Retirement In Context - Retirement Rework

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved [perfection], but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NLT)

After completing three major journeys spreading the gospel, the man who wrote these words found himself imprisoned in Rome. Scholars debate Paul’s age at the time, but he certainly wasn’t in his 30s or 40s, with a long life ahead of him. He was apparently in his late 50s to early 60s.

Based on the retirement dream we pursue today, Paul would have been better off going back to Ephesus—a beautiful place of architectural marvels, economic importance and religious significance. If he was going to enjoy his last season of life, he would want to be somewhere like that, right? Instead, Paul was living as if he didn’t care about dying for his calling (which occurred a few years later).

Today, in our 50s and 60s, we’re planning a season ahead with a much different objective. Instead of pouring ourselves out, we’re more focused on filling ourselves up. How did we get this mindset?

Before the 1900s, few people retired; they worked until they died. Then their family picked up the baton and ran the same race. Lives were run by the sun, not the clock. When the Technological Revolution entered stage left in the early 20th century, industry expanded rapidly.

Shortly thereafter, the first World War wreaked global havoc. By 1933, U.S. unemployment had swelled to 25%. The government responded with the Social Security Act, and for the first time age 65 began to emerge as the “normal” retirement date. For economic reasons Washington wanted to incentivize people over 65 to step away from coveted jobs that were rather labor-intensive (it was common for workers to stand at an assembly line for 12 hours a day). The vacancy could then be filled by younger workers with longer timelines, greater stamina, and families to support. Maybe working was a younger person’s game.

But is that how we work now? Is unemployment still at an all-time high? Are younger people better at our jobs today? The answers don’t really matter, because it feels like this retirement dream can’t be undreamed.

You may have assumed that retirement was just something humanity has always done and soon it will be your turn. You spend a third of your life as a kid, a third working as an adult, and then a third chilling. Not exactly.

After nearly a century of this retirement experiment, the results are mixed ... very mixed. Our happiness, in fact, is decreasing. Turns out we thrive most when we have responsibility, when we know we’re still having to work hard for something … when we know we’re contributing to society and the lives of others … when we’re living for something worth giving our lives for.

The very word retire carries an undertone of something that’s old, tired, worn out, not as useful as it once was, even obsolete. In a thesaurus, we find synonyms such as recede ... withdraw ... retreat ... recall ... cease ... stop. Such things may be biblical for a short time in order to be refreshed. But not for 25 years.

The truth is that today’s retirees are better off financially than ever before, giving them the flexibility to contribute to society through work because they want to, not because they must. They’ve gathered more valuable wisdom than most others in the workforce. They are more tech-savvy than the generation that preceded them. They aren’t going to be asked to stand for 12 hours to keep their job, because much of work today is intellectually based. Their health is much better than generations past.

Why are we so eager to move into a season where we forfeit structure, identity and a lot of meaning in our daily lives?

The apostle Paul encourages us to move forward with purpose. To pursue a calling beyond ourselves. To push back against earthly desires. To focus our lives on living out our God-given purpose all the way to the end of the race.

God has a calling for you after age 65. I can’t tell you exactly what your future should look like. But I’m certain you should face these questions as you design it:

• For what reason are you here on earth?
• How can you make this season less about you and more about others?
• How are you going to press on until the end?

The answers to those questions are something worth dreaming about.