Accountability Part 3: Legacy

My great-aunt went to be with God on Sunday. While we will miss her, it is a time of celebration because she lived a life that touched so many and that meant so much, and we know that she has eternal life through Christ. She was a child of God, and left a legacy of faithfulness and godly example.

This week, as I have heard from people, I’ve heard so much about how she touched their lives in a spiritual way. She allowed God to use her for His purposes and made everlasting impact on lives. I sat at the piano on Wednesday night and realized that every hymn I know, I learned from her. She was my first piano teacher, and she valued the hymns even more than the classics. Thanks to her, I can even play the ones in Ab (sometimes).

I spoke with someone on Sunday who made this statement to me: “She touched so many lives and left such a legacy. I’m thinking of my legacy, and outside of work, I don’t have anything that I’m invested in.” That was a pretty indicting statement. It caused me to pause and take evaluation of my own life.

1 Corinthians 3:10-16 says, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is in Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (NIV)

This is a pretty profound admonishment. I began to think about the foundations that I am laying on top of what Christ has already laid. Here were some of the questions I asked myself: “Am I doing _____ (I could fill in the blank with countless things) for my glory or for God’s glory?” “Am I treating others, especially my family, as Christ would?” “Am I building things by eternal standards (things that will last) or earthly standards (things that will crumble)?” I just have to be honest…I didn’t like some of the answers I got. Those are the areas that I need to re-evaluate today and ask God for help in changing those areas. Sometimes, I focus so hard on lifting my gaze and looking upward, that sometimes I forget to make sure that my feet are firmly planted and rooted in the deep roots of the foundation that He has laid.

As a worship leader, this foundation is particularly important. In Numbers, Chapter 8, God says that the Levites (worship leaders) are to be ceremonially clean…purified. He says that they take the place of the firstborn – they are meant to be sacrifices. They are to be presented before the LORD as a wave offering so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord. They are to be set apart from the other Israelites. I don’t know enough to know what all of that means, nor do I know enough about Jewish tradition to understand all of the ceremonies. But what is very clear is that we are held to a higher standard. God expects more from us – those of us who are leading His people in worship. Wow….that’s a lot to take in. At least, it is for me. It can seem overwhelming, but instead of seeing it as a burden, we need to see it as an honor. We need to pray daily to be more righteous – not in a Bible beating sort of way, but in a God-honoring way. We need to ask Him to transform us DAILY!

I sat awake this morning, and I can’t begin to tell you the list of things that need to change in my life. I can only tackle one at a time, and I know that He will help me prioritize them and accomplish what He has asked me to do. One of the chief things I feel He has asked me to do is to make sure I surround myself with people that I am accountable to, and to make sure that I make accountability a priority in our ministries.

We all need trusting, authentic voices—people that speak truth into our lives. So, my prayer is that we won’t be afraid to speak out when those times are necessary. The fact of the matter is that life is only going to get busier. It’s never going to get easier this side of Heaven – not if we’re continuing to work toward eternal gain. So, let’s hold each other’s feet to the fire, and make sure that as we lift our gaze, we’re not building faulty structures on the foundation that Christ has already laid.

Philippians 1:4-6 “I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” NIV