by Ben & Marianne Janssen
There is No Retirement in God’s Kingdom
It is only 70 years ago that the western world introduced the concept of retirement at age 65. This was done because of economic reasons and many people that age did not want to retire. Their work was their life. Slowly but surely the retirement idea was introduced as a good thing, a sort of reward for the many hard years of working. Now the world is hooked on it and people are looking forward to their last years on earth, golfing and looking for seashells.
Retirement was never God’s idea and it should not be ours either. Yes, many are forced to quit their job at age 65, but now start to see it as an opportunity for an awesome life of ministry till Jesus returns. We meet a lot of people who cannot wait to retire to start a whole new experience as servants of Christ. One of them was Sehat. He was sitting in the first row of chairs right in front of us. His wife was sitting next to him. We right away noticed their zeal and attention, continually writing notes and carefully listening to what we were teaching.
Ben explained that in the three days of church planting training he would supply the students with building a highway right through the jungle of their church planting experience. At the end of the teaching they would have no problems to follow the four lane highway supplied with clear markings. They will come to their destiny of starting a new church with ease. We looked at their faces and we saw that, yes, this is what they wanted and needed. Too many times they tried and got stuck in the tough jungle experience of planting a new church. Ben further explained that the vehicle they would drive with on this highway is subject to their culture. They understood, because reaching people for Christ is not done everywhere the same way.
When it was time for the students to present their vision, plan and timeline Sehat stood up and showed us an immaculate paper, where every detail of his vision and plan was outlined. He was going to start a house church together with his wife and with the help of his pastor. He would have lots of time, because he retired last month. The church would start in their own house and the budget was not a problem, because he now had a pension and he would finance the new church himself. He showed his appreciation to us by thanking us profusely, that we had so clearly taught him how to follow the four lane highway of church planting through the jungle. May the so called retirement years become the most fruitful years of Sehat’s life!
Photo Credit: Ben & Marianne Janssen
