On the Death of Dr. Kennedy

Posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

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My pastor died today.  I have worked with Dr. D. James Kennedy since 1997 and have known him (in the sense of having entertained at his church and attended his seminary) since 1990.  His passing is a great loss in the evangelical church and in Christianity.  He was a very kind and gracious man who taught me a lot about being a pastor and being a person.  I would like to share a few of the things that I learned from Dr. Kennedy with you today.

Kings and Pawns go back in the bag

First, I just yesterday read an old Italian proverb that says: Kings and Pawns all go back into the bag at the end of the game.  All of our lives will come to an end and we should be spending our time doing the things that are valuable and lasting.  Dr. Kennedy’s legacy will live on because his work was not based on making money or gaining power.  It was based on enlarging the Kingdom of God.

You will no doubt read, at some point about the “mansion” that Dr. Kennedy lived in.  That is a lie.  He lived in a modest house near the church.  He drove a modest car and insisted that all his ministers do the same.  He was a man who simply was not interested in money, but was interested in the more important things in life.  That which lasts. 

When we come to the end of our lives, and we all will, we will need to take stock what we have done.  There are thousands of people who have heard the gospel because of Dr. Kennedy.  That lasts, that matters, that makes a real difference.

Never be too tired to speak to someone about Christ

Second, I learned that I should never be too tired to speak to someone about Christ.  Dr. Kennedy was always out on Thursday nights with an Evangelism Explosion team.  There were many (including myself) who sometimes stayed at home because we were too tired or our schedules were so full.  I don’t know of anyone who had a schedule like Dr. Kennedy, yet every Thursday night he was out sharing the Gospel with a visitor to the church.  Even at seventy-five years old he was not to busy or too tired to go out with the rest of the faithful and share the good news.

Make your enemy your friend

Third, I learned to make my enemy my friend.  You will read some who will speak of the hate of my pastor.  This is simply not true.  It seems that anyone who is willing to draw a line between wrong and right is called hateful.  Dr. Kennedy was willing to draw the line, but was always willing to step across it to share the gospel.

A few years ago, there was a young man who was picketing on the sidewalk out in front of the church.  He held up a sign that said “Dr. Kennedy is Hitler” and on the other side “Matthew Sheperd (sic) Died Because of Dr. Kennedy.” I remember being so amazed when I saw Dr. K out speaking to the young man.  I was even more amazed to see that the conversation lasted more than two hours in the hot Florida sun.  After that conversation Dr. Kennedy took the young man to lunch.

That is the way that one deals with an enemy.  You look deep inside and see a soul that so desperately needs Christ; a soul that without Christ is in slavery to sin.  Dr. Kennedy did all that he could to turn that young man to the gospel.  Whether or not the young man ever became a Christian is unknown to me, but it is not for lack of effort on Dr. Kennedy’s part.

Trust God to do great things

Fourth, I learned to trust God to do great things.  I saw in Dr. Kennedy a man who knew that God could do things that were so great that we could not even imagine them.  He stood up with his vision and told the small group of people that his church could reach the world.  They did.  He told them that his church could make a difference in the history of Christianity.  They did.  He told that small group that if they believed God the things that God would do thorough them would be so great that they could not even imagine them.  They were.

Dr. Kennedy, like all of us was not without his faults; though as I saw him they were far, far, fewer than mine.  Yet he trusted not in himself, but in Christ almighty.  May all of us learn a lesson from this man who only wanted to glorify the Lord. If we be able to do only a small part of what he was able to do, the Kingdom will be much better for it.

Soli Deo Gloria

Pastor Sam