Physical decline challenged us during the Maundy Thursday service last week. Keith’s hearing aids failed, curtailing his ability to socialize, and I’m still adjusting to ergonomic aids for my flute. In the Bible, “decline” often signifies spiritual deterioration—a turning away from God’s commandments—or physical wasting away.

At times, I’m tempted to respond to decline by crying out in despair, as the Velveteen Rabbit did when abandoned in a sack left outside in his owner’s garden. Or hide and deny, as Adam and Eve did in God’s garden. But the travails of decline can lead to positives. And sometimes decline means a better outcome or is the best course of action.

Physical Decline 

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV

When doctors report that cancer is in decline, decreasing, smaller, less, fewer, we thank God. But here Paul is referring to the good news despite physical decline. We can be strengthened spiritually by our suffering, if we focus on hope and do not lose heart. 

Aging is not for sissies, my mother often said in her declining years. And the world in which we live sure doesn’t make it easier. Youth is glorified; aging is discouraged—as if we have control of that. But encouragement is exactly Paul’s message: aging is an opportunity for growth. Persevere in your trials, he writes, be strong, lean on the power of the Holy Spirit, watch for unseen spiritual realities. In other words, physical decline can lead to spiritual resilience.

Social Decline 

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, Exodus 23:2 NIV

When our dog Cato was alive, he often led Mac into trouble—running too long and too far from home, barking at everything and everybody, protecting food, even though we constantly trained them otherwise. But now that Mac is our only dog, he’s finding his true personality as a black lab. Instead of destroying every dog toy in the house as Cato did, Mac carries his stuffed animal around like a treasure. He’s a good dog but a follower and swayed by others. Thus, it’s important for him to be around better influences, which is good advice for all of us.

In this verse from Exodus, we learn that decline can also mean a polite refusal to follow the crowd in doing wrong even under pressure. Upholding truth over falsehood and popularity, refusing complicity, all very positive attributes. Integrity, morality, and virtue lead us to decline conformity to the crowd’s unjust or unethical behavior. Another positive outcome for a decline.

Spiritual Decline

Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes. Psalm 119:157 NIV

In today’s world, it’s common for people to say, “I’m not religious, but I’m very spiritual.” Spiritual in this context often means a love of nature. I get that; nature, which is God’s creation, is an avenue to the divine. But nature worship can lead to paganism and idolatry. I posit that decline of this kind of worship is positive, if it means turning away from evil, that is, anything that is not of God for God is love. A decrease, polite refusal, and a gradual loss in the strength of one’s idolatry brings the three meanings of decline together.

Psalm 119:157 speaks to standing firm in the face of persecution, turning toward God and away from foes, especially during physical affliction. When we decline physically with age, do we decline in our faith, too, or do we decline the crowd’s path away from Him and accept God’s steadfast invitation to draw closer?

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