Today I went for my normal walk along the canal path behind Alexander Stadium. Actually due to trips away and family visits, I’ve not been down that way for a few days. So, it’s fascinating to see the changes since the Commonwealth Games.
At the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, there’s pretty much always a promise of a great legacy to follow the event. Money poured into the area will lead to regeneration with new housing, facilities, infrastructure and jobs. The reputation is that these promises are rarely if ever fulfilled.
There may well be some lasting legacies from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham but some things will not last. The public transport infrastructure was temporary. The 5000 seater Aqua centre will continue as a swimming pool but without the 5000 seats. Not quite as many people want to pop in and watch Sid doing a length back stroke with the aid of armbands as wanted to see top athletes competing for gold.
A few weeks back, you’ll have seen my pictures of the main Stadium with its huge, impressive stands and surrounded by a bustling marketplace of street food stalls and shops selling official merchandise. Today, as you can see, the stalls, the flags and most of one of the stands have come down. The Stadium looked impressive at the time but most of its capacity was met through temporary seating. Regular athletics meets at Alexander Stadium draw a small fraction of the 30,000 plus crowds that turned up daily in the summer.
As I’ve watched something that looked solid and permanent disappear so quickly, I’ve been reflecting on the words of this song.
All I have and all I am is Yours
There’s nothing that I have on earth
That doesn’t come from You.
I lay aside my pride and worldly worth;
Serve You is the greatest thing
That I could ever do.
For unless You build this house,
I am building it in vain.
Unless the work is Yours,
There is nothing to be gained.
I want something that will stand
When Your holy fire comes;
Something that will last,
And to hear You say ‘well done’,
Giving glory to You, Lord,
Glory to You, Lord.
So easy to desire what others have,
Instead of seeing all the gifts that You have given me.
So help me fan the flame which You began,
And burn in me a love for You that all will clearly see.
For unless You build this house,
Build this house – Lou Fellingham
I am building it in vain.
Unless the work is Yours,
There is nothing to be gained.
I want something that will stand
When Your holy fire comes;
Something that will last,
And to hear You say ‘well done’,
Giving glory to You, Lord,
Glory to You, Lord.
It’s a reminder that for Christians, our concern is to see a genuine, lasting and in fact eternal legacy. We don’t just want to be working for things that are temporary.
This is sobering, for those of us who are involved in church planting and pastoring. How much of what we invest our time in will actually last?
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
Paul’s words there seem primarily directed towards those who plant and pastor churches. In that respect it is worth reflecting that we often talk about how many churches are planted but pay little attention to how many survive. Here in Birmingham, the 2020 project saw the 20 churches planted or revitalised but not all of them survived the past few years, a couple have sadly closed. At Bearwood Chapel, we saw a lot of numerical growth over a decade from about 60-70 to 180 plus. We multiplied to 4 congregations. However, we were hit by challenged going into and through the pandemic and whilst the Saturday night Nueva Vida congregation survived and is now an independent church, the Chapel are currently meeting as one smaller congregation on a Sunday morning.
However, before this causes despondency, I want to add something else. It would be easy to immediately discount those church and congregation plants that didn’t survive as failures. They did not last. However, I don’t think that this is the point of building to last.
I don’t know whether Birmingham 2022 will deliver a legacy but whether or not it will is not going to be determined by whether or not specific infrastructures survive. The additional stands at Alexander Stadium, the Beach Volley-Ball court and the 5000 seater gallery at Sandwell Aqua Centre were never intended to be permanent. They were not the legacy but rather were there to serve a specific purpose at a specific time.
It may be hard for church planters to see the specific church they’ve invested time in close but I would encourage you to look again. Consider the impact that those churches had whilst they were there. Think of the people who heard and responded to the Gospel, consider those who were fed well with God’s Word, remember those who discovered and developed gifts and rejoice over those who were commissioned and sent out to serve elsewhere. Looking back at our time in Bearwood, are there things I would have done differently? Yes! Did we get a lot of things wrong? Yes! Am I saddened by how things turned out for the congregations that didn’t survive. Yes. But if we could go back in time, would I still go there? Would I still encourage us to plant those congregations and go through the trials and challenges we went through to get them up and running? Yes, I would.
The point about something that lasts is not about those structures but rather it is about lives that have genuinely been changed by the Gospel. It’s about eternal fruit. This means that in fact we really don’t know the legacy yet. Eternity will tell.
And all of this is important for our individual testimonies too. Am I investing my life in things that matter not just for here and now but for eternity. Will there be evidence of fruit when I stand before Jesus?
Faithroots 