The age of 33 years has been marked as a significant milestone for a disciple of Christ, based on the common assumption that Jesus completed his earthly ministry at around that age. Some have tagged thirty-three as the “Jesus year.”
The current issue of Christianity Today features 33 followers of Christ who are recognized as among those who have accomplished something significant for the sake of Christ before the age of 33. The tag line on the cover states: “Thought millennials are leaving the faith? They’re actually leading it.” The issue seeks to highlight how the younger generation of believers are actually living out their faith with passion and devotion.
It is a good thing, I believe, to emphasize that a person does not have to wait until one is much older to be used of God in significant ways. One matter, though, needs to be properly considered when speaking about accomplishing something for the Kingdom and the Gospel: What standard or indicators do we use to measure our accomplishments as followers of Christ? In the editor’s article that introduces the issue, we read: “The 33 people in this month’s cover have done a lot for Jesus, all by or before their Jesus year. Just take the three folks on the cover: One has prayed with the President; one has helped to shutter Planned Parenthoods across the country; one has rapped the gospel to John Piper’s satisfaction.”
I do not wish to downplay or question the validity of recognizing the devotion and accomplishments of the persons concerned. But I am a little concerned about how their accomplishments for the gospel are described, at least by the article. Perhaps it isn’t intentional. But it is an oversight that has significant implications. How is praying “with the President” or rapping “to John Piper’s satisfaction” doing “a lot for Jesus”? Think about this: the “satisfaction of John Piper” is irrelevant to the cause of Christ and the gospel. He may be a faithful follower of Christ and a respected pastor-theologian. But what John Piper thinks and feels (or any other human being, for that matter) should not be the basis of evaluating whether or not one’s actions are faithful to and advance the gospel of Christ.
This is a call to evaluate the standard by which we see ourselves (or each other) as followers of Christ. Do we build on Christ himself, or on other people? “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task … For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3.5 NIV).
—Keith Y. Jainga