No Age Limit (Friday Devotional)

Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

- 1 Timothy 4:12

99% of the time, my son Andrew is incredibly sweet with his baby sister Katherine—he talks to her, he hugs her, and he makes an effort to include her in everything we do as a family. By and large, his transition from only child to big brother has been as seamless as we could have hoped for.

But of course, he’s only human—and three years old at that. So when he was playing with his remote controlled train set the other day and Lindsey asked if he’d be willing to let Katherine hold the caboose, his brow furrowed with suspicion. Searching for the right words, he finally frowned, put a protective hand on the caboose, and said, “I think maybe trains are for when she’s bigger.”

By the end of the week he was happily sharing his trains with her (in fact, insisting that “she wants them!”), but that initial skepticism was a compelling reminder of how quick we are, at any age, to think less of those younger than us. Whether it’s senior partners vs. junior partners, college students vs. high schoolers, or 3-year olds vs. 3-month olds, age has a way of creating a hierarchy, as well as a presumption that more experience automatically translates to more wisdom. Being young too often means being overlooked and underestimated.

But among followers of Jesus, things ought to be different. In Christ, worldly divisions are set aside—“there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). So with that in mind that Paul was able to tell his coworker Timothy to let no one disregard him because of his relative youth and inexperience, but to bear witness to Christ with his words and actions.

There’s a twofold command in there, depending on whether you are the elder or the up-and-comer in any given room. When you are the person with the most years and the most experience, this verse serves as a call to humility. It’s a reminder that God equips the called, whether they’ve ‘paid their dues’ yet or not; it’s a prompt to listen even when you think you’ve already got the answers.

As for when you’re the youngest person in the room, this verse is a call to boldness, a declaration that discipleship is for everyone, not just the most qualified. Proclaiming the gospel in word and deed, Paul makes clear, is not a task reserved for an elite band of elders, but something the young and old alike are called to do.

Our natural tendency is to look down on those younger than us—for that matter, anyone we consider ‘beneath’ us. Like Andrew with his trains, we think certain things should be reserved for when you’re bigger. But as the Lord who praised little children and old widows alike makes clear, the kingdom of God has no age limit. Everyone willing to speak the words of life gets a chance to talk.