It has always bothered me that someone under the age of 21 could serve our nation in combat and come back home to be told they were not old enough to enjoy the same rights and privileges afforded to those over 21. While this bothers me on a cultural level, but it also rubs me the wrong way when it comes to the Church.

Maturity is not reached just because someone has attained a certain chronological age. It is a condition of the heart and defined by how they were able to navigate through the struggles of life with honor and integrity. I have known 18-year-olds who were more mature than some 50 year-olds I know.

Those of us who are older need to become advocates for those who have earned a place at the table of rights and privilege the rest of us enjoy without question. The young men and women who have proven themselves have earned the right to live as fully and freely as any citizen of our nation or any citizen of the Kingdom of God. It is only right to honor them by giving them a place at the table extending to them an invitation to join us in the feast of our shared freedom.