It was 1936, and he was president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago (see a 21st Century picture of it here). Will Houghton no doubt knew of his predecessor Dwight Moody’s character, and probably many of the things he had said, even if they were decades before he took over at the Institute and discovered more of the details of Moody’s life and penchant for reaching people with the Christ message. “Lead Me to Some Soul Today” may be a direct quote or paraphrase of something that Moody had said, and which was subsequently repeated to Will one day. Perhaps it was a plaque on the wall, even? If it held no other place, maybe that’s why Will Houghton decided it needed some place more permanent, like in a song verse. He didn’t want to clutter it up with more, so he kept it pretty brief.
Others may have added their own words to what Moody originally said, but Will Houghton took his forerunner’s idea and asked for a spirit of submission and consecration to accomplish what he could not do on his own. Will had already spent most of his life in ministry in several places, but evidently what he discovered in Chicago at the Moody Bible Institute sparked something anew. Houghton had been a committed believer and served in several places in Pennsylvania (Canton, New Bethlehem, and Norristown) in the 1915-1920 period; in Atlanta, Georgia from 1925-28; and in New York’s Manhattan borough from 1930-34, so for him to say some very basic things in his brief poem suggests the life and example of Moody had struck him in a fresh way. ‘Teach me…just what to say’, ‘melt my heart’, ‘fill my life’, were all personal prayers that Will uttered in 1936 as he considered how best to communicate Jesus Christ to people. In short, a large part of spreading the message began within himself. Having the sensitivity to see the desperate condition of people was a prerequisite, and accepting that these weren’t just strangers, but ‘friends of mine…lost in sin’. Evidently, Will thought he and other believers needed ‘..to care’ more. Maybe they all needed to ‘pray’ more, too. Dwight L. Moody had said many quotable things, but perhaps none was more central to his outlook than when he said “So, if we only lead one soul to Christ, we may set a stream in motion that will flow on when we are dead and gone …” (from The Overcoming Life). Could that help explain the extensive travels of Moody and others of his time, that they sought even one more person whose potential impact would be worth the effort, perhaps decades into the future?
Certainly, Moody preceded Houghton, by about two generations – Moody’s life: 1837-1899; Houghton’s life: 1887-1947 – so did that motivate Will Houghton? Can you and I be similarly stirred by someone we may have never even met? The answer is obvious – Yes! It happens all the time, and that’s why there are so many history-lovers, including myself. In fact, it’s hard to imagine any person who isn’t spurred on, in his or her imagination, by someone who has gone on before us. It might be a blood relative, or a nation’s leader (like a Washington or Lincoln), or maybe the epitome of what you aspire to be professionally. Maybe that person’s outlook speaks to you, and draws out of you your very best. Will Houghton would have probably spoken the names of several people – like Dwight Moody -- who were inspirations, as he thought about himself. There’s one who’s inspired untold numbers of humans for generations, including D.L. Moody and Will Houghton. He’s still doing that.
See the words for song here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/e/a/d/m/leadmsst.htm
See author’s biography here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/o/u/g/houghton_wh.htm
This source suggests the brief details of the song story: https://silentword.org/lead-me-to-some-soul-today/
See this for place from where the song story may have emerged: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moody_Bible_Institute
See here for person whose life may have inspired the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_L._Moody
See here for quotes from the person who may have inspired the song’s author: https://moodycenter.org/the-quotable-moody-d-l-moody-quotes/
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