What’s the Significance of Turning 30?
What’s different about being 30 years old?
At the time of writing this, I’ll be turning 34 in a few months, and I’ve been wondering if my best years have already come and gone. Seems crazy right? Well, it has to do with the consideration of scholarly opinion, that most believe Christ had already ended His ministry and ascended to heaven by my age.
No, I’m not comparing myself to Jesus. I’m just reflecting a bit on why God chose that age, and how that connects to the rest of us. I understand that this reflection might sound foolish to some, but if you Google it, I’m not the first to think about it.
So, I am left pondering…
- Have my best years already come and gone?
- How key were the past 3+ years to my life and ministry?
- Why did God choose that age?
- Why did Jesus only serve through those three years of ministry?
The obvious answer would lean toward the Torah’s indication that leadership begins at 30. However, if that is the case, this standard of leadership also suggests that it may continue on through to the age of 50.
This leads to even more questions!
- Why did Jesus only work through 3 of His potential 20 years of leadership?
- Is there any significance in the Father choosing those three years of Christ’s earthly life to change the world?
I wish I had answers, but I don’t. And yet, I’m sure they’ve got you thinking. So, perhaps, this post is a conversation started. What do you think? Can you provide any logical or even hypothetical answers to any of the questions I’ve posed today? If you could, I’d be very grateful!
Join the Conversation, Leave Your Thoughts
- Why is being thirty years of age significant?
Our culture has some kind of obsession with elevating youth. I’ve read many articles which talked about how we have shifted away from a culture that reveres the elderly and experiences. It’s typified in a parents trying to dress like their teenage children, but also even in how we do business. I saw another article recently that questions why we don’t look at Jeff Bezos as a success story for creating amazon.com starting when he was 30, rather we look at people like Mark Zuckerberg who created facebook in college.
One thing I’ve seen a lot in church is generations not looking to the older generations for wisdom. I understand that peer accountability and friendship is important, but when that’s exclusive the influence of someone, it’s like the blind leading the blind. When I hear about a small group for young married couples that don’t include a wiser experienced couple, I encourage them to include someone who can use the benefit of hindsight to guide them along their path.
The church I go to right now is fairly young, a couple weeks ago, the pastor was encouraging folks who are a little bit older (in this group, 30’s is older) to consider adopting a ‘big brother/sister’ mentality to help mentor/encourage/disciple those who are younger.
I had heard from one of the world’s leading archeologists, Dr. Scott Carroll, with a Ph’d in ancient middle eastern studies that Jesus was actually 37? when he either began or ended his ministry. Basically, even Jesus had to be faithful in the process. No short cuts, embrace all that God is teaching you in the stage your at.
He was possibly 37? Ah, well there’s still hope for me yet! (JK) Thanks for your comment and reading my post!
As the theory goes, our versions say he was 30, but in the original language, that was just saying he was of age to begin his ministry, not that he necessarily began as soon as he turned 30. The dating is slightly off then our calendar related to the life of King Herd. There’s plenty of info online about this I’m sure.
Interesting thoughts…it’s important to note the quantity of elderly people in our society today. At no point since Christ left earth have elderly lived this long. Add in boomers and they have become the loudest opinion in the church. Hence why most churches pressed pause on cultural relevance somewhere in the 60’s (when they got comfortable). This is the case with almost every denominations and fellowships?
The result? The largest exodus of young pastors out of these denominations and fellowships to begin church plants. I agree with your statements, but this IS our current situation. If today’s young adults are going to connect with the older adults, they’ll have to feel like their ideas and concerns are valued. These young adults have heard the same negativity from the same people since middle school…music, clothing, etc. I firmly believe the elder (hopefully more mature) generations will have to take the first steps or the church plant craze (really replanting) will continue.
Either way, thank you so much for getting in on the discussion Andrew! I appreciate your desire to talk about the tough subjects!