the outset of this excerpt he says, The old guard, the men who have breathed smoke and eaten fire before, do not waver when the battle rages like a tempest, they can die but they cannot surrender.

The "old guard" is not our hope. A core of "old guys" does not necessarily equate to a core of mature Christians any more than a "youthful" elder board equates to immaturity and inevitable failure. There is ample evidence that God frequently uses young, inexperienced (and sometimes uneducated) men to correct the course of the Church, and Spurgeon is a prime example. The disciples are another.

We would be quick to point out that youthful leaders do not ever operate in a vacuum; but that also applies to the "old guys". Just because they have been through earthly fire (which, in human eyes, can look more noble than it is) does not mean they are immune to wavering "when the onslaught is fiercer than usual". Contrary to Spurgeon's idealistic assertion, they can and do surrender from time to time. If that were not true, we would not have the mess in the Church that we have today: somebody wavered.

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I think that maturity is needed but maturity is not the same as being old or even "seasoned".