Preach the Gospel…Then Die

Within the past week at least two well-known celebrities have died. One was young (late 40s) and succumbed to cancer. The other was in his mid-90s.

Then…for the most part and for most fans…life goes on. Mostly unchanged.

For family members and friends who knew and were known the deceased, there is no life goes on as normal. Grief hits hard and death is no respecter of persons.

It is laudable to desire to leave a good legacy. A good legacy impacts others for the positive many years after one’s date of death. For years it has been said that Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf, a bishop of the Moravian church in the 1700s would offer this instruction to his missionaries as they were preparing to be sent to serve, “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”

First Baptist Church of Orange Park is not unlike many Baptist churches of similar age. Founded in 1921, our church has a list of men who served as pastor. In most cases, the tenure of the pastors was a few years. There are exceptions where the tenure was and has been longer. While a number of longtime members remember the ministry of my predecessor, Dr. Allen Harrod as well as others who served in the latter decades of the 20th century (most notably Dr. Carroll Kendrick who led our church to relocate to its current address), for the most part there are few who know the ministry and work of pastors who served at First Baptist during its first fifty years of existence. As is currently the case, each era of ministry was led by imperfect, yet called men, seeking to serve the Lord and his church.

Though it may seem that the propagation of celebrity pastors with great reach who lead muti-site megachurches has taken over the American evangelical map, the fact remains there are many more “ordinary” pastors leading, shepherding, and guiding churches throughout the nation and world. For the most part, these ordinary pastors will not have a building named for them. Most will not have books with their names on the covers filling the shelves and e-readers of thousands. They are not trend-setters, influencers, podcast celebrities, or conference communicators. Yet, they are building legacies that will remain.

D.A. Carson has written a book titled Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor. This book is about his father, Tom Carson, who pastored in Quebec. Outside his community, Tom was not well-known. He never achieved success as the world defines it. He kept diaries and they are filled with personal accounts of his doubts regarding the impact of his ministry. Yet, as his son and author D.A. has expressed, the impact of Tom Carson has been powerful.[1]

There are numerous stories where ministerial family trees reveal the faithfulness of an individual bearing fruit in ways that the person could never know. Many know of and have been influenced by the ministry of Billy Graham. Yet far fewer know of the work of Mordecai Ham. Graham attended a revival service where Ham was preaching from Romans 5 that God drew Billy Graham to himself and he was converted.

Dwight L. Moody surrendered to Christ after talking to his Sunday school teacher Edward Kimball at the Congregational Church of Mount Vernon.[2] Moody’s impact in America and the world is well known. While Moody’s name is well-known, most are unaware of service of the Sunday school teacher Kimball.

The famed British pastor Charles Spurgeon had parents who prayed for him as a child. Though, his mother stated, “I often prayed the Lord to make you a Christian, but I never asked that you might become a Baptist.”[3] Apparently, the view of believer’s baptism was challenging for the Spurgeon matriarch. Yet Spurgeon attributed his conversion to Christ to a moment when during a snowstorm that “coincidentally” pushed the young man from his desired destination into a Primitive Methodist Church. The pastor was used by God and the sermon presented led Spurgeon to conviction of sin and ultimately to repentance and new life in Christ.

We grieve the death of celebrities in a different way than the death of a known loved one. Yet there seems to be this desire from most to be remembered. It is part of human nature.

Author John Green penned this quote in his novel An Abundance of Katherines, “I just want to do something that matters. Or be something that mattes. I just want to matter.”[4]

Since it is our nature to want to matter and to have others notice us, Count Zinzendorf’s is a great reminder of the bigger story God has called us into. Truly, our lives our short whether we live for four or nine decades. The fact is that more forgotten people have existed than remembered people. At least remembered by the masses. For those who enjoy genealogy the realization that the very important, deeply loved, and impactful family members who existed decades and centuries prior are mostly forgotten. Names and dates on a website or in a book…maybe. Eventually, the family tree reveals gaps, and mystery remains about the person who married the great-great-great grandfather. When did they marry? When were they born? Who was that person’s parent? And the treasure hunt for old names and dates continue.

However, it may be to our advantage to gain a better perspective. A pastor at one of the churches I attended as a child had business cards with his name, church, and contact information printed on one side and on the other was printed this — “If you miss me, you didn’t miss much. If you miss Jesus, you miss everything.”

Rather than seeking to live in such a way that one’s name is remembered and honored, perhaps we should remember what Count Zinzendorf said and put into practice. “Preach (or live) the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”

Serve the Lord where he has placed you. Whether that is as a pastor, missionary, Sunday school teacher, parent, grandparent, spouse, teacher, or any other position. Preach and live the gospel in those places of service. Leave the results to God. Don’t worry about being remembered. Work to ensure God is. Take John the Baptist’s words to heart:

John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.” [5]

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[1] Dash, Darryl. “Preach the Gospel, Die, and Leave the Results up to God.” The Gospel Coalition | Canada, 30 May 2025, ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/preach-the-gospel-die-and-leave-the-results-up-to-god/.

[2] “D. L. Moody’s Story: Moody Bible Institute: Moody Bible Institute.” D. L. Moody’s Story | Moody Bible Institute | Moody Bible Institute, www.moodybible.org/about/d-l-moody/ . Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.

[3] Kruppa, Patricia Stallings. The Life & Times of Charles H. Spurgeon | Christian History Magazine, christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/life-and-times-of-charles-haddon-spurgeon. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.

[4] Green, John. An Abundance of Katherines (New York: Penguin, 2008).

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Jn 3:30.