Have you ever seen one of those “old guys rule” shirts or hats.  I am an old guys rule fan.  I have several shirts.  Often when I have been wearing a shirt, other guys will greet me, wearing their attire.  I realize, wearing such a t-shirt makes me very suspect with the younger generation, especially young women.  I accept the challenge, because as an “old guy” myself, I want to be counter-cultural.

I went to the Old Guys Rule site to learned a little more about the brand.  It was started by a surfer in California, by the name of Don Craig.  “Old Guys Rule was created to embrace a new breed of guys who have incredible energy, a passion for life, wisdom gained from years of experience and the time to spend doing the activities they enjoy.  Old Guys Rule should be worn as a badge of honor for a life well-spent, but not nearly over.”  Shortly after Don started his brand in early 2003, he realized the “Old Guys Rule” motto extended beyond the surfing community to men from all walks of life who saw age as a “Badge of Honor,” not an impediment.

The phrase, “Old Guys Rule” cries loudly in behalf of  patriarchy.  Culturally, patriarchy is seen as “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded.”  Patriarchy is “a system of oppression that affects women’s live negatively, highlighting the need to challenge and dismantle it.”  Ouch!!  Wearing my shirt, puts me in the cross-hairs of the feminists in our culture.  Yet I insist on wearing my shirt as a “badge of honor” now that I am 84 and happily married for 60 years.  Besides, my wife approves. 

As a follower of Jesus, I have a different view of patriarchy.  In the story of the Bible, we find God choosing Abraham as the first patriarch.  God told him, “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:3).  Matthew’s lineage of Jesus begins with these words, “This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendent of King David and of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1).  Since I have been adopted by Jesus into God’s family, I can trace my spiritual heritage back to father Abraham, and since I was born a man and am married with three adult children, I belong to the biblical patriarchy.  This is the reality I accept.

As a follower of Jesus, I embrace the term “Old Guys Rule” as a badge of honor.  It has not been an easy road to travel as a patriarch.  In my early marriage to Judy, I choose and she accepted my being the head of our family.  This summer, my three grown children and their spouses, gathered to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary.  I shared as the patriarch of my family.  I acknowledge, accept and lean into that role.  By God’s mercy and his abundant grace extended to me as a fallen man, I  have humbly journeyed all these years as a patriarch.  There have been bumps on the trail and wrong turns for which I ask forgiveness.

But with all my heart I have wanted to set the spiritual tone for my family.  I have sought to be both “tough and tender.”  My life verse in this role has been Ps 71:18.  “Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God.  Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.”   I wear my “Old Guys Rule” t-shirt as a “badge of honor” as I journey through the 4th quarter of my life.