The introduction is one of the most important sections in the book as its job will be to convince readers the book is worth reading (and potential publishers that it is worth publishing). Consequently, this section will probably change dramatically as the book comes together. Arguably, the introduction should be written last, but I want something to both guide me and to be able to show to a publisher or anyone who is interested. As you may have guessed, I’m not very happy about what I have so far, but I’m trying to hold to sharing with you all a chapter every two weeks. I need deadlines and while self-imposed ones often don’t work, public ones usually do.
The hook or opening paragraphs of an introduction are especially critical. I came up with a few two-paragraph openings, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on which one you think would work best. I included three of them. The first one is personal, the second is more circumstantial, and the final one is societal. Some of the material that follows these possible hooks doesn’t follow smoothly, but that will be easy to clean up once I’ve settled on the hook.
As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. I'm not concerned at this point about typos or grammatical errors. I'd rather hear your thoughts on the general direction of this chapter (and others), what you disagree with, or what you wish I had included. Thanks!
Introduction
Almost three years ago, I retired. I was 65 years old and loved my work helping to lead a company I had co-founded twenty years earlier. I had come, however, to believe that my work was bad for my health, and I no longer felt called to it. My father suffered from Alzheimer's in his 70s and I was not far from that age. I was having some cognitive issues and worried I was headed down the same path. Fortunately, my co-founder was understanding and allowed me to retire. Things happened very rapidly and I had not done much thinking about retirement other than that my wife and I had done the necessary financial things to make it possible.
I was not prepared. I had plenty of vague notions of what retirement would look like, but no real plan. My usual answer in such circumstances is to read books on the subject. I found very few books on Christian retirement. The more I looked, the more disappointed I became. This book is my attempt to better fill that void.
OR
Everywhere I look I am being fed information about retirement. A recent Prudential commercial proclaimed, “Retirement is the sum of your life’s work.” A John Hancock email started out with “Create a plan for your financial well-being.” An email from TIAA encouraged me to plan for my retirement to “design the life [I] want.” A local retirement community’s email said to “Plan ahead. Live well. Stay connected.” Another such community promised “resort-style living” in a “serene coastal setting, perfect for active adult living.”
My age and interests have me pegged as someone ready to stop working, kick back, and enjoy active adult living. This deluge of information didn’t, however, seem to offer a retirement that brings glory to God or serve others. Where do I turn to learn about that kind of retirement? Sadly, churches don’t seem to be addressing those issues. I’ve certainly not heard any sermons on retirement. Christian literature on the topic is not much better. My hope is that this book can help Christians looking to find the proper balance of slowing down as they age while still being active in Christian service.
OR
By the time we reach our forties and fifties, retirement begins to play an ever-larger role in our thoughts. We may fantasize about retirement, maybe because we have grown tired of our work and can’t wait for something better. We may think about taking the trips we always wanted to take or finally having the time to do things like read, garden, or start a new hobby. We may worry about how we are going to have enough money to retire and enjoy our golden years. Our 401K seems woefully inadequate and who knows if Social Security will even be around when we need it. We fret that we will never get to relax and enjoy the retirement we deserve.
Most probably, our dreams and fears of retirement are all mixed together. So, we plan, we save, we daydream, and we worry about retirement. Like me, the one thing you probably don’t do is think what would God want me to do if I didn’t have to worry as much about money and had more time available. My goal is for this book to help you shift your thinking about what your retirement can and should be.
REMAINDER OF INTRO
Retirement is generally thought of as life after we stop working. The challenge that most people entering retirement face is understanding what that should look like. That was the case for me. I started working when I mowed lawns at about 15 years of age, worked more or less full-time by my senior year in high school (at Dairy Queen and on furniture delivery trucks), had multiple jobs in college (in the graduate school admissions office and the computer center), and started my first “real” job two days after I graduated. I often had “side hustles” (long before that was a thing) writing and consulting. For over forty years, work was a major part of my life.
I read books on what God intended work to be and how I should work as a Christian. Over those many years, I tried to exemplify what I understood working to the glory of God meant. I don’t claim I succeeded, but at least I had a fairly good idea how God wanted me to work.
Then, I retired. I had no idea how He wanted me to retire. Or, if retiring was even something that a Christian should do.
This book is what I’ve come to understand a biblical, Christian retirement can be. By no means do I think I have it all figured out. However, I do believe that the Bible gives good and adequate instruction in this area of our lives as it does in all others. I’m hoping that what I’ve learned from studying the Bible, communicating with people considering retirement or already retired, and my own experiences will prove beneficial to others. My prayer is that this book can help Christians approach retirement as they would any other major inflection point in their lives such as marriage, starting a family, or changing jobs—with a clear understanding of how God would want them to proceed.
One of the retirement challenges for Christians is how much secular society has monopolized our understanding of what it should be. I ran across some quotes from Southern Living magazine that humorously look at some of our thoughts about retirement. I’ve included a few here:
- "Retirement is not in my vocabulary. They aren't going to get rid of me that way." - Betty White
- "You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis
- "The key to retirement is to find joy in the little things." - Susan Miller
- "Retire from work, but not from life." - M.K. Soni
- "I need to retire from retirement." - Sandra Day O'Connor
- "Retirement is wonderful. It's doing nothing without worrying about getting caught at it." - Gene Perret[i]
The range of the list of quotes reflects our feelings and confusion.
Our dreams about retirement tend to be the same as for non-Christians. We dream of retiring so no one will tell us what to do. (Obviously, those dreamers aren’t married!) We look forward to sleeping as late as we want, taking trips we’ve long put off, enjoying our favorite leisure activities (golf, reading, gardening, or whatever), and having time to spend with family and friends.
Our fears are also like those of non-Christians. We worry that we won’t have enough money to actually retire. We’ve all heard stories of someone who retired and died of a heart attack not long after. We watch Internet videos claiming that retiring is the most dangerous day of our lives. The simple answer is that we know God cares for us and we should not worry. However, those fears are often evidenced by the harsh reality of retirement.
Sobering statistics show that retiring increases the probability of being depressed by 40%.[ii] Alcoholism and binge drinking are increasing among older adults. [Need reference.] Suicide rates are high and increasing among older Americans.[iii] The average retiree spends four hours a day watching TV. [iv] While we need to rely on God to overcome our fears, that doesn’t mean they are not real.
If our dreams, fears, and reality of retirement should be different than those of non-Christians, what does the Bible say? Unfortunately, the Bible does not say much directly about retirement. There is a short reference in Numbers 8:23-26 about Levites retiring, but that is about it. There are, however, plenty of general biblical principles that apply to retirement. As we shall see in Chapter 4, the key is that God does not have a sunset clause that says once you retire, His commandments about our lives no longer apply.
The church has not done much to help retirees or those nearing retirement to understand how to apply those biblical principles in retirement. Many churches have social groups for retirees (usually labeled as for seniors) but they don’t usually address what retirement (or aging) should look like. I don’t remember ever hearing a sermon on retirement. Nor has anyone I asked been able to recall such a sermon. This book attempts to fill that gap and may even serve as something that churches can use in meeting the needs of retirees.
To help make clearer what your retirement should look like, I’ve divided this book into three sections: understanding the world and the Bible’s perspectives on retirement, creating a spiritual plan for your retirement, and challenges you may encounter in retirement. The first six chapters of this book will look how the world views work and retirement versus what the Bible has to say about those issues. The big challenge they will confront is that the Bible says little directly about retirement. The Bible, however, does give us the necessary principles to make sense of what retirement should look like in the 21st Century.
Chapter 1, “What exactly is retirement?” looks at our wide range of expectations, hopes, and dreams for what our retirement will be like. It will include what it means for people retiring in ways that were not common a few decades ago such as retiring much younger or “semi-retiring” (continuing to work at least part time). The chapter will help us to all be on the same page about retirement.
The second chapter is on the “Biblical view of work.” Retirement is usually defined and widely thought of as the lack of paying work, so it is critical to understand first the biblical view of work. The Bible has lots to say on this topic and as you might imagine, its perspective on work is rather different from the prevailing secular ones.
Once we understand God’s view of work, the third chapter, “Worldly view of retirement,” begins with a little history of the development of the concept of retirement over the last 150 years. It will look at how what was once something that happened for a very limited percentage of the population has come to be seen as a basic right, something that should be enjoyed at younger and younger ages even as life expectancy has risen. For an increasing percentage of the population, the retirement years are growing from a third to half of their adult lives. Unfortunately, statistics show that for many people those years are not what they had hoped they would be.
Chapter 4, “Biblical view of retirement.” One of the biggest challenges in writing this book is that the concept of retirement didn’t really exist in biblical times. Numbers 8:23-26 is the one direct reference which specifically talks about the Levites retiring at 50. It also includes instructions on what Levitical work they could still do, so it was not what we typically think of as retirement. Part of the reason for the lack of direct instruction is that retiring was just not possible for the vast majority of people in a poor, agrarian society. Just like Ma and Pa on the TV series The Waltons¸ their work had changed as they aged, but they did not have the opportunity to stop working. The Bible does have plenty so say about work, service, and personal conduct. Much of that is applicable during retirement.
The fifth chapter looks at “Leisure: God’s Gift or Satan’s Snare” and its outsized role in 21st-Century retirement. Most people see retirement as a time of leisure. A recent, large-scale study of the US population found that people 65 and older spend on average seven hours a day in leisure activities. What exactly is leisure? What is God’s view of leisure? The Bible does not really talk about leisure as we currently think of it, but it does have a lot to say about rest, particularly Sabbath rest.
Chapter 6 on “Idleness” shows that though the Bible may not have a lot to say directly about retirement, but it does have a lot to say about idleness or sloth. There is no sunset clause that says once you turn 65, idleness is fine. How does biblical idleness compare and contrast with rest and leisure? This chapter looks at what Proverbs and New Testament parables have to say about idleness.
The next six chapters examine how we can create spiritual plans for our retirement years. They will introduce the concept, explain what to consider in creating one, and finally give an example of what one might look like.
Chapter 7, “Spiritual plan,” introduces the concept of a spiritual plan. Most people have a financial plan for their retirement, even if that is only using some online retirement calculators. Few Christians have a spiritual plan for their retirement. I know I did not but now wish I had made one. This chapter will look at what a spiritual plan should contain and what to consider when thinking of one for yourself.
The eighth chapter is titled “Start with a sabbatical.” One of the few good pieces of information that I was able to get from other Christian books on retirement was from Jeff Haanen’s An Uncommon Guide to Retirement: Finding God’s Purpose for the Next Season of Life. The title is a good summary of the book, and I recommend you read it. Haanen recommends starting retirement with a sabbatical of a defined length of time rather than diving straight into whatever might come next. This chapter expands on that idea with experiences of my own and others.
Chapter 9, “Time to spare (and share),” looks at one of the biggest issues of retirement, the amount of time we have available. The challenge and opportunity are what to do with it. Time is like closet space. You move into a new bigger house with lots of extra storage space. Within a year, it is full and you have no idea with what. We all have experienced taking some time off from work to get some things done and at the end of that time we are disappointed at how little we accomplished. Stuff, good and bad, fills the available time. We need to be purposeful about what we spend our time on. Certainly, some of the time can be spent in leisure. We can share some of that time with our family and friends. (Arguably, we would have been well served to have a better balance of such activities in our lives before we retired!) One area that we tend to overlook is service. We no longer have the excuse that we would help with some ministry if we had time. For example, I have been helping with my church youth group for the last year and a half. It has been a great experience for me and beneficial for the teens.
The tenth chapter is on “Finances” in retirement. By that I don’t mean saving up money for retirement. There are already lots of such good resources on the topic, including many secular ones. However, dealing Biblically with money once you retire is worth examining. Spending our savings rather than accumulating them is a real shift in our mindsets. Importantly, what should our giving look like in retirement? I’ve heard some people say things like since they have already tithed on the money they saved for retirement, they shouldn’t have to do so again. Or, that in retirement they no longer can afford to give to the church or charity.
In Chapter 11 we will explore “Writing your own spiritual plan.” I will use as an example what I wish my own spiritual plan had been as well as some ideas from other people’s. One key thing to consider is how to spouses can and should create their plans together or at least in light of each other’s plans.
The final chapter in this section (Chapter 12) looks at “Changing your plans.” All plans need to change over time. This is particularly true as we age and what we can do or what to do becomes more limited. So too will our spiritual plans. Annual updates are a good approach as well as updates when circumstances change such as illness, death of a spouse, or financial issues.
The final three [likely to be five or six] chapters look at some of the challenges we commonly face in retirement. Some of these are unique to retirement, but others are just new versions of ones we’ve faced all our lives.
Chapter 13, “Changed identity,” explores how our identity is often tied up in what we do. People without work lose much of their identity when they retire. My dad often said that retiring was the worst thing he ever did. I watched him dwindle away without meaningful work. If you ask the typical person to list five words to describe themselves, almost all will include what they do. That may be as a parent raising children, a factory worker, or an executive. For me about ten years ago, I would have a said (in no particular order) I was an entrepreneur, Christian, husband/father, technologist, and cyclist. (Yeah, I sort of cheated by saying husband/father, but family man sounded odd.) Now, I’m no longer an entrepreneur, I’m more of a grandfather than father, I’m good with technology though it is not the passion it once was, and I don’t cycle nearly as much as I used to. Retirement and age have stripped away key parts of my identity. The key is to use our relationship with God rather than what we do better define our identities. It’s best to start doing so before we retire.
The fourteenth chapter is titled “Renegotiating marital roles.” We tend to view retirement as just life without the hassle of a job. So, rather than going to work five (or more days a week), we are free to do whatever we want with that time. Especially in the case of a couple where one of the spouses did not have full-time employment, that spouse typically dealt with running the house including making meals and such. What does retirement look like for that spouse? Does that spouse continue doing all of that work around the house while the retired spouse enjoys a life of leisure? Roles need to be re-examined when one spouse retires. What biblical principles should we apply in those circumstances? Put another way, if the husband retires does he get to just hang out around the city gate while the wife continues to be the ideal Proverbs 31 wife?
Chapter 15, “When spouses retire at different times,” is related to the previous chapter, but probably worth its own chapter. This one looks at how to deal with one working spouse retiring earlier than the other. This may be due to age differences, circumstances such as involuntary retirement via a layoff, or different desires about continuing to work. How should roles and responsibilities reflect the reality of one half of the couple being retired while the other still works? Yes, you know can sleep late, but is that a good idea if your spouse needs to get up early to work?
[I think there will be a few more chapters that will come from input from others and gaps I see as I get further into the writing. Here are a few other chapters that I may end up including: managing time when we have so much of it, health in retirement (and as we age), changing roles, and additional resources (probably an appendix).]
The good news about retirement for Christians is that it can be one of the fulfilling and God-centric chapters of our lives. My hope and prayer is that this book can play a part in making that true for those who read it.
[i] Nellah Bailey McGough, “90 Retirement Quotes That Will Resonate With Any Retiree,” Southern Living, April 2026, https://www.southernliving.com/culture/retirement-quotes.
[ii] Gabriel H. Sahlgren, “Work longer, live healthier: The relationship between economic activity, health, and government policy,” Age Endeavor Foundation and Institute of Economic Affairs, February 2013, https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Work%20Longer,%20Live_Healthier.pdf.
[iii] Chloe Zilkha, Vani Agarwal, and Richard G. Frank, “Suicide Rates Are High And Rising Among Older Adults In The US,” Health Affairs Forefront, March 2024, https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/suicide-rates-high-and-rising-among-older-adults-us.
[iv] “Time Spent in Leisure and Sports in 2024,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2025, https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2025/time-spent-in-leisure-and-sports-in-2024.htm.
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