Retirement As the American Eschaton: Evaluating Its False Promises and Promoting a Christian View of Retirement

When one thinks about retirement in America, what usually comes to mind is fit, silver-haired couples walking on a white sandy beach or playing golf. For most middle and upper class Americans, retirement is a given. People start saving for it when they get their first salaried job, and then it’s simply about making sure they have enough money to retire by age 65. People plan for retirement financially, and then expect to get there and enjoy the rest of their lives.

However, this isn’t how retirement is often experienced. To give one example, one of my relatives worked in a successful career from the time he graduated from college until he was 59. By that time, he had saved up enough money to retire; so when his company laid him off, he saw it as a blessing. He spent the first year enjoying his retirement by working on various house projects and hobbies, and traveling to visit family. Unfortunately, after about a year of this, depression and anxiety began to set in. He thought he had enough projects and hobbies to keep him going, but without the constancy, identity, and purpose he used to have from his work, he was floating adrift in a large sea of the rest of his life. Is this really what retirement is supposed to be? He was promised a life of ease and bliss, relaxation and rest, but retirement (so far) has not delivered.

In this essay, I will examine retirement from a religious perspective. I will argue that American culture can be seen as a religion, and in this religious scheme, retirement is the eschaton or end-times. However, as illustrated in my relative’s story and echoed by many other sources, it often does not deliver on its promises. Thus, I will argue that though American retirement is often viewed eschatologically, Christians should not approach retirement in that way. Instead, we should seek to continue glorifying and enjoying God in this life while we await the eternal rest of the age-to-come.

American Culture As Religion

The idea that American culture can be seen as a religion can be traced back to Robert Bellah’s article published in 1967 titled “Civil Religion in America.” Sean F. Everton summarizes Bellah’s argument: “America’s ‘founding myth’, what he calls American civil religion, helps bind American society together by providing its citizens with ‘a set of beliefs, symbols, and rituals’ that connect them to the divine order of things and gives them a sense of origin, direction, and meaning.” Bellah focuses on the myth of America being specially chosen by God, similar to the nation of Israel, and tasked with caring for the weak. These elements come from Christianity, but American civil religion is distinct from Christianity. Thus, an American can be a Christian, or a Muslim, or an agnostic, or any other religion or lack thereof; there are many different religions and worldviews that Americans hold to. Despite the religion that an individual may claim to hold, however, the American civil religion presented by Bellah and Everton will almost certainly be part of any American’s worldview. That’s because this myth is part of the American zeitgeist. And to expand upon this myth, we can add that its eschaton would be peace on earth; equality, liberty, and justice for all. One day, many Americans hope that this will come to pass and are working towards this end, even as they may also be looking forward to the eschaton of another religious worldview.

Within the American civil religion, there are other facets of American life that also function religiously. These could be understood as sects within the American civil religion. One such sect is what David Zahl calls the seculosity of work. In this “seculosity” (religious energy for self-justification and hope directed towards earthly things), productivity and economic success are ideals that have a function similar to gods. These ideals are often elevated over many other things such as leisure, family, and organized religion. Sacrifices are made for these ideals. And in this myth, the American’s life trajectory is laid out: you have to go to school and get good grades in order to get into a good college in order to get a good job in order to make enough money in order to retire. In this scheme, retirement is the eschaton: the end goal, the promised rest at the end of a long life of work. But how exactly does it work? How is one supposed to take hold of this promised rest?

Retirement Must Be Earned

It is obvious that retirement must be earned monetarily—one has to earn enough money to be able to stop working—but there is also a sense in which the life of leisure and rest in general must be earned by a life of work. In this scheme of earning, many people feel as though it is their right to retire. As Mike Drak says in the introduction to his book titled Retirement Heaven or Hell: Which Will You Choose?, “I had paid my dues, and because of that I had earned a turn to do whatever I wanted with my new-found freedom.” Drak uses the language of earning in this quote. By paying his dues (working hard during his career), he feels that it is now his turn to enjoy his freedom by doing whatever he wants.

Drak’s purpose for writing is to instruct people on how to best earn and plan for a purposeful and passionate retirement. The book is dedicated to “people who are unwilling to settle for retirement mediocrity and want to live their later years with passion and purpose. This book provides you with all you need to know to make this happen. It’s now over to you to actually do it!” In order to live “with passion and purpose,” people need to know things and then put them into practice. Not only do they have to earn enough money to be able to retire, but they also have to work hard to design their own personal “retirement heaven” (so, the solution to stopping work is…more work). One’s experience of retirement is directly correlated to what one puts into it; the individual is in charge of his or her experience of the eschaton. A pleasurable retirement must be earned, and it must be earned by the individual.

However, many people are not aware of the necessity of earning retirement outside of the financial realm. Dan Veto, senior VP of retirement consulting company AgeWave, says, “‘The biggest misconception is that retirement’s going to be perfect without any planning or preparation, like something magical will happen.’” Rather than planning for their life after retirement, many people simply plan financially and then expect their happy life to come next; this is how retirement eschatology is often presented. One simply needs to combine the right ingredients (working enough to save up enough money to retire), and voilà! the promised retirement appears, a life of leisure and rest. When this promised heaven does not magically appear, people are understandably disoriented and begin to question their existence.

Unfortunately, it appears that most people’s default is this magical way of thinking, which earns them retirement hell rather than retirement heaven. According to Drak’s experience, plus many other retirement articles and videos, it is very common for retirees to enter a period of depression after the initial excitement and relief of not working has worn off. One website specifies that this stage, which it calls “reorientation,” can last from 2–15 years into retirement. That can be a sizable portion of one’s retirement years, and to spend them in a depression is certainly not what retirement eschatology seems to promise, even if there is happiness for a few years afterwards. Drak wrote his book to advise people about how to plan for retirement accordingly so that they can reduce their time in retirement hell, or perhaps avoid it altogether. Though Drak holds out the hope of avoiding retirement hell, he doesn’t provide any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, to suggest that it is possible to avoid a period of reorientation that often includes depression. Thus, the promise of retirement eschatology of a magical life filled with rest and bliss usually proves untrue.

Zahl provides a possible reason for why escaping retirement hell is all but impossible. Because the seculosity of work has become so all-encompassing for Americans, it has simultaneously become their distraction from life’s problems and their sense of identity and self-justification. When one no longer goes to work, there is no distraction from the emotional or relational problems that plague human existence. People are used to solving intellectual problems at work, and the social-emotional problems at home and in their communities can feel overwhelming. Furthermore, “work has always served as the great American barometer of worth and identity. Our occupation is the number one socially approved means of justifying our existence, and not just the type of occupation but our performance there…a job is never just a job but an identity.” If it is true that one’s job is one’s identity, it is no surprise that the loss of that identity will produce a period of confusion, reorientation, and even depression. Additionally, retiring usually produces other losses: routine, relationships, purpose, and perhaps power as well. This often leads to loneliness (loss of relationships) and regret (in the absence of purpose and routine, there is ample time for self-evaluation). Does this sound appealing to you? If not, why is retiring at age 65 something that everyone just does? Is there an alternative?

Evaluating Retirement’s Eschatology

While on the surface it appears as though one simply has to follow the financial steps to prepare and then a blissful retirement will magically appear, it does not take much time to see that this is, in many cases, a false promise. For most people, endless leisure and relaxation are not satisfying for more than a year. The promised rest doesn’t feel like rest because most people cannot shake the seculosity of work, and therefore feel like they’re supposed to be doing something. And this “something” cannot just be anything; the larger myth of the American civil religion demands that people need to work towards making a difference and seeking equality, liberty, and justice for all. Many authors and speakers promise that if someone simply puts in the work to determine what that “something” is after retirement, they will arrive at the most blissful and happy period of their life. But, they warn, not everyone gets there. And even though, with their help, one may be able to spend less time in retirement hell, there’s no guarantee that one will be able to avoid it altogether. Is this promise of the happiest life really appealing enough to fuel so many people through the foreboding retirement hell? Is there a better way? How did we get here in the first place?

A Brief History of American Retirement

Before I propose a better way to think about retirement from a Christian perspective, I will survey the history of retirement to outline how Americans have arrived at our particular understanding of this eschaton. This will further illustrate why retirement eschatology should be approached critically rather than simply accepted at face value.

When America was founded, it was an agricultural society. People lived on family farms; as parents aged, they began passing more of the heavy physical labor on to their children while they remained vitally connected to the workings of the farm in a teaching and advising role. Older family members also passed down wisdom and history through storytelling. This was integral to the family because knowledge was primarily stored in minds rather than written down.

Then came the industrial revolution, and everything changed. With the rise of factories, young people began leaving the family farm and moving to the city for jobs and excitement. Education altered the family authority structure as children spent time in school rather than working on the farm. This meant that they spent more time under the authority of their teachers than their parents. Education also widened the economic gap between fathers and sons, as better education would allow sons to get higher paying city jobs than the simple factory job. The role of older family members had shifted considerably, and this led to a loss of their responsibility and usefulness as well as economic potential.

Furthermore, the industrial revolution brought about various technologies that constantly needed updating, subtly sending the message to Americans that old things are obsolete. We replace our old cars, refrigerators, and phones, and this mentality has drifted into our attitude towards people as well. As Bert Kruger Smith says in his book about aging, “If built-in obsolescence is the order of the day, the ‘phasing out’ of people may well be part of the subtle agenda of the times.” The rise of technology not only replaced older people with younger people or machines in the workforce, but also brought a subtle message that old equals obsolete.

When elderly people were unable to find work to support themselves into their later years, the government stepped in to fill that gap. This program, which was originally called the Old Age Pension Plan (established as part of the New Deal), eventually became Social Security. When this was first suggested in 1934, economist Larry Burkett reports, “the average life expectancy of a man was 63…providing retirement benefits that started at 65 was an economically sound idea. Theoretically, the vast majority of the participants would never live to use their benefits.” Social Security was also only meant to be an income supplement, not to sustain retirees on its own. This all changed in the 1950s, when the collective bargaining efforts of union members and federal employees negotiated for more money in retirement benefits. Companies agreed because of post-World-War-II high employment; it made sense to defer benefits rather than increasing wages for their workers. Thus, retirement became attainable for many more people than ever before, thanks to government and taxpayer money.

Retirement was now a possibility for many more people, but it also grew in popularity until people started seeing it as a given. Financial planning and retirement home industries started advertising retirement. In the 1960s, Del Webb “built one of the first retirement communities…Webb sold this lifestyle as the new American dream suggesting retirees had worked hard, and now it was time to pursue hobbies, play golf, and socialize with their peers.” Webb not only created a place for retirees to live, but he also pitched a new way to think about the final years of one’s life. Aging Americans had earned a life of relaxation because they had worked hard in their careers. Needless to say, this idea spread and has stayed relevant even sixty years later. Burkett echoes this theme: “Once the retirement ‘bandwagon’ got rolling, millions of additional people joined it. Eventually American workers became convinced that retirement is a basic ‘right.’” This thinking has continued until today. Retirement has become the thing that everyone works towards and feels entitled to, and it is associated with many “heavenly” attributes such as playing golf and pursuing hobbies.

However, there are major problems with this system today. Due to medical advancements, average life expectancy is now 74.8 years for men and 80.2 years for women (the average for both sexes is 77.5 years). That means that on average, working people are living 14 years longer than they were when Social Security was created, which is 12 years after their Social Security benefits kick in. That is a problem economically, since people have to live off of Social Security for much longer than the program was originally intended for. Perhaps more pressing is the mental and emotional weight of living for a number of years after retiring. As Josh Mulvihill puts it, “With no compass for this new phase of life and few models to imitate, the elderly were left to discover meaning for the remaining years they had left.” And as I discussed above, that meaning is not easy to come by, and the search often includes a time of depression.

To conclude this section, I have shown that though many Americans think of retirement as a basic right, it has not always been that way. Our current retirement system was built for a different era, and in many ways no longer fits the society we live in today. Unfortunately, many people take retirement for granted and do not spend time thinking about what it means psychologically, leaving many retirees in a state of confusion and depression. Clearly, the idea that retirement is something that everyone just does needs to be rethought. I will now examine retirement from a Biblical perspective and then provide some final reflections on how Christians should think about retirement in light of Christian eschatology.

How Should Christians Think About Retirement?

In 2000, John Piper preached a sermon that later became his book Don’t Waste Your Life. He preached the sermon and wrote the book for young people, urging them not to waste their time with worldly pursuits or chasing after the American dream. He illustrated this by contrasting two older pairs of people; two ladies who moved to Cameroon in their retirement, and a married couple who moved to Florida in their retirement to collect seashells. Though the missionary ladies died suddenly when the brakes in their car gave out, Piper passionately proclaims that the real tragedy is the married couple living the rest of their days on the beach collecting seashells. Is this the perspective Christians should adopt? Should every Christian become a missionary in their retirement? Is it sinful to retire and move to Florida?

To answer these questions, I will first examine a biblical view of retirement and work. The only direct reference to retirement in the Bible comes from the book of Numbers: “And from the age of fifty years [the Levites] shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties” (Num. 8:25–26). It is unwise to determine a principle for modern retirement from just one passage, but what is clear is that after a certain age, the duties of the Levitical priests changed. Rather from serving in the tent of meeting offering sacrifices, they were to shift into standing guard. It is possible that guard duty was less physically strenuous than offering sacrifices, which could be a reason for this command. Regardless, Jeff Haanen, writing for Christianity Today, argues that this passage shows that God intended work “to morph and mature with age.”

In the absence of direct biblical guidance on retirement, I now turn briefly to how the Bible speaks about work. Work was established at the end of the creation account in Genesis 1, as God said to Adam and Eve: “‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen. 1:28). The commands to “subdue” and “have dominion over” the earth and the earth’s creatures constitutes the work that humanity is made to do. However, this is not simply the establishment of work in general, but is best understood through the lens of the covenant of works. In this covenant between Adam and God, Adam was meant to obey God’s commands, specifically the command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16–17). Had Adam obeyed, he would have earned heaven for himself and his posterity. Just as God worked for six days and rested on the seventh, humans are also to work in this life and then rest in heaven, in the age-to-come. This pattern still holds true for fallen humanity, but we can no longer earn heaven by our work or obedience. Once Adam fell, taking humanity with him, God himself would have to come and fulfill the covenant of works on our behalf and apply that finished work to believers under the covenant of grace. That being said, even as God cursed the ground because of Adam’s disobedience, it was clear that Adam’s job to work the ground was to continue, even for his posterity. It would be toilsome and painful, but humans were still under the creation mandate to subdue and have dominion over the earth (Gen. 3:17–19).

Continuing on in the biblical narrative, work is re-established under the Noahic covenant as the creation mandate is repeated to Noah (Gen. 9:1–7). Humans are still meant to work in this world and then rest in the age-to-come. However, work is now part of the way that God maintains the common order of the world, not to earn heaven as it was for Adam under the covenant of works. This shows the two clear differences between Christian and retirement eschatologies. First, the Christian pattern, following God’s pattern, is to work in this life and rest in the next, whereas retirement eschatology follows the pattern of work and then rest in this life. Second, in retirement eschatology, heaven must be earned, whereas in Christian eschatology, Christ has already earned heaven for believers in his fulfillment of the covenant of works. Thus, the Christian is free to work in this life knowing that his performance or economic success will not merit him anything different in the age-to-come. Similarly, the Christian is free to rest in this life, both as a refreshment from work and as a sign pointing to the rest we will enjoy in the age-to-come.

Another difference between Christian and retirement eschatologies is revealed when looking at the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The question is, “What is the chief end of man?” as in, what is a person’s primary purpose? The answer is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Thus, even while working, the Christian understands that he or she is working in order to glorify and enjoy God. Christian work not only exists in the absence of earning, but it also gives a transcendent purpose: to glorify God. This is much more compelling and gratifying than retirement eschatology, which demands work in order to earn a period of rest and recreation in this life (especially considering how often retirement eschatology fails to deliver on that promise). Furthermore, a Christian’s primary purpose of glorifying and enjoying God can be exercised whether or not he or she has a career. Thus, whether at work or in retirement, the Christian should endeavor to glorify and enjoy God, which usually includes serving others.

Having considered the relevant biblical and confessional evidence, it is clear that in the absence of concrete biblical evidence one way or the other, there is freedom in how individual Christians think about retirement. To summarize the above, Christians should consider a few things when making this decision. According to the Levitical priesthood example, work may need to change and morph as a person ages. Christians are not primarily working in order to rest in this life, but working in order to serve our neighbors and glorify God as we await the rest of the age-to-come, which has been earned by Christ. Finally, whether in work or in retirement, our purpose is to glorify and enjoy God, usually fulfilled through some sort of service to others.

Applying Wisdom to Decide Whether and How to Retire

After having taken the above considerations into account, Christians have freedom to decide whether or not to retire, and how to spend their retirement years if they choose to retire. Each person’s situation is different, not to mention each person’s personality, so the individual must use wisdom to determine the best course of action regarding retirement. Could a dedicated Christian move to Cameroon to serve the poor there? Absolutely. Could a dedicated Christian move to Florida and start a seashell collection? Certainly. Because a Christian can glorify and enjoy God by serving his or her neighbor in either situation. So how should you decide how to use your freedom in retirement?

Many retirement self-help books and videos advocate for a time of introspective searching to determine one’s new purpose or identity in retirement. However, a Christian’s main purpose in life never changes, no matter what his or her life circumstances are. Even though many Christians know this, they spend much time and energy trying to discern the will of God for their lives. This can be a complicated and confusing process. However, a Reformed understanding of God’s will can help clear up confusion in this area.

Reformed theologians usually talk about God’s will in two different categories: his preceptive and decretive will. God’s preceptive will refers to what God has revealed in Scripture that are prescribed for all believers, such as following the Ten Commandments and fleeing from sin. His decretive will refers to what God has decreed shall come to pass in history, and this will is secret; humans do not know what will come to pass until it happens in God’s providence. Understood in these categories, it is relatively simple to discern God’s will for any individual’s life, because God’s preceptive will applies to all believers in the same way. God’s decretive will, which governs how each individual person spends his or her life, is not revealed in Scripture. Thus, Christians are not encouraged to seek this out. Instead, a Christian’s focus can be on prayer (not to receive a special word from God, but asking God for wisdom), receiving wise counsel from other Christians, and evaluating one’s circumstances and opportunities with logic and wise reasoning.

This means that when it comes to retirement, a Christian doesn’t need to search introspectively to find a new purpose or passion to devote themselves to. Instead, learning from Martin Luther’s wisdom, a Christian can simply look at the communities that God has placed him or her in providentially and seek opportunities to serve his or her neighbors. Luther understood this service to be out of freedom, because the Christian no longer needs to earn his or her salvation and place in heaven. John Calvin followed Luther and added that Christians have permission to seek social or economic mobility as part of their freedom, while warning against constantly searching and being discontent with one’s current job (or retirement second career). However, we should primarily be concerned with serving our neighbor wherever we are, as this is part of glorifying God. Therefore, the Christian can choose to stay put in retirement and invest himself or herself more fully into the surrounding community, or he or she may choose to move to Cameroon or Florida or anywhere else and serve the community there.

Christians should also apply wisdom to the type of recreation or leisure they enjoy in retirement. We can grow in wisdom by engaging in meaningful activities that are not work, ones that widen our perspective on the world and perhaps make us more knowledgeable about and loving towards different people or cultures. Applying wisdom also means that we should not think of retirement as withdrawing from social engagements and friendships, since this will cause depression, anxiety, weakness, and isolation, all of which are very bad for human mental and physical health. If the Christian is not mentally or physically healthy, he will be less able to serve God and his neighbor. Of course, there are going to be seasons in every Christian’s life when one is less able to serve his neighbor for a variety of reasons. The life change associated with retirement might well be one, even when applying all the wisdom outlined above. In that case, a Christian might find himself or herself reflecting on Piper’s sermon and wondering, did I waste my life? Will I be able to give any valuable account to God on that final day?

If that is you, take heart, dear Christian. For on that final day, you will not be judged by your own actions, but by those of Jesus Christ. If you have trusted in Christ, the Father will say to you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Not because you have been as good or as faithful as you could be in this life, but because Jesus is the Good and Faithful Servant, and all of his good works are credited to your account. Let that blessed assurance transform your life and free you; it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. As Paul says, don’t use your freedom to go back to a yoke of slavery, of measuring yourself again by the standards of this world, letting it dictate the way you spend your final years. Instead, may the gospel free you to serve Christ and your neighbor in this life, boasting in the cross of Christ as you are crucified to the world (Gal. 5:1, 13; 6:14).

Conclusion

I have argued in this essay that retirement eschatology demands that one works to earn a retirement heaven on earth, though it does not usually deliver on this promise without considerably more work, planning, and going through a period of confusion or depression. The American retirement system was designed for another age, and thus should not be followed blindly or thought of as everyone’s basic right. Conversely, Christians should consider how they can glorify and enjoy God by serving their neighbors in each stage of life, taking into account life circumstances and applying wisdom to their individual situation.

This means that Christians have freedom to either retire or not retire. The Christian can glorify and enjoy God in work or retirement. Thus, it is important to apply wisdom and seek counsel based on the individual’s situation to decide how best to proceed. And at the end of the day, whatever one’s experience of retirement is like, Christians will be enjoying eternal rest and joy in the age-to-come because it has already been merited for us by Christ.