A few years ago, I published, The Impact of Intimate Theology. My point was that belting out worship songs is, at most, only a shadow of true worship. Because our worship practices too often miss the deepest worship object: which is whatever brings us most life (what we dream about as we wait on hold with Comcast).
While our “source of life” can be fleshly trio of career, romance, or money, our most insidious worship is our devotion to mission. Just like the reader who emailed me saying,
Our sole purpose on earth is impact; we are created for one thing, and one thing only: to live a legacy life and to leave a heritage of impact. My worship is the impact I leave.
Never mind that his “one thing only” included two things; in his rush to impact, he perfectly demonstrates the Jonathan Edwards’ quote:
It is true that by doing great things, something is worshipped, but it is not God.
I’ve read dozens of “Christian” articles on impact. The modern twist shifts the focus from “leaving” a legacy to “living” a legacy. It emphasizes impact before death.
But doesn’t that “living-a-legacy-life” idea reek of self-praise? You never see Jesus crying out, “Go ye forth and make a great name for yourself through your impact!” (1 Judas 13.13). Scripture is counter-cultural (counter OUR culture) when it says,
Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not. (Jer. 45:5 KJV)
The Only Impact that Counts
The idea of “Living a legacy life” has a long pedigree with many prominent ancestors:
- The people in the Plain of Shinar loved the idea of impact. They cried, “We must leave a legacy; let’s make a name for ourselves,” (Gen. 11:4) and they devoted themselves to their tower of Babel. (And, I suppose, they did leave a legacy, of sorts.)
- King Saul begins very humbly, and God commends him for it. But after a military victory, Saul decides his military prowess must be memorialized, so he builds a monument in his own honor (1 Sam. 15:12). And God takes his kingdom away.
On the other hand, John the Baptist left an impact so great that Jesus says, “Of those born of women, none is greater than John.” If Jesus was telling the truth, John the Baptist was greater even than Abraham, Job, Moses, and David.
What was John’s legacy? That he never built a monument to his legacy. When John’s followers left him to follow Jesus, he encouraged them, “My sole purpose is to point to Another.” John’s greatest impact is his heart of worship: “He must increase and I must decrease.”
Of all the forms of worship, none is more addictive than our quest for personal significance.
Legacy is Worship
God’s sees through the self-loving, self-praising, self-deceptions of our legacy-lives:
Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me.” (Jer. 9:23-24)
The Hebrew word for “boast” is the same Hebrew word used in “hallelujah.” Hallelujah literally means, “Praise Yahweh.” The literal Hebrew for “boast” in these verses is, “Hallelu-ME.”
Christianity has always taught that our purpose on earth is worship. It is in the DNA of all humans. Unfortunately, we humans always worship the wrong thing. If it isn’t a golden calf, it’s our golden name. Our “great things for the Lord” are often just 21st Century versions Handel’s Hallelu-Chorus: All glory and praise to me!
God can do all that he wants on earth without us. He doesn’t need us. But he loves us, and He chooses the connection of partnership with us. Jesus uses a boy’s fish and loaves to feed 5,000. He could have rained down meat and manna (a Biblical version of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”), but he chose partnership with us.
The basis of our impact is not our work for God but the work He does through us. God invites us into companionship with him, and that partnership is an incredible honor, but only when we forget ourselves and direct the glory to him.
If the legacy of our Lord is friendship with us, maybe our greatest impact is to let our legacy go.
Sam
The Central Importance of The Resurrection
EXACTLY! This is true wisdom.
Years ago there was a chorus, “let’s forget about ourselves and concentrate on Him and worship Him, let’s forget about ourselves and concentrate on Him and worship Him, worship Him Christ the Lord! Lord help us to remember how to forget and how to remember!!! Thanks Sam, as always you hit the mark in your column!!!!😉 Gary