This week it was our great joy to attend our son Christopher’s graduation from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. It is a long 3.5-year rigorous program to achieve this professional degree. Christopher has been equal to the task and we were thrilled to celebrate this solemn occasion with him.
Graduation ceremonies are typically lengthy affairs, and this was no exception. I can tolerate a typical chair or pew for, oh, about 20 minutes before my formerly broken back starts to complain. I usually get up and pace about beyond the view of congregants. Beeson Chapel, however, doesn’t really have any real estate in the back for this. So I retreated to the vestibule.
There one finds the busts of two great men of the Christian faith: Dwight L. Moody and Henry Drummond. As I stretched my back a bit, I read the inscriptions for each and, well, it turns out that these Christian saints knew each other.
I was greatly amused to see that each had called the other “the most Christlike” man they had ever known. I don’t wish to question the sincerity of these giants of the faith, but surely this is no coincidence. I have heard of getting your friends to endorse your work, but, man, this is some kind of endorsement.
“Dr. Moody, Mr. Drummond has you on his credit application as a reference. Can you tell us about him?”
“Yes, he’s like Jesus.”
“Well, uh, thank you. That pretty much answers our questions.”
One can picture the two men debating the subject:
“You’re the most Christlike man I ever met, Dr. Moody.”
“No, you are, Mr. Drummond!”
“No, dear Moody, you are more like Jesus than I!”
All joking aside, if you are not familiar with these men, I highly encourage you to become acquainted. Drummond’s little book The Greatest Thing in the World, published in 1874, is a gem. It will challenge you and encourage you — and it is still in print. Moody’s life and sermons comprise a monument to Christian duty and faithfulness. I think you will conclude, as they did, that they were, indeed, Christlike.
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