Legacy: Back To My Spiritual Roots

This week I’m in a meeting with a church in Butler County, Kentucky,  called Christian Home.  I’m not sure how it received that name, but it’s an old congregation.  Some have said over 100 years old.  My grandparents attended this church in the 1930’s.  My Mother, Mattie, was baptized here in Welch’s Creek.

I’ve been here before.  But it’s the first time since my Mom’s passing.  I’m not only feeling a bit nostalgic, but also reflective of the legacy passed on to me.  My grandparents made a decision that has impacted me.  And has blessed me.

They attended worship  there on the Lord’s day.  The older children walked.  Often barefooted.  They were taught the importance of worship by the value they placed on it.   God was revered.  Spiritual principles were respected.  The Bible was read.

My Mom told me once how that Granny Key would have the children gather around in the evening and she would read the Bible.  She set an example of Christianity in the home.  An example to my Mom and her siblings. To my Papaw.  To those in the community who knew her.  It was an example of kindness, service and spiritual devotion.

And so as I preach this week, I am reminded that I am a debtor to those who have gone before.  And who passed down a legacy of whom I am the recipient.  It fills my heart with gratitude, humility, and appreciation.  It also reminds me of the responsibility to carry on that legacy.  And to pass it on.

What legacy are you leaving?

The wise man wrote, “A good man leaves an  inheritance to his children’s children” (Prov 13:22).  The concept of legacy often reminds us of property.  Money.   Or material possessions.  But there is a greater legacy.  A legacy left by mother.  And grandmother.  And good and faithful brethren at Christian Home who’ve gone on to their reward.

The Psalmist declared, “Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done” (Ps 78:3-4).

There is the legacy of Biblical values.  Values that glorify God. Values that bless other people.  Values that provide purpose.  This kind of legacy is lasting.  So many things in life are fleeting, changing, and transitory.  But Biblical values provide a lasting legacy because they offer stability.  And they teach personal responsibility.

The legacy that has been passed to me was founded in proper priorities.  I was taught that work come before recreation. People are more important than things. The spiritual is more significant than the material.  My Mom did not need a Harvard education to understand these values.  She learned them in a rural Kentucky county.  At home. At church.  In the community.  They are firmly fixed in an ethic that is decidedly Biblical.

I know some people overcome an unhappy home life.  Poor parenting.  Ungodly influences.  Certainly it is possible.  Many have done it.  But I’m thankful to have received a legacy that has made a difference in my life.

And so, this week it comes full circle.  I’m blessed with an opportunity to share principles and precepts founded in that same Jerusalem Gospel that my ancestors embraced.  To come home to “ChristianHome.”  And I pray to have a small part in passing on that legacy.  Who knows?  Maybe to a little boy or girl who one day have a grandson that will come back to preach the gospel at “ChristianHome.”

You too are leaving a legacy.  What legacy are you leaving your children and grandchildren?

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman