Important

      What is your biggest regret?  Maybe not taking a job opportunity you were once offered?  Letting a friendship fizzle out?  Sometimes I regret having that dessert when I wasn't hungry after dinner.  Other times, regrets are bigger and more serious than that--such as saying something hurtful to someone I love, or not saying something I know I should.  

     19th century American evangelist Dwight Moody had a big regret, one he said he'd give his right arm to undo.  He called it the "greatest mistake" he ever made.  It occurred on October 8, 1871.  He was preaching the Gospel in Chicago, and at the close of his message, he asked the audience, "What will YOU do with Jesus?"  He gave them a week to decide, and urged them to come back the next week, where he would again ask that question, and urge them to make a profession of faith.  He never had his chance.  That night, the Great Chicago Fire ravaged the city, killing approximately 300 people, and destroying millions of dollars worth of property.  Moody deeply regretted letting people leave without giving them that opportunity to receive Christ as Savior then and there.  

Dwight L. Moody

     Sometimes, people ask me why evangelism and the Gospel are so important to me.  Dwight Moody's story says it all.  Second Corinthians 6:2 says, ...Today is the day of salvation.  

     One of my big concerns with a lot of church ministry is that the Gospel is rarely presented, and an actual invitation is given even less often.  In most Vacation Bible Schools, for example, the Gospel and an invitation to receive Christ are given one day of the week, maybe Thursday or Friday, and it's this big deal.  My concern is, what about children who only come on Monday and don't come back?  There's a total lost opportunity, just like Moody and the Chicago Fire.  Tomorrow isn't a guarantee.  We need to be preaching the Gospel at EVERY opportunity.  The Apostle Paul felt so urgent that he said, ...For necessity is laid upon me.  Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! (First Corinthians 9:16).  In his final letter to his protege Timothy, he wrote, preach the word.  Be ready in season and out of season...do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.  (Second Timothy 4:2,5).  

     It is true that the Holy Spirit can work in hearts, even if we fail.  Maybe some who heard Moody's sermon that night in 1871 really did believe in the message of Christ, and receive Him as Savior, without Moody giving that invitation.  We can rest in God's Sovereignty, but we must never use it as an excuse to avoid obedience to the Great Commission.  Jesus commanded us to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Mark 16:15).  He didn't say, "But if you don't want to do it, don't worry, I'll override your timidity and save them anyway."  He commanded us.  A command from Jesus isn't something we can question, or theologically try to get out of.  It's right there in the Bible.  No excuses.  God is the one who saves, but we are called to share His message with a dying world that needs Him so desperately.  

     I have been in trouble for sharing the Gospel many times in my life, always (ALWAYS) from Christian people who should have been in agreement with me.  Somehow, the Gospel didn't fit with their program.  Oops, I led someone to Christ and it wasn't even Thursday.  I messed up VBS!  Bad me.  I'm being facetious, if you can't tell.  The problem is that we get into our routines and programs, and don't put ourselves on God's plan, and worse, we don't obey Christ's commands.  We must not stop preaching the Gospel!  The Gospel is important!  Important!  More important than convenience.  More important than the church's programs or plans.  More important than "how we've always done it" before.  More important than getting along with everyone.  If the Gospel isn't part of the program, the program is wrong and needs to be changed.  

     Don't let Dwight Moody's regret become yours!