How Will You Be Remembered?

We all probably have an idea of how we would like people to remember us. All of us will die someday and people will have many things to say about us when we are gone, or maybe they won't.

I have thought about all of the mighty saints of old that have enduring legacies. I cannot think of one of them where they are preeminently recognized because of their academic accomplishments. Even a man like Andrew Fuller who tirelessly fought against the prevalent heresies of his day, Sandemanianism and Hyper-Calvinism, is not remembered preeminently for these doctrinal battles. He is best known for his revolutionary work in world missions. Jonathan Edwards, although a man attested as the most brilliant mind to come out of North America, is still largely known by his revival sparking sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", and possibly better known among his followers as the man wanting to see the glory of God supremely nurtured and spread by all Christians at all times.

My point is this. We get wrapped up in so many things that really do matter, but they do not matter supremely. If we would like to be remembered for anything in this life, it will almost always be for something that shows forth the glory of God brighter than the sun itself. If we want an explicit example from Scripture we can quickly look to Hebrews 13. How are these people remembered? Are they remembered for how they made a life's work out of critiquing this or that man's theology? Are they remembered for how much they knew intellectually? No. They are remembered for their faithfulness to God through their trust in God and how that trust worked itself out in their everyday lives.

At the risk of sounding like a dualist or a mystic, I must insist that our brains will not likely be what are remembered for. It will most likely be for our passion for God and for His Christ; how our holiness astounded and confounded the world, and even sometimes the Church herself. And maybe just always being there to serve and love people whom the world would not serve or love.

God has given us eyes to see. May we not neglect, as Jesus said, the "weightier" matters of the law--justice and mercy and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23).