Vintage, Not Old

This past week, the parent of a teenage patient in my office was wearing a tee shirt that had the album logo from the Guns ‘n Roses “Appetite for Destruction” album. I noticed it and commented on it, saying the album was now over 30 years old. Kiddingly, I told the patient that his parent and I were not “old”, but like the GnR album, were “vintage.” This was then joked about on and off during the week with our staff and various patients, but no serious talk of the concept was discussed. However during a morning walk with Scout, I thought about what I said and whether being “vintage” or “old” really mattered.

The Oxford Dictionary defines old as “having lived for a long time; no longer young; having the characteristics or showing the signs of age; boring or tiresome, especially as a result of repetition or overfamiliarity.” Vintage, on the other hand, is defined by Oxford as “denoting something from the past of high quality, especially something representing the best of its kind.” Both words similarly describe something that has been around for a while, but the difference seems very clear.

So what would becoming “vintage” look like? The Bible states men should grow to become “temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance” (Titus 2:2-3). In the Book of Job, it comments that wisdom and understanding should develop with age. It teaches “to never tire of doing what is good” (2 Thes 3:13). As admirable those characteristics are, they seem even more challenging, if not impossible, to grasp.

I know I’m nowhere close to a man Paul describes in Titus 2, but growing in that direction is the goal. With my impatient, short temper, senseless, prideful, and often ugly behaviors, it may seem as if “vintage” status impossible for me. Fortunately, God is in that business. You see, Jesus Christ said “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). And when I get exhausted or worn down or bitter by the daily grind of life and am in danger of becoming “old”, what should I do? Look to Jesus. “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28, ESV). How I need Jesus! This makes me immediately relate to Paul’s famous words in Phillipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Amen.

I recently read “The Screwtape Letters” by CS Lewis, and one section of the book briefly touches on this topic. Screwtape states “You see, it is so hard for these creatures (human beings) to persevere.” He continues, “The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent…opportunities of wearing out a soul.” In other words, allow time to make one “old.” That section in the book frightened me. I want to get better over time, not wear out.

I want to become vintage, not old.

“The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair”, Proverbs 20:29 (ESV).