Renowned Christian apologist and lay theologian John Lennox offered a profound examination of ageing, perseverance, and the spiritual resilience required to “finish well” in the Christian life.
Now 82, Lennox shared insights on the unique challenges and opportunities of later years during a conversation recorded for the recent Sing! Conference, hosted by Keith and Kristyn Getty.
Lennox explained that the idea of “finishing well” is not a formula but a lifelong posture. Drawing on Jesus’ words to Peter in John 21 and the prayers of King David, he pointed to the reality that even a respected Christian leader can falter late in life.
“The chief test of all shepherds is the way they end up," he said. “It is perfectly possible for a person who has led an exemplary Christian life, been a leader, to end up a silly old fool."
He noted that finishing well calls for humility, accountability, and an openness to honest correction. Lennox observed that one serious danger is assuming they no longer require advice.
“We must surround ourselves by friends, family who are close enough to us to be honest with us. As you get older, it's very easy to get into the mindset that you know everything and to close down and not listen to anybody. I've watched it again and again happen in people that you would have said it would never happen to them. It can happen to any of us. And it's something to fear in a way.”
He further emphasized the need for consistent habits of Scripture reading, prayer, and meaningful fellowship to guard the heart against cynicism, defensiveness, or spiritual complacency.
“Some people want to found a church, run a church, and bury a church because they can't let anything go. ... And most of us, unfortunately, have a predisposition to come to a point where we don't listen to anybody anymore. We don't take advice," he said.
A recurring theme in Lennox’s reflections was the ongoing call to evangelism throughout one’s life. He believes that sharing the Gospel fuels spiritual vitality in ways few other disciplines can. “One of the things I believe that has sustained me through life is constantly to be alive to opportunities to witness,” he shared.
“Constantly to believe that there are people out there that you can talk to about the Gospel … there's nothing more life-giving than seeing other people experience what you yourself have seen. In other words, the joy of salvation and beginning to grow.”
“Generally speaking, older Christians, as they got nearer to death, their hearts and minds were getting excited about the fact they were going to be with the Lord, and it was expanding into eternity. Whereas non-Christian people, it was the next year, the next month, the next day or the next hour. Their whole horizon was coming in. And this is a very powerful thing, it seems to me,” he said.
Music, he added, often becomes a powerful anchor of hope near life’s end. He has seen dementia patients unable to form clear sentences suddenly able to sing hymns learned in childhood.
“Because as our bodies begin to fall apart, as mine has, the fact that there is a new world coming in which suffering shall cease and we'll be in glory — that's not a trivial and a vague thing, that is a colossal hope based on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So, the hope for the future depends on the events of the past. Which is why we need to constantly transmit this story,” he emphasised.
Lennox expressed concern that many Christian leaders lack spiritual depth because they do not spend enough time putting the Lord’s Word into practice. “In order to witness, we must have something to say. And there are many people, sadly, in the pulpit today who have nothing to say. And you can tell it within the first few seconds when they start to speak. And the reason is they have not done what the hymn book of the Bible tells us again and again, which is to wait on the Lord.”
He cautioned that the hurried pace of modern life — and the temptation to rely on technological shortcuts like AI-generated sermons — threatens to undermine genuine spiritual formation rather than deepen it.
Lennox concluded by reminding believers that Christian hope rests not in sentiment but in the historical reality of Christ’s resurrection and His promised return.
“We would expect to see a large proportion of Christians, when they come to the end or towards the end, that they are so rejoicing in what's ahead; that they confirm with their families, children, grandchildren who are watching that ‘dad or granddad believes it's real even at this stage.’”
You can read the full story at Christian Today.
