John Piper’s new book “Rethinking Retirement” is a call for older saints to not waste their lives. This is a message that Piper repeats often, it’s something the American church needs to hear. Piper always provides a sobering call on issues often overlooked. Here’s a section from Piper’s book “Don’t Waste Your Life” which illustrates his concern;
Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.” At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: “Look, Lord. See my shells.” That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life. (Don’t Waste Your Life, 45-46)
Get the point? In his new book, Piper challenges Christians who are finishing their formal careers; He writes…
I am sixty-two years old—just about the oldest baby boomer. Behind me come 78 million boomers, ages forty-three to sixty-one. Over 10,000 turn sixty every day. What will it mean to live those final years for the glory of Christ? How will we live them in such a way as to show that Christ is our highest Treasure?
John Piper argues that it will mean a radical break with the mindset of our unbelieving peers. Especially a break with the typical dream of retirement. Too see the book click here.
Piper also wrote an article where he discusses the question “Should I Invest for Retirement?”
DR. MATT CAPPS 