“We used to shoot hoops together.” The room was silent. I was at a memorial service for a pastor who had taken over a church we used to attend. People were asked to share their experiences, and that was the most inspirational statement anyone could muster. Everyone sensed that testimony fell woefully short.
King Solomon (“the Preacher,” Ecclesiastes 1:1) makes this profound statement: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2, ESV).
That memorial service was 40 years ago, but I, for one, laid it to heart as we left the church that day: What will people say about the impact of my life when I come to the end of my days?
Don’t get me wrong — we don’t live our lives for the praise of others, or at least we shouldn’t. The only accolades should come from King Jesus Himself, who told this parable of a master who rewarded his servants for their faithfulness with what had been entrusted to them: “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21).
This past Sunday, my pastor posed this question near the end of his message: “If you died tomorrow, would the faith that changed your life be passed on to others and multiply?” That is a sobering thought, and sadly, for many years I had no assurance that any investment I had made in individual lives would bear fruit when I was gone. There was a missing piece in my discipling ministry. We see this “missing piece” in Jesus’s final instruction (commandment) before He ascended to Heaven:
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18–20).
Jesus told his disciples to make disciples; they in turn were to go and make disciples. Making disciples is my holy tasking from King Jesus, but even that isn’t enough — I need to make sure that the people I disciple “go and make disciples” themselves. This is how the Kingdom advances.
If I am to follow the Great Commission, I am also required to teach disciples “to observe all that [He has] commanded.” I can’t teach something I have not learned, so I need to learn more about God’s word to be able to teach. And because He has “all authority in heaven and on earth” and is “with [me] always, to the end of the age,” I can go boldly into this darkened world to accomplish that mission.
On top of that, the Apostle Peter tells us, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). And when my time comes to stand before my Lord and King, I will say to Him, “I am an unworthy servant because I have only done what was my duty” (see Luke 17:10).
Hopefully, someone will have a better testimony of my life than “We shot some hoops together!”
What say ye, Man of Valor?
Semper Fidelis!
