Growing up as a high schooler in the early nineties, I distinctly remember my chemistry teacher being the most stereotypical high school chemistry teacher in history. He had a bowl haircut, thick glasses, a nerdy voice, and an actual pocket protector complete with pens, a pencil, and a laser pointer. At least once a week, during class, he would pull out the TV cart and show us an episode of an old show called Connections. Connections was a TV series by the BBC in the late 70s that dealt with how big and small events and items are connected and intertwined throughout history. It would show how something monumental in this century was only possible by something much more minor and seemingly insignificant centuries earlier.
The show wasn’t interesting to me as a teenager, and my friends and I would just sit and make fun of the show in the back of the class weekly. It was hosted by what I saw at the time as a stuffy old Britt that didn’t have any relevance to my life at the time. What I always found fascinating was how much my teacher loved this show. He became almost giddy as he pulled out this old CRT TV cart with a state-of-the-art VHS player and showed us what he thought was the coolest program ever made. He would grin the entire episode and pause from time to time in amazement and awe as he often said, “Can you believe that?!”
At the time, I couldn’t help but think that old people were weird. They were interested in weird things, talked about weird things, and generally acted in ways my teenage mind couldn’t comprehend. A few weeks back, I came across a video on YouTube that led me to another video. I watched for a bit, then I looked down at the description and saw that it was an episode of Connections. I was half shocked and half amused. I was shocked because I had long forgotten about the program and amused because I was actually enjoying it. I enjoyed seeing how something small and seemingly insignificant decades, or even centuries, ago directly impacted something I did, or do, today.
You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with legacy? Let me explain.
A DIFFERENT ECONOMY
Recently, I was having a conversation with my dad, and he told me that my great, great-grandfather was a pastor. It was weird to think that someone in my family tree was a minister of the gospel because I had never heard that before and never even considered that I might have had other pastors in my family tree. When I pressed him for some additional context, he told me we had several ministers on my dad’s side of the family. It made me think so much about the fact that I may be a pastor today because of the legacy that began long ago in one of my great grandfathers. That there may be a connection between the faithfulness to Christ of my grandfathers and me being a pastor today. It was absolutely sobering to realize that their commitment to the cause of Christ and their fortitude to hand their faith down to the next generation had a massive impact on what ultimately brought me to Christ (my parents) and my subsequent call to ministry.
But here is the reality: every decision we make has long-lasting impacts on our future. Economically speaking, every dollar saved and subsequently invested has compounding interest and has the potential to set you up for the future. But so much more for where our spiritual treasure is invested. It is often not talked about as much, but our spiritual investment is far more concerning to Jesus than our monetary investment. Jesus said as much when he spoke about where we put our treasure. In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus says,
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus is asking us where we are investing in this life. Not just where are we putting our money, but where are we putting our time, energy, and effort? Are we just using it all to leave our kids a financial blessing when we are gone, or are we setting ourselves up to leave something far more valuable? There is a central question I want to ask you. What type of legacy are you leaving for your family and those around you? Not just for your kids or grandkids, but for the generations after them. The dividends paid out on a spiritual legacy have a much more eternal impact than leaving someone a house or a financial inheritance.
POOR OR RICH INHERITANCE?
Biblically speaking, we can leave a poor spiritual inheritance or one filled with the riches of Christ and his Kingdom. Jesus again addresses this issue in Luke 12:13–21.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Jesus’ words here should be sobering to those of us who are not conscientious of the kind of legacy or inheritance we are leaving for our children and grandchildren. Are we buying bigger houses to hold more stuff, or are we investing in people to cement Christ as the center of our legacy? Are we renting more and more storage units for the things of this world, or are we filled to overflowing as to connect what we do today to the things that will outlive us?
Seeing that video of Connections brought me to ask myself a series of sober questions:
- If this show were written about me, what connections a hundred years from now could be traced back to the decisions I make today?
- What will downstream victories be had because of Christ’s faithfulness through me?
- What spiritual legacy am I forming in the next generation today, and will the example I am of Christ’s grace and mercy outlive me and be felt for generations to come?
I hope these questions cause you to pause and truly consider what kind of legacy you are passing down to the next generation. Is it a genuine and robust path?
This post originally appeared at: Legacy — The Bonhoeffer Project