What happens to the people we have influenced after we die?
They continue on after us, still carrying forward whatever influence we had. We do not know what they will accomplish; the righteous judge will reveal the final impact at the last time. This applies to both good and bad influence, as people follow in our footsteps.
Les explains that if the Lord tarries and we pass through the valley of death, every person we have touched in this life will still carry on in some way, and we do not know what they will accomplish. He illustrates from his own experience: those instrumental in his early Christian experience are long gone, yet what they did in his life is still carrying on. The same is true for a lost person: his impact from lostness produces people following in his or her footsteps. Until the Lord comes, our responsibility is to the Lord, and He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; then every man will have praise of God.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
More Questions
When will we know the final impact of our lives according to 1 Corinthians 4?
We won't know the final impact of our lives until the Lord, the righteous judge, reveals it at the last time.