Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Is retirement biblical?

An argument against retirement and sloth can definitely be made but retiring from one's career does not mean one retires from being a Christian. Many Christians look at their retirement years as an opportunity to engage further in church activities, missions, outreach and service.

Yes, i believe there is biblical support for retirement.

It is important to consider the cultural differences of the biblical setting. These were cultures that existed before the Industrial Revolution so specialization of labor was not as prominent.

These folks were agrarian mostly and so followed the paths of their forefathers.

As the head of ones family, the biblical examples that emulate retirement are depicted in the narratives of families. In these examples, a fathers sons would take on the active role in the family "business" while dad became the wise coach.

So, dad and mom were "cared for" out of the profits of the families business.

In today's culture the end of a person's productive life looks different than that of those early agrarian societies. So, as we work during our most profitable, productive years we set aside some of our profits and invest so we can be taken care of once past most of those productive years.

For families that do have a "family business", i suspect the retirement for the family business owner can be very similar to the biblical narrative. The children assume the on-going business activity and dad/mom have retirement investments as well as some on-going income from the business proceeds.

There is nothing biblically wrong with a retirement from a job or profession. Reaching a position in life to not have to work each day for a salary frees up a person to do the Good deeds the Father planned for them long ago, Eph 2:10

Free at last, free at last, good God almighty I'm free of work in 20 months.

There's a difference in being retired from employment and in not working whether a guys paints his house or tenders his garden. Most don't totally quit working unless it's feet first.

Stupid "Christian" questions like this are why so many non-Christians think Christians are so crazy.

I agree that the concept of retirement is not Biblical.

I also think Gianforte's carry on bag is probably worth more than the average person's house.








Dave

Drats, foiled again.

One trait common to most politicians, of whichever stripe, is the notion that they like to try to run other peoples' lives, with the noblest of intentions, of course. Reminds me of the pastors at my last church that thought you shouldn't ever ask for a raise, but just take whatever was offered, while they padded the payroll with every family member they could squeeze in, who did pretty much nothing, and sometimes didn't show up for months.

No doubt this clown has big plans for the Social Security money too.

You wrote almost exactly what I was going to say. I no longer have a job but I don't sit on my ass all day either.

let us be positive here you'se guys. for every job willingly given up due to retirement, etc. opens a position for a potentially under or un-employed individual to move up, and become a productive taxpayer.

being a taxpayer in this economy & culture is what it's all about. so, retiring is a worthy service to humanity.

How does this greaseball know Noah wasn't cashin' a check? That's how he had time to warn everybody that didn't listen to him and work on his boat. Lots of guys work on their boat when they retire.

Most boats I see for sale would probably take 600 years worth of work to get them back up to snuff..

Retirement is an opportunity to work less for yourself and work more for others. This concept is more than scriptural, it is just being a decent person.

well, yes. i've seen that my vehicle idles and emits far fewer emissions on the expressway now that i'm retired. much good has transcended from the decision to cut back on gasoline usage while headed to the work office.

and again to re-iterate. once we relinguish our position in the system due to retirement/death/disablement then it opens a slot for someone waiting in the wings for a chance to move forward. it's the system. it's been this way nearly forever.

so, retirement of the old folks is actually a blessing bestowed upon the younger folks who are traveling in the old folk's foot steps. it's all so simple.

Bingo!

When I retired 7 years ago, the job market was in the tank. My company was cutting 12,000 people. For every person eligible for retirement that didn't take the deal, some poor schlub was going to get the ax, and there was no way for them to know if they were on the chopping block until it was too late for them to take the buyout offer themselves. Without the offer, I'd probably still be working, waiting for my full SS. I got a good deal, was able to leave after only working 40 (!) years, and somebody got to keep their good job.

Idle, I ain't. Went from blue-collar technician to hunter-gatherer-farmer.

This...

And this...

... Pretty well sum it up for me. I intend to always be working at "something" as long as the Good Lord allows. While that "something" may change over time, I have no intention to just sit in a rocker as long as I am able to get up and put one foot in front of the other...

Most of the principle characters in the Bible were farmers or otherwise self employed. We know how likely the self employed are to retire. They turn it over to the kids but stay very much involved. Except for possibly Noah, they never took cruises to the Caribbean because it hadn't been discovered yet. Noah didn't know where he sailed off to for a year but he landed in Turkey.
As for those in the Bible who weren't self employed, their employment just wasn't mentioned except in passing. The Bible doesn't say anything one way or another. To say that retirement is unBiblical is nonsense.
OTOH, the Bible does say to be good stewards of your money. If you do that for a lifetime, most likely you'll have a decent amount for your old age.

we all know, pretty much, that retirement was invented at the end of WWII. the military does employee retirement w/abandon. it's part of their overall process & system.

private industry engaged in the same step-by-step process. it's worked good, at least until lately. retirement for my farming ancestors was to be unable to walk to the tractor and crank it up. sad on the one hand, but indicated they possessed a tremendous work ethic on the other.

retirement from GM, Ford, Chrysler, it don't get no better than that. well, maybe from federal, state, & county gov't does compete, at least to a degree.

probably paid retirement is going the way of the do-do bird? folks just hate my perspectives, so i'll leave it at that. good luck to everyone is my sincere wish & hope.