Reflecting on Gabe’s reflecting

Reflecting on Gabriel’s
reflecting, I was reminded of being at a conference with a well-known
preacher who is based in the US. He began his sermon by recounting an
interview he had done on the radio. He was asked the question, ‘What
would you like your legacy to be?’, to which he replied ‘I want to
finish the race, and not disgrace my wife and not disgrace the church
which I serve.’

I remember thinking as I heard
this preacher, ‘What a cop out and lack of godly ambition! Doesn’t he
want to leave a legacy? Build a dynasty? I want to change the world!’ 

The problem is as I’ve come to see it is that there is a very fine line between godly zeal and selfish ambition. A
number of years later after having heard that speaker, 2011 has seen 2 of my good friends fall into sins
which have disqualified them from the ministry; they’ve shipwrecked
their life’s work. I have begun to understand something of what that
preacher said.