The hit musical Hamilton portrays Alexander Hamilton as a driven young man, eager to prove to the world and to himself that he is more than his scandalous origins. This is evident from the very first song (Alexander Hamilton). Songs like Satisfied reinforce the notion of Hamilton’s unquenchable ambition. The song Non-Stop explains one very specific way in which Hamilton’s zeal manifested itself: writing. Consider Aaron Burr’s jealous observation of Hamilton:
Why do you write like you’re running out of time? Write day and night like you’re running out of time? Everyday day you fight, like you’re running out of time
Hamilton also talks about slavery. John Laurens (one of Hamilton’s friends) wanted to give slaves their freedom in exchange for fighting in the Revolutionary War. Hamilton probably never realized, however, that he himself was a slave. His master was what the author of Hebrews referred to as “the fear of death” (Heb 2:14-15). It was this slavery that drove Hamilton to work and write so feverishly. He was just one link in an unbroken chain of those who have tried to rebel against their master by immortalizing their written words. Hamilton had a lust for legacy.
Slave Labor
Hamilton was not alone in his thirst to be remembered as someone great. Humanity’s slave-driver (the fear of death) will not let any of the slaves rest. The labor these slaves carry out for their master can take many (seemingly contradictory) forms, but today we are focusing on the lust for legacy.
I use the language of lust intentionally. As Americans, we tend to value ambition; it echoes of the American Dream. However, our values should not come from our culture, but from God. Let us consider, then, a few questions related to the fear of death and the lust for legacy.
When does a desire for legacy turn into lust?
Another closely related question we could ask is “When is ambition sinful?” I would argue that desiring to leave a legacy is not inherently sinful, but that it becomes a sin when it is no longer a means to the end of the glory of God and instead becomes an end in itself.
Merriam-Webster gives several definitions for “ambition.” One is
an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power
I think this is clearly sinful. However, I think the broader definition of ambition is not. It is:
desire to achieve a particular end
When used in this second sense, I think ambition can be very helpful when directed at the right end. As believers, our end should always be the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). Holy ambition is to be zealous to see God’s name exalted.
The desire one has to leave a certain kind of legacy can pair nicely with this holy ambition. Pondering the fact that we only have one life jars us out of complacency, and the stories we leave behind can be beautiful testaments to God’s grace in our lives. So long as our desire for legacy feeds our zeal to live every day for the glory of God, I do not think it is sinful.
However, the desire for a legacy can quickly become an idol. If pursued under a false pretense of holy ambition, it is self-righteousness - a desire to be remembered as a giant of faith instead of a desire for God to be shown as a giant of faithfulness.
I posit that the idolization of legacy (“the lust for legacy”) is an act of servitude to the fear of death. Those who fear death will try to escape it, no matter how futile their attempts are. Those who fear death cannot bear that thought that one day they will die and no part of them will remain, so they seek to impress their memory upon the world. This partly reflects the effect of the fall. We were created for eternity; that is what makes death feel so unnatural (Eccl 3:11). In one sense, we were never meant to die.
Death reaffirms to us the reality of sin and a God who judges. Those who have not been forgiven of their sins by the blood of Christ repress the thought of God, but the consequences of sin are unavoidable (Rom 6:23).
This lust for legacy is both dangerous and foolish. It is dangerous because it distracts from our true purpose in life (glorifying God and enjoying Him forever). It is foolish because when someone enters eternity they will no longer care how they are remembered.
What other factors contribute to the lust for legacy?
The fear of death is not the only factor that drives a lust of legacy. I think that, similar to the desire to be famous, lust for legacy is also fed by a desire to be truly known, loved, and accepted. This is absurd for the same reason given above: after you die, you will not be affected by how you are remembered.
Secondly, I think people have abject horror at the thought of leading an insignificant life. We were created to have dominion over the earth and then enter into the ultimate Sabbath rest - our work was always meant to have purpose. If life ends at death, then all our toil and suffering was meaningless. People develop a lust for legacy as a vain effort to outlive death in the hopes that their lives will matter.
How can we be set free from slavery to the fear of death?
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, [Christ] himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14-15)
Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death (John 8:51)
Christ conquered death and the devil on the Cross! We who believe in the Son of God do not have to fear death anymore because we know we have eternal life. We are free to serve God in obscurity all our days to the glory of God, knowing that we have a better reward in heaven. We are not afraid of insignificance because we know that the true greatness is to be the servant of all (Mark 9:35).
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. (Matthew 19:30)
Conclusion
Today we have seen that a desire for legacy can feed a holy ambition. We have also seen corruption of that desire as a consequence of being enslaved to a fear of death. Finally, we saw that Christians need not let a desire for legacy distract them from their true ambition: the glory of God in all things. I would like to close with the famous words of Charles Studd:
Only one life ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.
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