1 Kings 12 - Rejecting the advice of the older men

"King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon..." (1 Kings 12:6)

A real danger of youth is despising the wisdom of your fathers. You don't know what you don't yet know. So when the older that *do know* tell you, it does not seem wise based on what you currently know of how the world works. Patience is mistaken as inaction. Diplomacy is mistaken for cowardice. Correction is mistaken for rejection.

These older men had counseled the wisest king who ever lived. They had been around the block again and again and were well equipped to advise Rehoboam on his first trip around it.

"But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him..." (12:8)

A real danger of youth is favoring the counsel of your brothers. Their thinking is already familiar. Their counsel affirms what comes natural to you. It doesn't require you to step outside your own understanding. They had never encountered what Rehoboam faced, but their counsel was more pleasing to him. It is easy to mistake "exactly what I was thinking" with "wisdom".

And of course the older can be disastrously wrong. The counsel of peers can be correct. But wisdom is known by her lasting fruits, not her immediate familiarity.

It is not for no reason the Proverbs warn against removing ancient landmarks. Our fathers set them up for a reason. If you don't yet understand why they are there in the first place, you cannot begin to comprehend what will happen downstream when they are moved.

"Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older counselors and followed the counsel of his younger advisors..." (12:13)

Rehoboam followed the counsel of the young men he had grown up with. Biased towards the spirit of the age, the youthful passions of action and aggression, he confused what was familiar with what was faithful.

He rejected the counsel of the fathers who had advised the wisest king who ever lived. Rejecting the wisdom he did not understand. And the results downstream damaged his life and nation for generations:

"And to this day the northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David." (12:19)

One area I've increasingly learned this principle is with church history and tradition.

"This ain't your grandfather's church!" is often another way of saying "this church has been stripped of every ancient landmark that isn't immediately familiar to you and filled with the spirit of the age." Our fathers weren't perfect. The empty ways they handed down need to go.

But maybe our grandfathers knew something we didn't.

All our fathers sinned and made foolish decisions to be sure, but they tend to sin in ways that are more obvious to us a generation or two out. The sins and folly of our own generation are harder to sniff out. Harder to see from within.

There's nothing inherently wrong with youthful zeal. What is familiar can be also be good. But wisdom considers the advice of the older men who counseled our fathers.