Is Retirement Really a Biblical Concept?

It may seem paradoxical for us at Servant Solutions, being a retirement plan provider, to ask the above question. As we travel the country, we try to help redefine retirement in a biblical context. Many have different views concerning what the concept of “retirement” is all about – confusing it with what our secular culture says about it. However, no matter what our calling, the reality is our bodies do break down and our physical, mental, and social capacities wane as we age. As you think about retirement, you must understand that planning financially for this season in life is more vital than ever if we want to be the servants God wants us to be in our later years – having the margin and flexibility to give/go/serve where He calls us – as the “call to ministry” never goes away. Please enjoy this thought-provoking article by Hugh Whelchel, Exec. Dir. of the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, as he writes about this dichotomy below.

If work is an area in which we offer ourselves to God, how should Christians view retirement?

Many people believe retirement means withdrawing from work or labor in order to enjoy life to the fullest without obligation, commitment, or worry. You can do what you feel like doing whenever you want to do it. Retirement is all about you. It is a reward for all your hard work.

This isn’t the attitude toward retirement we see in the Bible.

Retirement in the Bible

The only place the Bible mentions anything like retirement is found in Numbers 8:23-26. God tells Moses that the Levites, the priests charged with serving God by doing much of the work in and around the Tabernacle, were allowed to begin working from age twenty-five until the mandatory retirement age of fifty.

These retired priests did not pack their bags and spend the rest of their lives at the beach in Tel Aviv. They were expected to mentor younger men in their trade by providing the wisdom and leadership that came from twenty-five years of experience in serving the Lord. In his commentary on Numbers, Adam Clarke states,

They were no longer obligated to perform any laborious service, but were to act as general directors and counselors. This helped the younger men assume more responsibilities, and it allowed the older men to be in a position to advise and counsel them.

All other examples in the Bible are of men who worked most of their lives, if not all of it.

John the Apostle served and wrote into his nineties.
Moses was eighty years old when he went to Pharaoh and asked for the freedom of the Israelite slaves and he continued working until he died at age 120.
Daniel was probably in his eighties when he was thrown into the lion’s den.
In Titus 2, Paul instructed the older men and women to teach younger people how to behave through their example.

On Christian Retirement

Today, if a Christian is fortunate enough to supply for his or her needs without receiving a salary, he or she may retire from their job or career at any time.

However, a Christian never retires from serving God through his or her vocational call. While we may have moved into a new season in our lives, God still calls us to grow and invest our gifts and talents in the work that he is doing in the world.

For Christians, retirement should be a time of increased opportunity to do God’s work. Work is part of God’s design.

Each of us has to decide how to redeem the time God has given us. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15). This means taking every opportunity we have to serve the Lord. For many, retirement may give them new ways of working toward the kingdom, be that in paid work, in relational activities, in voluntary commitment, or in the ministry of prayer.

There is inherent dignity of labor in Scripture, and God calls us to labor in his vineyard until he calls us home. Our labor may not be at one particular job, but we have to be actively productive as long as we possibly can, being faithful to our vocational call to glorify God, serve the common good, and further his kingdom.

John Wooden, the famous NCAA basketball coach, was a very committed Christian and is one of my all-time heroes. After winning his ninth NCAA basketball title at age sixty-five, he retired from coaching but did not stop working. Until the day he died at age ninety-nine, he remained involved at UCLA, wrote a number of books, and was often quoted and consulted. At the end of his life, Wooden, like the Apostle Paul, could say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).

May each of us be able to say the same.