Leaving a legacy

Our church celebrated its centenary a few years ago and as part of the celebrations, some large photo boards were commissioned showing notable figures and important events from the past. 

I stood there in front of the boards one Sunday and thanked God for those who had gone before, who had often sacrificially given of their time, money and talents to lay the foundation that we were building on today, not just of a church building but a thriving community.

There were difficult times over the years, even within my memory, of upsets, disagreements and even parting of the ways, but Godly men and women had persevered through these hardships and now, on this Sunday morning, we were going again to lift up the name of Jesus to see him honoured and to give thanks for all he is doing in this day.

Legacy is something that is very important to me. I have been handed a good legacy from those in my family who went before and even though I did not appreciate for many years what they passed on to me, I do now. I am standing on the foundation they laid through prayer and hard work and making some very good choices.

Recently we have visited some National Trust properties in UK and read about men and women who worked incredibly hard, with entrepreneurial skill to create something of lasting value for those who came after. Their efforts often blessed the locality and even the nation with their creativity and philanthropy. The tragedy has often been that sometimes those who followed completely squandered their inheritance. Fortunes have been lost on the horses or at the gambling tables and in one case, amazing treasures had to be sold to cover the debts. What did those forebears think of that I wonder? 

However, the Bible is also full of those who have been handed a Godly inheritance who ignored it, turned away from God and caused great damage to their own lives but also, even more tragically, upon the people of the land. These people deserted God and bowed down to idols and encouraged the people to do the same.  This led to disaster with invading armies overrunning the land and eventually the people were taken off into exile, despite warnings from God through the prophets. 

All of us will have been passed an inheritance. Some may have had a Godly heritage, and some may have not even known where their unwanted legacy came from. Some legacies of broken lives, debt or addiction are very unwelcome but just because we inherited a problem does not mean we have to pass on one.  There are so many stories both in the Bible and in our nations of those who have chosen a different, better path. It’s always possible with God to change things for the better.

I received a good inheritance, and I want to leave a good legacy for my children and grandchildren, but I also want to make sure that not just my family but my brothers and sisters in Christ receive something of value from me. I hope that if in another 100 years there are more photo boards (or their 22nd century equivalent) of the life of our church, I will have contributed something to a thriving church. 

Catch me if you can

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12: 1 - 2

Every baton change was secure and it was with great cheers that the British men’s 4 x 100m relay team brought home the gold medal. It had been a rather disappointing week of athletics for Britain but on the final weekend all four relay teams won medals.

Watching relays always reminds me of the analogy of handing the spiritual baton on as an inheritance to the next generation.

An inheritance is something passed on that we get for nothing from someone else who has paid for it. It can catapult us up to the next level. For instance – getting a financial inheritance can help us buy a house we couldn’t possible afford otherwise. Spiritual inheritances work in the same way. We inherit a grace for something, for instance healing, that others have laboured for and may have paid a high price in terms of commitment and even criticism but it makes us more effective for the kingdom.

A natural inheritance gives us something we did not have before but a spiritual inheritance reveals to us something that was there all along but which we had never seen or grasped before. When we realise the inheritance we have, we receive all the knowledge and experience gained by the previous generation. We don’t have to find it, earn it, dig for it, battle for it but just receive and walk in it.

Bill Johnson says that one of the saddest things in the Church is that one generation has never been able to pass on revival to the next generation. Revival has become the boost that the Church receives every few years instead of being the norm. What should be normal is that ‘of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end’ Isaiah 9: 7.

Going back to the analogy of passing on the baton it is as if the next runner takes the baton, looks at it and decides that running the next leg is too hard, demands too much and anyway they are too busy with work and family. Worse still it when the baton is put in a place of honour and revered as ‘the baton from the GB and NI team who won the gold medal in 2017.’ This is like honouring Smith Wigglesworth or John G Lake but not trying to run past them and push into God for the next revelation or grace he wants to impart.

For me the saddest thing is when the next generation take the baton and then goes back to the starting blocks and starts the race all over again, running the same lap as the previous generation. Instead once the baton has been passed, the next generation must take their inheritance and run hard their own race into fresh new things of God.

Jesus ran the first lap and he promised we would do greater things than he did (John 14: 12). That’s the norm. Our forefathers are our example and they are cheering us on the greater deeds, to greater revelation that the Kingdom of God would advance not stagnate or repeat.

Have you ever seen how the previous runner at the hand over, shouts at the next runner exhorting them to run their fastest? May it be the same in the kingdom. As we pass on all we have laboured and fought for, may we urge the next generation to catch hold of everything and then run into a fresh season of revelation with faith and anointing to increase the Kingdom and see Jesus revealed in ever greater measure.