As you grow older in life and work, thoughts of retirement begin to enter your mind. There’s the financial aspect—have I saved enough to retire? And then there are the social and cultural aspects—what will I do in retirement and who will I spend it with? The idea of retirement is enticing through years in the daily grind of work and responsibility. Certainly if there is a point where you can just stop, wouldn’t it be great? Think too of retirement in a spiritual sense. What would God have you do during the golden years of your life?
The origin of retirement. The concept of retirement from work is a concept that is only 150 years old. In 1881, Otto Von Bismark, the King of Prussia, proposed a radical new idea to his parliament—government-funded support for older members of society. After eight years of legislating wrangling, Prussia instituted the first program to provide for people over 70 years of age. Few lived to access the benefits, as 70 was the life expectancy at that time. But until the late 1800s, around the world, people worked until they died. It was during this same timeframe that US public servants—police, firefighters, teachers—started receiving public pensions in some larger municipalities. By the 1920s, many private industries, from railroads to oil to banking, were promising employees some support in their later years.[1] The retirement concept coincides with the rise of cities and industrialization. In agrarian societies pre-1800s, families cared for their own elderly members, and people worked for as long as they were physically able.
In the US today, 67% of workers have access to a financial retirement plan.[2] Worldwide the concept of retirement, or at least social provision for senior adults, has been adopted by a majority of nations. The US and European nations exercise various forms of government-sponsor social security. In China, the China Welfare Institute was founded in 1938 as a state-run nonprofit that cares for the elderly. In Saudi Arabia, one can retire at any point after making 25 years of mandatory pension contributions, with the country’s massive oil revenues making up any government shortfall for retirees. In Iceland and the Netherlands, if you have lived and worked in the country for at least 40 years, you’ll receive a state-paid pension beginning at age 67 for the remainder of your life.
The Bible contains a great secret related to retirement that you probably didn’t know. The Bible never mentions retirement. In fact, the concept of retirement in any form is not found in Scripture. Hebrews 4 speaks of heaven as “God’s rest” multiple times, referring to our eternal home as a place of rest and refuge: “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). The Bible’s view, then, is that we will continue to fulfill God’s work and purposes on earth until we die, and then enter His “rest”—which is heaven, or paradise.
If the Bible doesn’t mention retirement, and our culture encourages and provides for retirement, what should our view of retirement be? The Bible never mentions indoor plumbing or air travel, but we have accepted those into our lives and faith without issue. While lack of a retirement concept in Scripture is not saying that we are expected to work until we die, the Bible instead draws a distinction between life on earth and life in heaven that should affect our view of retirement.[3]
While we may stop working weekly at a job for a paycheck at some point, the Bible is clear that we should continue some activities in life as long as we are physically able. Central to our role in God’s story of His creation is that we are granted by God a number of years and that we should make something God-honoring of them. Indeed, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). And again in Job 14:5, “Our time on earth is brief; the number of our days is already decided by you.”
Wisdom and influence. Later in life, it is our experience that may hold great value for the next generation. The Bible tells us that “Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old” (Job 12:12). Even Solomon, who the Bible says is the wisest leader who ever lived, sought the advice of older men to help him lead the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 12:6). As we move toward our retirement years, through our money-earning vocation may wind down, we should not view our work on earth as completed. Rather we should consider how what we have gained in wisdom and knowledge over may years may now impact and influence others.
The concept of mentoring the next generation is widely accepted, but many retirees don’t look seriously at how pouring life experience into others may shape the future. Famous music producer Quincy Jones was mentored by Ray Charles. President George W. Bush was mentored by evangelist Billy Graham. Tech billionaire Bill Gates was mentored by investment billionaire Warren Buffet. Even Plato had a mentor—Socrates mentored Plato and influenced his work in Greek philosophy. Later Plato would mentor Aristotle for many years in Athens. Legendary poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was mentored by a teacher as a young girl who sparked her love of writing. But you may not know that Angelou was a mentor later in life to billionaire media personality Oprah Winfrey. Angelou’s influence moved Winfrey to launch schools in Africa to pass down wisdom to another generation of young girls. Oprah commented, “I don’t think anybody makes it in the world without some form of mentorship. Nobody makes it alone.”[4]
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/how-retirement-was-invented/381802/
[2] https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/67-percent-of-private-industry-workers-had-access-to-retirement-plans-in-2020.htm
[3] https://gracefinancialadvisors.com/blog/is-retirement-biblical
[4] https://wiseupnetworks.com/blog/top-9-influential-people-who-succeeded-because-of-their-mentors
As a leader, you’re not over a what, but a who. To lead is to influence others in a way that helps them grow personally, professionally and spiritually. Leadership is fundamentally about influencing people.