Wrinkles and Smiles: Priorities in Silver Evangelism

Forty percent of people in Japan are over 55.¹ And one in four is a retiree. Things have gotten very gray . . . well, silver. But could this evangelistic opportunity prove to be platinum?

Of course, the silver age group has its drawbacks. Yes, admit it, the more efficient-minded you are, the more likely you are to consider that the return on your investment may be smaller because their clock is winding down. This is not the ‘4/14,’² with receptive minds and whole lifetimes ahead. There is also that issue of ‘teaching an old dog’—seniors are much more accustomed to a worldview and way of living that have been knitted together decade after decade. Some of them may not be very mentally on the ball anymore, either. Plus many seniors have a hard time understanding a typical gospel presentation, or even seeing the print—hey, at middle age some of those kanji are already bleeding into black blobs, even with my own bifocals!

All that said, we can’t escape the fact that silver evangelism is the last chance opportunity—a rescue operation at the gates of hell. In the few years or months remaining, eternities will be forged forever unchangeable. The heart rending reality—this year in Japan; about 1.2 million will die not knowing Jesus. This season, this week, today, is the last glimmering hope they have for someone bringing the message
to them.

I know there are challenges. My Japanese father-in-law was the eldest son of seven. His high sense of responsibility to the family kept the butsudan (family altar) securely installed in the household for decades. My mother-in-law prayed for him for 38 years. He heard the gospel many times. But it took illness, pain, and discouragement to drive him to Jesus. At 80, he became the first male in the family to trust Christ.

So in what ways do we need to tailor our outreach to the silver crowd? Two come to mind: one is related to silver-life turning points and the other is silver-mind simplicity.

Silver-life turning points

Amazon’s best-selling Japanese senior books indicate a specifically dreary outlook. The English translation of the title of the top seller is Downstream Seniors: Impact of the Collapse with 100 Million Elderly.³ And if that’s not a charming enough read, the number two bestseller is Old Age Bankruptcy: The Nightmare of Living Too Long.⁴

Japanese seniors live longer than anyone else in the world, and during their lengthy treks through life they face an assortment of struggles and anxieties. Typically they feel alone in facing these challenges; after all, the longer they live, the more loved ones they lose. Grief from loss not only stems from deceased loved ones, but also from loss of health, appearance, mental ability, mobility, finances . . . the list goes on. Their world is shrinking and the clock is ticking.

In this dismal reality, the books of smiley-centenarian-Christian physician Hinohara Shigeaki sparkle: Fifteen Ways to Make Life Fun,⁵ Soul Smart Living,⁶ and Plump Full of Life,⁷ Doctor Hinohara’s approach is noteworthy—he understands that seniors face enormous struggles, but he keeps pumping his cheerful, positive tidings. And as he himself is 104 and still practicing medicine, and what he preaches, who can argue with him?

Today, Japan’s seniors need such voices crying in their wilderness. When trying to determine a title for the silver version of our GospelShare Series, we took an ultra-positive approach and named it The Best of Life is Yet to Come!⁸ I was recently told of a widowed lady in Fukushima who finding the title irresistible, eagerly devoured the booklet.

When the members of a church in Fukushima visited temporary housing units last year, they found that those who were left were mostly seniors—the young and able had gone. In this depressing setting, the words; The Best of Life is Yet to Come! chimed with hope. Evacuees read it over and over, and the church ended up sharing with people in approximately 700 cramped residences.

Silver-life turning points typically involve grief, helplessness, and hopelessness—all ripe ground for touching hearts. Will we be around when they get that diagnosis, when they lose another friend (or pet), when they are actually thinking about the meaning of their life and what lies beyond? For us who evangelize seniors, the vital impetus may be timing. My father-in-law held out until God-ordained suffering sent him to his knees. But as many already feel forlorn, perhaps a positive approach may be best? Might it be smarter to emphasize life instead of death? Not death and flames thereafter, but eternal life starting right now?

Silver-mind simplicity

When producing our GospelShare Silver version, we learned that in design and word, the bottom line was simplicity. In contrast to our GospelShare Culture B for blue-collar culture, which is vibrantly colored and graphically pulsates, the silver version looks reserved. Too many graphics is distracting for seniors.

My wife had an amazing experience this year. Sensing it might be the last time to see her elder sister’s in-laws, she was determined to bring them to Christ. The only problem was both were moderately senile. Some days, they could not recognize their own son or grandchildren. My wife had to significantly simplify the message. Even our GospelShare Silver was too challenging at this stage of decline. Bordering on the miraculous, both were lucid for her visit. And even more supernaturally, both trusted Christ on the same day. (The frosting on the cake was that my wife also led their granddaughter to the Lord later that day—it is possible, even in Japan!) One item my wife used in sharing with them was, interestingly for a Baptist missionary, a rosary. The crucifix showing Christ’s sacrifice was a simple picture to convey the reality, which was a challenge for faltering minds to grasp.

Perhaps related to simplicity is a simple memory. Given that seniors tend to have better long-term than short-term memories, connecting with something in their past is likely to be a good starting point. Old songs, old pictures, childhood stories, and past holidays; any of these woven into a message can help create a heart connection (see my article on kokoro connection on page 20-21 of this issue). GospelShare Silver starts with them remembering the night sky as a child, and wondering then if the stars were little diamonds stuck up there with glue. (See the presentation of GospelShare Silver⁹ by searching the title in YouTube.)

In the words of Mark Twain, “Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” But for those who have wrinkles in the wrong places, we still have a chance to add the smile. At the end of an earthly life, what a platinum testimony this would be to God’s glory. 

1. Rounded up from 39.35%. Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook, last updated October 28, 2015, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
2. The 4/14 window, refers to the age range of 4 years old through 14 years old, a range that research shows is when most people will make some kind of conversion to Christianity.
3. 藤田孝典, 下流老人一億総老後崩壊の衝撃, 朝日新聞出版 (2015).
4. NHKスペシャル取材班, 老後破産：長寿という悪夢, 新潮社 (2015).
5. 日野原重明, 生きるのが楽しくなる15の習慣, 講談社 (2005).
6. 日野原重明, こころ上手に生きる, 講談社 (2002).
7. 日野原重明, 金子兜太, たっぷり生きる, 角川学芸出版 (2013).
8. 人生の最高はこれからだ!http://newdaytoday.net/gospel/pdf/003.pdf
9. GospelShare Silver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGYCcPpIEWo
Image credit: ‘Sharing a laugh’ by Alan Davey © 1914, https://www.flickr.com/photos/adavey/4943364660/sizes/l
‘Sharing a Laugh’. These are country women, very different from the sophisticated and splendidly dressed geishas seen elsewhere. This photo is from an album compiled in Japan of photos taken between 1914 and 1918.