We’re kicking off the first installment of the 1Glories “Greater Desires” series by presenting the amazing stories of Billy Sunday today and Justin Masterson tomorrow. In their combined story, we get the rare opportunity to see two different paths taken from similar starting points. It’s also a lesson (or reminder) that God blesses us as we serve Him when we respond to His call on our lives.
Billy Sunday is best known as a prominent evangelist of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. But it wasn’t the only field where he experienced success. In 1883, he became a professional baseball player and enjoyed a successful career for nearly a decade. He was a speedy base stealer and talented outfield that had multiple teams offering lucrative contacts for his services prior to the 1891 campaign. He instead gave up that promising baseball career to pursue a new calling. Rather than take on an annual contract worth $3,500 to play baseball, Sunday accepted a position with the Chicago YMCA for $83 per month.
While listening to a gospel preaching team from Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago during an off-day in 1886, Sunday gave his life to Christ and that moment ultimately led to his career turn in 1891. Following his work at the YMCA, Sunday became an assistant and advance man for evangelist, J. Wilbur Chapman. When Chapman left that ministry two years later to accept a single church call, Sunday began his own outreach. He held his first revival meeting in Garner, Iowa the next year. It saw nearly 100 people accepting Christ during the week of meetings.
After time spent in smaller communities, Sunday’s ministry grew in popularity and scope. In 1917, he staged a 10-week campaign in New York that saw 98,000+ participants came forward to accept Christ. Over the course of his evangelistic career, Sunday addressed more than a million people, essentially ensuring he personally preached the Christian gospel to more individuals than any other person up to that point in time.
Billy Sunday
Sunday indeed felt a calling from God to pursue a greater desire. I often find it fun to speculate on what would have come of his baseball career had he continued playing. I quickly get pulled back into reality when I ultimately find myself considering how many souls would not have been saved had God not called Sunday as He had.
It speaks to the impact of having a full faithfulness in following your call. Tracing this story back a little bit further, the focus lands on a gentleman by the name of Edward Kimball. He worked up the nerve to witness to a shoe salesman by the name of D.L. Moody. Moody went on to have a great impact on many lives as a successful evangelist. What is often neglected is the fact that D.L. Moody also worked a change in the ministry of F.B. Meyer who was an influencer of Wilber Chapman. As we’ve just learned, Chapman was a mentor of sorts to Sunday.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives that Billy Sunday touched, one Mordacai Ham was among them. Ham, while hosting a revival in North Carolina, led Billy Graham to Christ. Obviously that one courageous conversation has meant salvation to millions in the years that have since followed.
That’s quite a lineage for one man – a layman – who honored Christ’s commission to witness to the world.
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Wonderful post Chad. I often wonder what led a man like Billy to even stop to hear a sermon from Pacific Garden Mission, but then again, we all have that moment when God brought us to the right place both mentally and physically in order to receive His call. Thank you for sharing and also thank you for your encouragement.