Q&A with Arnie Cole
CEO of Back to the Bible and Author of "The Over 50 Advantage"
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Q: Your book talks about how mature believers over 50 who stay self-focused are among the most miserable demographics in America. Why is that?
A: Because they've built a life that has no outward target. Our research at Back to the Bible found something that shocked us: this enormous cohort of self-described "active" Christians — people who love God, pray daily, read the Bible, and go to church — are also among the most miserable people in American culture. They're some of the wealthiest people in the country, and they still can't stop worrying about their financial future and can't stop criticizing the people around them. We've spent years assuming this is an equipping problem — that they just need a little more teaching, a better sermon, another small group. But it isn't. It's a motivation problem. They've already received the truth, reflected on it, and even responded to it. What they haven't done is reveal it — get out of the Christian bubble and risk something for somebody else. And until they do, all that knowledge curdles. A faith with no outward focus turns inward and starts feeding on the people next to it. |
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Q: Why did you decide to share your own testimony in this book?
A: Henri Nouwen has this line I keep coming back to — "That which is most personal is most universal." I was the cultural-Christian kid raised in a strong Christian home, the student-body president at the Christian school, who walked off the launching pad of all that and crashed. Cocaine, several failed marriages, a dream house I couldn't stop thinking of as a place to hang myself, a boat I named Una Mas — "one more." One more drink, one more party, one more relationship. That's where Jesus found me. I share that because I know there are men and women over 50 sitting in church every Sunday who feel like spiritual losers, and they're convinced their failure disqualifies them. It doesn't. It's the launching pad. The men's ministry guy at my first real church asked me to give my testimony and I told him I couldn't — I was a spiritual loser. He said, "Are you now?" And in that one question I realized that if Jesus had forgiven me, I had no business holding it against myself anymore. I had to forgive me too. Most of the people I've helped since then, I helped because my story made theirs seem ordinary. Nobody could shock me. Nothing they confessed was bigger than what I'd already lived through. That's not something I earned — it's just what God does with the wreckage when you give it to Him.
Q: You say you got "Christmas Caroled" by God. Can you explain?
A: I'd sold my companies at 45, bought a bigger boat, and I was cruising up the West Coast headed for Alaska — living the postcard version of the American Dream. And a storm came up that I genuinely thought was going to swallow my ship. I made a foxhole promise in that boat: God, if you save me, I will live my life for others, not myself, from this point on. He saved me. I survived. And I kept the promise. That's what I mean by "Christmas Caroled" — like Scrooge, I got shown the bankruptcy of the life I had built, and I got handed a second chance to do something different with the time I had left. In losing the life I'd planned, I found a life I couldn't have imagined. Same guy, same skills, same wife — completely different target.
Q: How do you make the case for those over 50 to think differently about retirement?
A: I'll tell you what my pastor told me, the first time I sat down and shared my whole life story with him. I kept casually referencing my retirement, and finally he stopped me and said, "You should not be retired. It's not biblical." First, there are no examples of retirement in the Bible. And second — more importantly — we never retire from giving the good treasure of our lives away to other people. The adventure of following Jesus does not have a sunset clause. Most Americans heading into their post-paycheck years are aiming at what I call the Viking River Cruise life — comfort, security, financial nest egg, maybe some travel. But when you actually look at the research on what produces life-satisfaction in retirement, two of the top three drivers are nowhere on that list. The real fuel is purpose and meaningful relationships built around serving other people. Comfort is a false summit — you climb it and there's nothing there. So I tell people: stop using the word "retirement." Start using "next adventure." You're not 65 and done. You're 65 and finally have the time, the resources, the wisdom, and the freedom to do the most consequential work of your life.
A: Henri Nouwen has this line I keep coming back to — "That which is most personal is most universal." I was the cultural-Christian kid raised in a strong Christian home, the student-body president at the Christian school, who walked off the launching pad of all that and crashed. Cocaine, several failed marriages, a dream house I couldn't stop thinking of as a place to hang myself, a boat I named Una Mas — "one more." One more drink, one more party, one more relationship. That's where Jesus found me. I share that because I know there are men and women over 50 sitting in church every Sunday who feel like spiritual losers, and they're convinced their failure disqualifies them. It doesn't. It's the launching pad. The men's ministry guy at my first real church asked me to give my testimony and I told him I couldn't — I was a spiritual loser. He said, "Are you now?" And in that one question I realized that if Jesus had forgiven me, I had no business holding it against myself anymore. I had to forgive me too. Most of the people I've helped since then, I helped because my story made theirs seem ordinary. Nobody could shock me. Nothing they confessed was bigger than what I'd already lived through. That's not something I earned — it's just what God does with the wreckage when you give it to Him.
Q: You say you got "Christmas Caroled" by God. Can you explain?
A: I'd sold my companies at 45, bought a bigger boat, and I was cruising up the West Coast headed for Alaska — living the postcard version of the American Dream. And a storm came up that I genuinely thought was going to swallow my ship. I made a foxhole promise in that boat: God, if you save me, I will live my life for others, not myself, from this point on. He saved me. I survived. And I kept the promise. That's what I mean by "Christmas Caroled" — like Scrooge, I got shown the bankruptcy of the life I had built, and I got handed a second chance to do something different with the time I had left. In losing the life I'd planned, I found a life I couldn't have imagined. Same guy, same skills, same wife — completely different target.
Q: How do you make the case for those over 50 to think differently about retirement?
A: I'll tell you what my pastor told me, the first time I sat down and shared my whole life story with him. I kept casually referencing my retirement, and finally he stopped me and said, "You should not be retired. It's not biblical." First, there are no examples of retirement in the Bible. And second — more importantly — we never retire from giving the good treasure of our lives away to other people. The adventure of following Jesus does not have a sunset clause. Most Americans heading into their post-paycheck years are aiming at what I call the Viking River Cruise life — comfort, security, financial nest egg, maybe some travel. But when you actually look at the research on what produces life-satisfaction in retirement, two of the top three drivers are nowhere on that list. The real fuel is purpose and meaningful relationships built around serving other people. Comfort is a false summit — you climb it and there's nothing there. So I tell people: stop using the word "retirement." Start using "next adventure." You're not 65 and done. You're 65 and finally have the time, the resources, the wisdom, and the freedom to do the most consequential work of your life.
About Arnie Cole:
Arnie Cole, Ed.D, is CEO of Back to the Bible and has served as a social researcher for more than three decades. His work focuses on discipleship formation, spiritual fitness, and translating research data into practical ministry strategy for the local church and Christian media. Visit https://www.backtothebible.org/ for more information.
Arnie Cole, Ed.D, is CEO of Back to the Bible and has served as a social researcher for more than three decades. His work focuses on discipleship formation, spiritual fitness, and translating research data into practical ministry strategy for the local church and Christian media. Visit https://www.backtothebible.org/ for more information.