Will They Remember Me--Leaving A Southern Gospel Legacy

Legacy – “anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor”
(dictionary online) When it comes to leaving a legacy, all of us would wish and hope that we have done something, anything that’s worth remembering, and perhaps worth imitating. There are certainly enough things we would like to leave under the rug, so to speak, and be forgotten, but how we are remembered is important, only to the degree that it influences a person to becoming an obedient Follower of Christ. Welcome to HeartLine for the week of November 17, 2008.

Well, I just learned something that I consider pretty significant. Although the news is about 2 years old, it just came to my attention. Either I knew it and forgot about it, or I never got the word. I have the privilege of preaching each Sunday night the Traditional Service of FBC, Smyrna, TN, and a part of that service working the technical “stuff” are Rick and Judy Kiesler. I found out last night, following the service, in speaking to Judy that her father is Gerald Williams, famed bass and owner of The Melody Boys Quartet. Now, as if that is not significant enough, Gerald was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame on October 12, 2006. Gerald is on the brink of marking 60 years in the Southern Gospel Music industry as an artist, having begun when he was a mere 15 years of age. Ron Pauley commented on Gerald as being the most significant bass singer in the industry today. Wow, now that’s quite a comment.

Question: Does one have to be in the Southern Gospel Music industry 60 years to actually leave a legacy? Answer: No. Well, that answer is just too simple, so let me elaborate a moment. Because by definition, the word legacy does indicate leaving something behind, we know that legacies left are not always good. A person is actually building a potential legacy everyday of their lives. Because none of us are promised a sixty year run in any industry, it is important to realize that today may just be the most significant day of your life. What you do today may overshadow your past, and negate your future.

Do you remember the little children’s rhyme, “Oh be careful little eyes what you see, hands what you touch, feet where you go” etc.? That little rhyme indicates that God is watching and also others are watching what you do “today.” Building a legacy indicates that others are watching what you “do” today, and leaving a legacy indicates that others will be watching what you “did” yesterday, or in years past.

Now, as a Southern Gospel artist, you surely would like to know that someone’s life will be changed for eternity because of what you are doing and what you have done. Leaving a legacy is much more than having a shelf full of CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and photographs. Most of that, although necessary for a historical record of what you have accomplished, is not how we want the word “legacy” to be defined in the Southern Gospel Music industry. Sadly, we all know of artists who have pressed pallets full of recordings, and the predominate thing the secular world remembers about them is their failures, either morally or otherwise.

Our failures are not the kinds of legacies we want those who come after us to remember. It is imperative that as a Southern Gospel artist, you begin now to decide that what you leave your family, your fans, and the members of your industry are something they can emulate in their own lives. My hat goes off to men and women like Gerald Williams of the Melody Boys Quartet, who have made a legacy of integrity, humility, and whose focus has been the gospel message throughout his illustrious career.

Hey, for what’s it worth, just think, you might even be the focus of a future HeartLine column one day, because you are leaving a legacy worthy of following. Next week, we’ll address the importance of ratings in the Southern Gospel industry. Until then, in order to make your life a legacy, keep your Heart-in-Line.

Victory In Jesus

“For the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.  (Deuteronomy 20:4)

This is short and sweet! Very sweet to me and to all who know our Lord and Savior in a real way.

Victory in life comes through walking with God every day of your life.  Prayer and reading His word helps you through the attacks of the enemy and allows God to pour His grace into your life.  As we trust in God and remain in His Grace.

God will give you the confidence and hope to overcome any situation in life.

O Victory in Jesus!

Barbara Roach