4 Ways We Are Judged & Disqualified: Age, Gender, Status & Race

Everyday our culture shouts out, in subtle and not so subtle ways, “You are too young or you are too old to enter into the fray and make a difference”, or “You are the wrong gender to lead and transform communities,” or “You are too poor or the wrong color to have the power to break the chains of injustice.”

The prophet Joel prophesied in the 9th century BC and St. Peter re-quoted this statement in his sermon at Pentecost where God said “I will pour out my Spirit upon all of you! Your sons and daughters will prophesy; your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.  And I will pour out my Spirit even on your slaves, men and women alike…” Joel 2:28-29

In this prophecy, God clearly declares if we are open to His leading, to His spirit, young and old, men and women, people who are free and people who are oppressed, can dream dreams of redemption and receive visions of transformation.

When Peter repeats this to the first century Church in the book of Acts, he declares that all are welcome at God’s redemption table and all are welcome to participate in helping redeem this world.

The Apostle Paul furthers this truth when he writes to the churches in Galatia, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” 

Throughout history, God has used such beautiful diversity to bring about progress, revolution and change.

  • A young girl named Anne Frank, a jewish victim of the holocaust, was 12 years old when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank. This diary made sure this massive atrocity would never be forgotten. She died at 16.

  • God spoke through a little boy named Samuel in order to correct the evil religious leaders who were ignoring injustice. Samuel ended up choosing a little shepherd boy named David, the runt of the litter, who became the greatest earthly king of Israel, a writer of timeless songs of lament and hope and whose lineage led to the birth of Christ. 

  • Nelson Mandela, born into royalty yet who spent 27 years in prison, was 76 years old when he became president of South Africa. He was the country’s first black head of state and left a legacy of dismantling apartheid by tackling institutionalized racism and fostering racial reconciliation.

  • Abraham and Sarah had been collecting social security checks for years when she gave birth to Isaac, fulfilling the promise of making Abraham a father of many nations.

  • Florence Nightingale, known as the lady with the lamp, was born into a wealthy family, yet chose to become a nurse, which her family shunned. Army doctors rejected her because of her nurse status and gender, yet she transformed the quality of care in war and went on to improve healthcare all over the world.

  • Josiah became the king of Israel when he was only 8 years old, eventually purging Israel of idols and leading a spiritual revival.

  • Esther, a minority jewish queen, risked her life by approaching her Persian husband King, asking him to save her people, thus preserving the Hebrews from eradication.

  • JRR Tolkien was 62 years old when he wrote the “The Lord of the Rings.”

  • My friend, Eldon Bough, a widower, was 86 years old while serving over 100 meals weekly for “Meals on Wheels” to the elderly and sponsoring 30 children through Compassion International, helping create a huge dent in child poverty.

  • At the age of 12, a young girl named Agnes, later to be known as Mother Theresa, decided she wanted to go to India to spread the Christian message and serve the poorest of the poor. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work. It is said that she only had two possessions of her own - a bucket and two saris.

  • Martin Luther King Jr., whose father was born to sharecroppers, was only 34 years old when he gave the speech “I have a dream,” advancing the civil rights movement through nonviolence and civil disobedience inspired by his Christian beliefs.

  • Jesus of Nazareth was born into poverty and as a child his family fled as refugees. He was only 33 years old when he died and saved the world.

We must never, ever allow our age, gender, status or race to disqualify ourselves. For God has chosen every one of us to help build His kingdom of peace and justice.

May we lean into the prophecy made almost 3 thousand years ago, regardless of our age, gender, status or race, it is God who longs to give us dreams and visions to bring hope, healing and redemption to our broken world.


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