A Legacy that Lasts
Read Time: 11 mins 49 seconds
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:11-14 NLT
On my way back home after assisting in a funeral service, I received a text from my brother that Richard Smallwood had passed. As a pastor, I have the privilege of being around death, disease, and endings a lot. I’m constantly reminded of how feeble and finite life is, and with these consistent reminders that we only have a limited time on earth, I find myself constantly thinking about impact and legacy. I’m constantly thinking about what it means to live a life of meaning and not waste the opportunity we have on earth.
I was already thinking about death and what it means to make the most out of life before hearing that Smallwood had passed. But when I heard of his passing and started to listen to some of the songs he played a part in that had a major impact on my life and the lives of many others, the question of what impact I would have left on the world when I inevitably pass came to mind. Aside from his 4 Dove Awards, 19 nominations, and Hall of Fame Induction, thoughts of how many people experienced God and community through Total Praise filled my mind. Aside from the 8 Grammy nominations, I imagined how many people felt comfort when reminded that Jesus was the center of their joy. Aside from the 6 Stellar Awards and 29 nominations, NAACP Award, Presidents Lifetime achievement award, Bachelors and Masters from Howard University and honorary doctorate, I thought of how many people found peace in Jesus through Don’t Cry, My Everything, Holy Spirit, Psalm 8, Anthem of Praise, Angels, I Love the Lord, I Will Sing Praises, Come Before His Presence and Thank You. I thought of the Facebook post from a mother remembering the song Healing being sung at her daughter's funeral. I thought of my time singing Trust Me with the Oakwood University Church's praise team and trying not to burst into tears.
Thinking of someone like Smallwood, an only child with no children who struggled with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts since he was a child, dealt with physical abuse, turned to alcohol abuse, and battled feelings of being a fraud in ministry, and how God could use them in their pain really makes me wonder how we allowing God to function in our pain. How are we stewarding the lives and opportunities that have been gifted to us? One author argues that success is doing the best you can do with whatever God has given you in the time He has given you to do it. And it seems that Smallwood did just that. He made an impact. And in only 77 years, he planted a seed that has resulted in abrahamic fruit.
My question is, what will our legacy be? What will your legacy be? How will you be remembered? What will you leave behind that will inspire the people coming behind you?
So what are you called to do with your life? Paul argues that we all have a purpose that we’ve been given by God. We are to abide in His love, allow Him to transform us, and in turn be used to help others connect with Him to be transformed, too. But it's a team effort.
When people started arguing pedigree based on which minister—Paul, Apollos, Peter, or others- led them to church, Paul argued that one may plant and another may water, but it’s God who scores the points when the seeds grow. It really didn’t matter who opened the door for you; they all were simply leading you to the same Jesus. We are all called to open the door to Christ for someone else. That’s how we build a legacy.
We all play a part in helping others be inspired before we expire. We’re on a team that has been assembled by God to accomplish His mission on earth. You’re called to join the process of helping as many people as possible receive what you received in Christ, and then join the team to help others do the same. Disciples are called to make disciples. You’re called to be a fisherman and then support the family business by helping to train other fishermen. This is your purpose: to abide and bear fruit that helps others do the same. This purpose is where you find fulfillment. This is the call you’ve been looking for. This is what you were made for, and apart from it, you’ll always feel like something is missing. In a world desperately searching for a sense of purpose, I believe this truth is needed more than ever.
This brings us to our text. Paul is saying that the foundation is Christ, but we’re all called to build upon what was built before us to help others find Jesus and join the mission. We’re all contributing to this project of helping others connect to the foundation, but the issue is that not all of us are intentional builders. Paul says that some are building with gold, silver, and precious stones, but others are building with wood, straw, and even hay. Some are adding structures that will last and help people find value in Christ; others are essentially wasting their time, adding structures that will only wash or burn away with time.
How committed are you to stewarding your life and leaving a real legacy? You are building something. The question is, are you building with gold or building with hay? Will you be remembered as someone who showed and told someone about Christ? Will what you're building last?
Write Your Obituary
So how do we make sure we are living a life that matters? One author argued that we should live with the type of old person we want to be in our minds. Let me talk to my younger audience before circling back to speak to the more seasoned. For many of us on the younger side, it takes us reaching our 50s and 60s before we start thinking about legacy. We waste our energy early on with the expectation that we will get serious when we're older, but the Bible says to remember the Lord in the time of your youth before it gets harder later. Many of us are waiting to be middle-aged, but the issue is that what we often call middle-aged isn't really middle-aged. The average life expectancy is mid to late 70s, which means your 30s are really the middle. You don’t have unlimited time.
My friend, Cleavon Davis, says to write out your obituary now and live your life to create it. Think about how you want to be remembered. Do you want your kids to see God's love for the church through your marriage? Do you want your coworkers to remember you as someone who had joy in the storm? Do you want the people around you to remember you as the person who helped them experience a life change in Jesus? You have less time than you think. Every decision you make today is compounding into the impact of your tomorrow.
Now, for my older readers, the issue is that with age and experience, many of us get lazy, jaded, and grumpy. We give up and start to complain more than we create. We think we’re done because we’ve gone a long way, but that’s not true. I get that you're hurt and tired, but God has you alive because He still has work for you. And that’s grace. More than that, He can do more in the time you have left than you could've imagined in the time you wasted. Don't let go. Be an Elizabeth for the Mary coming behind you. Don't waste your time watching TV and sitting around. Use your wisdom to impact and pass the baton to those who are coming next. Sarah, let God birth something in the womb you think is barren. Moses, switch careers at 80 and lead thousands to the promised land. Daniel, come out of retirement to impact a nation! God still has work for you! Don’t waste your opportunity!
I'm not saying you have to be a prolific writer and arranger like Smallwood, but God has given you something to steward in your sphere. He’s given you relationships and gifts. He's given your position and possibilities. Use what you have!
Give What’s Been Given
A friend called me one day, playfully angry at the idea that everyone with a smartphone has the potential to spread more information and impact more people than the Library of Alexandria, but we aren’t doing anything. While I don’t think everyone needs to be a famous YouTuber, pastor, or author, you are called to spread what you have in your own way. You may not be called to be a traditional evangelist, but you have to be serious about your call. Let your light shine. That’s a command straight from the lips of Jesus, and it starts by allowing yourself to be so consumed by the God who saved you that you can’t help but share.
Be inspired and then replicate what you’ve been given. Pass it on. I remember sitting up at night while at Oakwood University, reading my great-grandfather's autobiography. He rode his bike with no money or place to stay from South Carolina to Alabama just to receive an education, and I remember being so inspired by the impact he was able to make decades before on the campus I was then on. I would come back to this book again and again to be motivated to do more at the school God had me planted in.
What did he do? At a time when the HBCU had a white administration that wouldn't even sit with or engage in communion with black colleagues in church, and some of those very same Christian leaders believed blacks weren't capable of governing themselves, my great-grandfather and others led a student strike, which, while leading to his expulsion, also led to Oakwood inaugurating its first black president. It taught me that I didn’t have to wait for age or degrees to make a lasting impact. Some of those leaders reprimanded for righteous rebellion soon became the first presidents, administrators, and builders of black institutions that served their communities when white Christians closed the door on them. They cared enough about loving people like Jesus and spreading the gospel that they put themselves on the line for it, and it led to a lasting legacy. It was crazy to think of the hundreds of thousands of people across the world who found not just employment but Jesus through the systems and conferences he helped start and lead.
It did something special for me. It helped to remind me what was in my blood and that I had a call to fight so that the oppressed could find God, no matter how young or inexperienced I was. It gave me new confidence, and was one of the main reasons I wanted to not just make an impact, but write for myself. I want my kids to be inspired like I was. But more than that, my great-grandfather was only in a position to inspire me and countless others because someone brought his family into the church after they saw a flyer for a church meeting. This led to 5 of his relatives becoming conference presidents, and dozens of others becoming pastors, administrators, principals, teachers, musicians, and evangelists for the kingdom of God. What would have happened if no one spread what they were given? You can start a legacy that spreads far beyond you! Don't wait.
I want my kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and other kids like me to be inspired the way I was. I want to write books and songs and start movements that lead to life change for thousands. I want to leave enough behind to inspire those after me to do more for the people after them.
I want you to be a part of the same thing. It may look different. We may not all play the same position, but we are on the same team. I probably write primarily about things and examples that are similar to the call God has put on my life. Yours may look different. But an easy way to find what you're called to do is to replicate what inspired you. Find what fills you at the core and commit your life to filling others. How can you take what's inspired you and use it to inspire others? How can you commit your entire life to passing this message on to others and building a foundation that lasts?
A Legacy that Lasts
Can I point out another issue with this concept, real quick? Some of us think we’re laying a foundation of gold. We think we’re contributing to the kingdom, something that will last. But Paul argues that in the end, fire will prove whether our efforts mattered or not. Isn't that scary? How do we know if what we've given our lives to matters?
One of the scariest verses in the Bible is, Matthew 7:21-23. It says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ (NET).”
Peep what’s happening here. Jesus says that there will be some who know Him by name and title, perform for Him, sacrifice for Him, and even bear what we’d see as fruit for Him that won’t be in the kingdom of heaven. The goal isn't just to serve God, it's to know Him and bear fruit as a result. So many of us are doing great things, presumably for God. We are excelling in careers and ministries. We’re accomplishing. But we're producing without abiding, and the Bible says that the best you do on your own is nothing but trash. Imagine thinking you’re working your whole life for God and Him saying it didn’t count?
I want to be clear. Because God isn’t asking for the quantity of what we build as much as He’s asking for the quality of what we build. Remember, Jesus reprimanded Martha for working for Him but commended Mary for resting with Him. This is not a call to empty doing and vain effort. It's a call to abide and produce real and lasting fruit as a result. That only works if its centerd in Jesus. Its noy enough to just make money and earn respect. It has to be built on something bigger than that. The shack built on Christ is still better than a mansion built on sand. I’m not just calling you to be busy and burdened with the pressure of productivity and performance. I’m not just telling you to build, I'm telling you to build something that lasts. While I believe we should make a multiplying impact in the world we’re called to steward, I don’t want you to shift into an anxiety-driven, shallow, and work-based grind. While God has called you to bear fruit, fruit was never meant to be the focus. It’s a byproduct. Real fruit is the sign of real abiding.
I believe the real reason many of us are laying foundations of wood and hay is that we aren’t truly abiding. We aren’t truly submitted and surrendered to Christ, so everything we produce lacks substance. Don't just prioritize legacy. Prioritize a life devoted to God, and a legacy will be the byproduct. Don't just prioritize fruit; prioritize faithfulness, and fruit will be a byproduct. If you love practice, championships will come. Don't get so caught up in accomplishments that you don't abide.
Give your life, fully surrendered and submitted to Jesus, and what you produce will last. To surrender is to throw up your hands and stop fighting. It's to willingly become a slave. To submit is to believe your will is below God’s mission. It's to be subordinate to the mission. Surrendering and submitting your life fully and completely to God is the key to building something that lasts.
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