Moving the goalposts

Reuters reports that scientists are redefining age as people's life expectancies grow and they effectively act younger.

Scientists have defined a new age concept and believe it could explain why populations are aging, but at the same time seem to be getting younger.

Instead of measuring aging by how long people have lived so far, the scientists have factored in how many more years people can still look forward to.

"Using that measure, the average person can get younger in the sense that he or she can have even more years to live as time goes on," said Warren Sanderson, of the University of New York in Stony Brook.

"A lot of our skills, our education, our savings and the way we deal with our health care depend a great deal on how many years we have to live," said Sanderson. "This dimension of how many years we have to live has been completely ignored in the discussion of aging so far."

What does that mean for Christians? Well, I believe what Paul wrote in Philippians still applies to us even as our life expectancies are extended: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me."