The Invitation (1 Corinthians 3:6–7)

In 1934, Albert McMakin worked on the Graham family dairy farm outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Most people have never heard of him. He was not an evangelist. He did not have a large ministry. There would be no stadiums filled with people waiting to hear Albert McMakin preach. But he knew a 15-year-old boy named Billy Graham.

That year, evangelist Mordecai Ham had come to Charlotte for a series of revival meetings. Billy’s parents wanted him to attend, but Billy was not particularly interested. He had grown up around church, and another religious meeting apparently held little attraction for him. What finally got his attention was something quite different. Ham had developed a reputation as a forceful preacher, and rumors were circulating that some students might come to one of the meetings and cause trouble. McMakin reportedly described Ham to Billy as a “fighting preacher.”

Now Billy was interested. McMakin offered to take him. So one evening, a farm worker and a teenage boy headed into Charlotte to hear Mordecai Ham preach. There was nothing about that trip that would have suggested that history was being made. Billy did not walk into the meeting knowing that God was about to change the direction of his life. From his own later recollections, he initially went largely out of curiosity. And he did not become a Christian that first night. He went back.

As the meetings continued, Ham’s preaching began to bother him. Billy had always considered himself a fairly good person. He went to church. He was not someone whom most people would have looked at and thought desperately needed to change his life. But increasingly, Billy felt as though Ham was speaking directly to him. On November 1, 1934, Billy Graham responded to the invitation and committed his life to Christ.

We know the rest of the story, or at least part of it. Billy Graham eventually preached the Gospel to nearly 215 million people in live audiences in more than 185 countries and territories. Hundreds of millions more encountered his preaching through radio, television, films, publications, and other media. Presidents sought his counsel. Stadiums filled to hear him preach. Generations of people came to associate Billy Graham with one simple message: that they needed Jesus Christ.

But go back to the beginning. Before the stadiums, before the television broadcasts, before the presidents and crusades and millions of people hearing the Gospel, there was Albert McMakin. He invited a teenager to a meeting. I doubt Albert climbed into the vehicle that evening thinking, This may be one of the most consequential things I will ever do. Why would he? It was an invitation. A ride into town. Something easily forgotten. Yet that is often how God seems to work.

Paul wrote:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6–7 (ESV)

Albert McMakin did not convert Billy Graham. Mordecai Ham did not create Billy Graham’s future ministry. Albert invited him. Ham preached. Billy responded. God gave the growth.

I think that is why this story matters even if none of us will ever preach to millions of people. We tend to imagine that if God is going to use us for something important, we will know it at the time. The moment will somehow announce itself. We will recognize that this conversation matters, this invitation matters, this person matters. But perhaps that is not how it usually happens. Maybe the important moment looks like asking someone to come with you. Making a phone call. Introducing two people. Encouraging someone who is ready to quit. Speaking when remaining silent would be easier. Showing up when you almost stayed home.

Albert McMakin could not see what would come from his invitation. Neither can we. That does not mean every small decision will change millions of lives. Most will not. But we also do not know which seemingly ordinary act God may use in a way we could never anticipate.

Albert invited one teenager to hear a preacher. The teenager’s name was Billy Graham. Could you be standing in one of those moments right now?

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

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