Oh, how I wish this article could get into the hands of everyone under the age of ___. What age would you put in the blank representing those who need to read about respecting the elderly? Let’s go with this arbitrary number—Oh, how I wish this article could get into the hands of everyone under the age of 65. Friends, we are in desperate need of greater respect in our land. There is a massive dearth of proper respect for all people, but especially for those who are older. Let’s consider this matter.
How many of us have been guilty of showing disrespect toward those who are “elderly”? (You decide what “elderly” is.) Perhaps they are moving too slow—at the store, in the checkout line, on the road. Perhaps they can’t see or hear you very well. “Hah? Whatd’ya say?” Perhaps they are forgetting things that they should remember or used to know. Perhaps they are saying the same thing over and over. Perhaps they are saying things that you wish they wouldn’t, which maybe is annoying you or embarrassing you. Perhaps they’re not respecting your space or your time or your efforts. How do we respond? Are we respectful? Are we disrespectful?
There is an interesting and short (only two verses) episode in the life of the prophet Elisha, which occurred right after Elijah ascended into heaven and Elisha took his place (2 Kgs. 2:23-24). As Elisha “was going up the road” to Bethel, “some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!’” Can you imagine children mocking an older man like that? Oh? You can? The next verse is even more memorable: “So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.” If we learn nothing else from this episode, it is the danger of not showing respect for those who are older (or bald).
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament gave instructions (i.e., commandments) to God’s people on this matter. “You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God” (Lev. 19:32). “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders… and be clothed with humility” (1 Pet. 5:5). Of course, this applies to relationships both inside and outside the church. For those relationships inside the church, Paul instructed, “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father…older women as mothers” (1 Tim. 5:1-2).
Unfortunately, many elderly folks could be reciting Dangerfield’s old catchphrase, “I don’t get no respect!” As children of God, let us “esteem others better than ourselves” (Phil. 2:3-4), and let us especially include in that responsibility our treatment of those who are older.