I read a phrase that connected me to a time in my past life. I first heard the phrase when I became a cop. The phrase is “Old School.” It can refer to old timers in any field of endeavor who have been there and done that. The phrase and its meaning stirred my memories when I visited a Facebook account called “Old School COPS.”

When Old School COPS posts something that jogs my memory, I recall how I dressed fifty years ago while on duty. I remember my old and now out-of-date duty uniform, my hat, and the older weapons we carried now considered old school compared with more modern police equipment. I saw the old cars I drove, my Sam Brown duty belt adorned with individual bullet holders, not magazines filled with multiple rounds.

As an old schooler, I still carry the heart of a street cop. I consider that assignment to be the highest of callings within the law enforcement profession. While on patrol, I loved the hunt while driving the streets of a city. Cases are made or busted by how a street cop handles the initial evidence left at a crime scene. The assignment of a street cop gets into your bones and never leaves. Today, whenever I pass a cop at a car stop, I slow down and take a second look to make sure the officer is OK.

One of the blessings of getting older is not about arriving at a particular age. It is the joy and honor of saying “I was there and lived it.” Whenever I see an old veteran wearing a baseball hat noting their time and place of service, I take note and offer respect. When I hear an older leader who has lived through all the fads and formulas of faith in their generation offer to a young leader a word of wisdom, I listen. They have been there and done that.

Within the Church, we don’t have old timers living among us as the world defines old. The world’s definition is simply a kind of way of defining someone out of the fight. Faith never gets old. Age does not dictate the quality of our spiritual life, young or old. It is all about how in this moment we will respond to the voice of God. 

An eighty-year-old can be more in touch with God’s spirit than a twenty-something still trying to look and sound like they have it together when they have not lived through enough of life to speak confidently about some subjects. The other side is also true. A young voice walking among older leaders can challenge the compromise age can sometimes bring. We need all the generations of our faith present and represented. Nowhere in the biblical record do we see people checking out and considering themselves useless because their age is either up or down on the age scale. 

 The presence of a living faith and its expression in our world is what keeps us in the fight. “That is why we never give up. though our bodies are dying, we are being renewed every day” (II Corinthians 4:16).  Aging well in our faith requires a daily renewal to keep us alive and usable in God’s Kingdom.  We can do that at any age.