Young & Old - Both Needed

Lyman Bryson wrote: "The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believe that experience is a substitute for intelligence." Doesn't that point up the fact that we need both young and old in our churches? We need the optimism and enthusiasm of youth. We need the experience and wisdom of age. One tempers the other. It is so easy to go off optimistically without thinking through the ramifications of a problem. It is equally easy to be content with things as they are and not see the possibilities for improvement.

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J. Michael Shannon is professor of preaching at Cincinnati Bible College in Cincinnati, OH.