The Cataclysmic Disaster of Christians Retiring in America

I spent 20 years on the mission field in Florida. You may laugh at how I describe that, but that is, in fact, what it was. It was a mission field that transformed my life, my family's life, and the lives of all of those we lived alongside. I didn't move to Florida because I was going on the mission field. We moved to Florida because Martha’s health required us to be somewhere that was warm all the time. We chose Florida because it's beautiful and because we loved the beaches. God had different plans. 

For the first 18 years we lived in Florida, we lived in a townhouse community across the street from the beach. This community consisted of a diverse international gathering of people who had moved to Florida to be on perpetual vacation. Were they at peace? Were they satisfied with quitting their jobs and doing nothing? Did Martha and I find them in a place where life brought them satisfaction in their 30-plus-year vacation they called retirement? The answer is a resounding “NO.” 

Our 20-year research project of living in retirement communities and seeing how people absolutely hated life without purpose was usually accentuated by the fact that Martha and I were some of the only working people in the neighborhood. We found that homeowners' associations were often run by dissatisfied former executives who wanted to control something. Since they lived in a community, the only thing they could control was what the neighborhood looked like. From the first moment of moving to Florida, we should have known that this American retirement dream was a big fat lie. We were buying our townhome in Florida, and the association president basically told us he didn't want us living there because we had kids and kids are noisy. He felt our family's presence in his neighborhood would destroy the ambiance they loved. What really happened was our family moved into that neighborhood and found 29 other families who were really unhappy with where they were living because the association had gotten out of control. There were only 30 townhomes in our neighborhood, but each one contained another retired family who had thought that moving to Florida would be the ultimate experience of life. They found that living in a townhouse association was the equivalent of living in some sort of prison. There were rules for everything. Where did those rules come from? The retired residents of the neighborhood. 

I say all this to prove that we come from a position of experience. In my 57 years of life, I've heard nothing but lies about the reality of retirement. I have heard that after you've worked until age 65, you deserve to check out and be on vacation for the remainder of your life. You should move to Florida, Texas, Arizona, or Southern California to experience the fullness of all that America has to offer. It's such a lie. I've lived in neighborhoods full of retired people who are separated from their families and surrounded by other self-centered retirees who want nothing more than to experience life's grandness. But instead, they experience extraordinary dissatisfaction because life without purpose is empty, meaningless, and cataclysmic. Our country has been pulled apart from every corner, and one of those corners that's been affected is the family. And in the destruction of the family – by moving mom and dad or grandma and grandpa across the country to some beautiful retirement community where the streets are painted perfectly and there's palm trees lining the avenue – the reality is that's not what God intended. Christian retirees are the glue that this country needs.  

All of us here in America need you to take your retirement years and invest them into those around you, your neighbors, but don't move and surround yourself with other people who look like you. Surround yourself with families who desperately need older adults in their lives. Grant Skeldon would call retired people “chronologically superior.” Experienced Christians who happen to be of retirement age are so desperately needed to bring cohesiveness in our local churches, in our local communities, in our local businesses, as well as in our local neighborhoods. I can't stress this enough. Retiring and checking out for a 30-year vacation is the definition of a cataclysmic disaster in America. If you're not dead, God's not done with you yet. And when you retire, your calling doesn’t. God has so much left for you during this final phase of life. Please don't check out! 

I'll close this blog today with a call for reforming our retirement in this country. iWork4Him partners with Retirement Reformation because they are there to equip Christian retirees with purpose, meaning, and direction for the final phases of life. Please heed the call. The upcoming generations desperately need you in their life, and frankly, you need them in yours. You will not find satisfaction in moving far away from your family to a climate that is beautiful and warm all the time. Take it from somebody who lived in “paradise” for over 20 years. The weather is nice, some people are nice, but almost all the retirees are dissatisfied and frustrated. You can only play golf, pickleball, and tennis so much. God has a rich plan for your retirement years. Seek Him for it. 

Next week, I will tell you what happened in our two Florida neighborhoods when we realized they were our mission field.

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About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!