I just mailed a birth day card to a fellow who was my associate in one pastorate. He will turn 81 in a few days, but he still ministers full-time to a congregation in New York. His wife, 10 years younger, pastors alongside him.
For the past several years this man has said he is going to retire. When it comes time, though, he postpones it for another year. "Why should I quit?" he says. "I'm healthy. I love the work. God is good to me, and the congregation is growing."
As I sent greetings to this friend, I received a note from a seminary class mate who lives in the Midwest. He has pastored here and there, mostly small congregations, for the 20 years since our graduation.
His letter was nostalgic as well as tragic. He had read that another member of our seminary graduating class had just been assigned to a church of more than a thousand members. "So where does that leave us?" he asked. And then he went on to write that he had just lost his job and that his wife had left him, saying that she had never loved him. He was asking for my prayers.
While thinking on these things, I stopped in to see a pastor friend in northern New England. On the front page of a morning paper, we chanced to see the news that a well-known Protestant church leader had confessed to adultery, leaving his congregation of several thousand.
My friend read the headlines with me.
Then he looked up, astonished, and said, "Is there any guarantee that I will make it through?" He is in his early 30s, married, with two preschool children. He is pastoring his second church.
When I arrived home from that visit, the phone rang. A close pastor friend in Florida was on the line. He told me that he had just heard that a mutual minister friend on the East Coast had submitted his ordination papers because of immorality. His congregation was in shock.
Yet right across the street from where I live, there pastors a clergyman who will retire soon, after many years of faithful service to one congregation. The people have loved him dearly; he has given his all in service to their needs. When they finally bid farewell and call a younger man to that pulpit, there will be many tears. This man will know that he has lived the good life. He has fulfilled his calling and will retire with fond memories. Both pulpit and pew will be settled in the truth that a man of God has done his best.
I am at a crossroads myself. I am not facing retirement, but the second half. And I catch myself looking both ways—backward and forward. From both directions I hear voices—some encouraging, others warning.
What can I do to be a better person for the Lord? Four suggestions come to mind for making the transition to the second half go smoothly.
Recognize changes
Face up to the changing times. In many ways the ministry is not what it used to be. Consider musical tastes, for example. When I was a boy, our church was enthralled by the evangelist who brought along his pianist wife. Her fingers would fly across the keys. She could play the most fantastic offertories. And she would join him in singing rousing duets that made our spines tingle.
Today our religious entertainers come in threes and fours, and bring their orchestration with them in a collection of black boxes that glower at us from the platform. Microphone wires crisscross the stage, or even hang from the ceiling. Some groups even bring along a choreographer!
Preaching styles have changed too. It used to be that in the "Bible-believing churches" a preacher or evangelist convinced his hearers of his earnestness with sweat on the brow, a high pitch to the voice, and a white handkerchief gripped tightly in the hand.
Today we have many messages delivered with a counseling cadence. Some even add props such as overheads, black boards, diagram charts, and colored slides. It is not uncommon for fill-in-the-blanks outline sheets to be distributed to the congregation prior to the sermon. Talk-back sessions have been scheduled in some places so that the hearers can dialogue with the speaker over refreshments in a fellowship hall.
Growing up in an evangelically oriented church, I was accustomed to altar invitations. Never did a service close without an invitation hymn. Maybe a Christmas program could get by without it; but even then, more times than not, the invitation was appended in order to make certain that no unsaved soul left the sanctuary without a chance to receive Christ as Saviour.
Today the invitation is still present in most fundamentalist churches, but not necessarily at every service. Where it has disappeared, clergy may ask the hearers to take advantage of speaking with them after the worship or make an appointment to talk about spiritual things.
Camp meetings used to be special summer excursions for the church people. There they could get those heavy doses of evangelistic fervor, spiritual introspection, Bible studies for hours at a time, tent meeting shoutings and hand-clappings, and gospel sings. No one cared about the clock. All the saints prayed for the blessing to come down. Altars were lined with seekers, especially at the final service.
Today camp meetings are held here and there. But in addition to the evangelistic emphasis, there may be sports events, social pastimes, denominational promotions, craft hours, and teen extravaganzas. And when it comes to the preaching, much of it rests on nostalgia, recalling for the hearers the old days when the glory descended, conviction came, and sinners fell to the dirt floor with tears streaming down their cheeks.
In gearing up for the second half, you will need to face questions about the old and new in ministry. What is good about the new music, and what is not so good? How would God have us preach in a nu clear age with its fear, sophistication, calloused ears, numb innards, burned-out lives? Are altar invitations still effective? Are other means of reaching people just as effective? Will different approaches work at different times?
Make room
My second suggestion for the second half is: be prepared to move over and let someone else have a crack at it. At this stage in my life, I see members of the hierarchy retiring or near retirement. These were men who commanded. They were in the driver's seat. People held them in awe. Annual reports were woven around them. District meetings were catered to their whims. Denominational goals were hammered out on their anvils. Speeches that came from their lips were published.
But now they are fading. They are be coming shadows. They used to have the power; they don't anymore. Their word was law; now we hardly hear their word at all.
So it is meant to be. That is the way God intended it. He planned it all so that human egos would not grow too large. "All is vanity." Only one Person is finally to reign, and He has seen to it that all others sense their subordinate status.
Now when I flip through church journals I see new photos and read names I have never heard before. Impressive paragraphs follow the opening sentences where the author attended school, what books he or she has had published, pastorates served, and offices held.
Yet given time, these too will begin to disappear, and still another set of cards will come up. Another line of faces and degrees and places.
If you want to enjoy the second half, be gracious to the young ones.
I recall one fellow who was determined to hold on to his footing. He wore a scowl that was supposed to project his authority. Even the way he walked seemed to be contrived to strike fear into the younger men. But it didn't work. When he attempted some maneuvering to keep his ground, some of those coming up through the ranks outdid him.
It just might be that if those in the second half treat the younger ones with a winsome hand, the older ones may in turn receive Christian graces as time moves on. Among the young there is always a longing to have someone older to look up to, to revere, to learn from. Those who are smart will take kindly to the younger set while moving on into the second half.
Simplify
Third, learn to enjoy the simple things in life more and more. As life moves on, it is good to count your blessings more frequently. Little things take on a special glow—good food, some favorite items of clothing, afire in winter, one's spouse, a few particular books and records, a well-worn vacation spot, and some trusted friends.
When we are young, we have an ambitious agenda. We hear of the "step up" and determine to go for it. Even in the pastoral ministry, we have our temptations. Or should I say especially in the pastoral ministry we have our baiting?
But when spying out the second half, your dreams can take on a more refined perspective. Questions may linger: Could I have it better in the second half? Can I now do the balancing act so as to have my cake and eat it too? Why must life pass by so quickly, with still so much unaccomplished? But deep inside, you know that experience has already given you the answers.
As you move into the second half, it is time to take stock of your marriage and family. Family is always important to a minister, and it becomes even more so in the second half. With the empty nest period around the corner, husband and wife will have more opportunities to be together. Will it be a good time, rich in companionship, or will you just keep the treadmill moving?
An ever higher regard for the pastor's wife should come to the fore in the second half. She should be allowed her individuality, allowed to exercise her creativity and find fulfillment. She will be applauded for her strengths and achievements. And the minister himself should shield her from those who would seek to rob her of her personal time.
Slow down
Fourth, in the second half you can anticipate a slower but steadier pace. When I was young, I never scaled a staircase one step at a time. I always skipped a step, maybe two. I can remember my mother telling my father that there would come a day when all that would stop. It has.
For years I was never home evenings. There were too many souls to be won, too many programs to see through, commit tees to get under way, buses to run, lights to burn. I kept a checklist of things to do the next day beside my bed, and checked them off one by one.
When the phone wasn't ringing, I was dialing it. I read books while driving, and listened to tapes while falling asleep. Then came 18 trips to the hospital emergency room to get heart tests. Pains shooting from my chest down the left arm signaled trouble.
When the doctor completed his test, he would look at me and say, "Tension." I would climb off the examining table and head home, determined to slow down. But I didn't.
Now I have slowed down. I realize now that all that running around was sense less. Of course, no one could have told me that when I first began. Some tried. But I couldn't hear them.
It is true that in one sense life is short. But in another sense life is long. There really is enough time to do what God wants us to. So there really is no need to sacrifice one's family and marriage in order to do the King's work.
If we follow the Lord, not running be fore Him "whatever betide," there will be time for everything worthwhile. And that includes hobbies, refreshments, reading hours, and walks by the brook. After all, if David had been caught up in the same sort of rat race we live in, we never would have had Psalm 23.
I think that the second half is the special time for cultivating the luscious gar dens of the soul. When younger, we are fortunate to have a few dandelions sprouting; but when getting older, we should have some rare flowers blooming even if we don't make the denomination's statistical charts.
To everything there is a season. Youth is so exciting with its outlandish promises and dreams. But following the Lord re quires more than dreams and promises. Through the years the currents that move more deeply take effect, and our ministry can grow stronger, even in the midst of our changing world.
