The Southside Lectures are now twenty-nine years old. This year’s program is, without a doubt, one of the very best. It became clear from the first day that the subjects discussed were just right for each person to whom they were assigned. Each of the speakers addressed his subject with talent, concern, and dignity, and with a sense of urgency.

Were the Southside Lectures a success? Well, that remains to be seen. If you look at the attendance, they were a success. If you measure them by the work of each of the speakers, they certainly were a success. If you gauge them by the interest shown by the audiences, they were a definite success. And while all these things are important to the answering of the question, they are still not the main criterion for ascertaining whether or not the lectures were a success. The real question is what must I do? Only when that question is answered will we know for sure.

“What must I do?” was the theme this year. The question is pertinent and should not be lightly regarded. Its implications are several. Look at them.

“What?” That indicates that a question is being asked. It means that an inquiry is about to take place, the subject of which is forthcoming. We ask questions because we want to know. If we are to make the kind of personal growth God wants in our lives, each of us must ask important and pertinent questions, the kind that may bring self-indictment, that may require some serious soul-searching by the time they are properly answered. It takes integrity to ask questions about your own personal growth, about your own inadequacies; but ask we must anyway.

“Must.” Just the word indicates obligation–to be obligated by reason of some consideration such as law, or custom, or situation. “Must” doesn’t leave room for doubt or vacillation, but makes obligations and assignments into urgent imperatives, obligations that must be soon met. Actually, in the strictest sense, “must” indicates that a decision has been made and that all that’s left is the follow-through. It enforces commitment and assigns duty. If the lectures are to be considered a success, we “must” look at the “must” in the question.

“I.” One of the simplest, and yet most important, words in the English language. “I” is always used to refer to oneself and no more. “I” is the most personal word there is. It is seen as so with our question, What Must I Do?. No one is going to do this for me. No other one is under obligation to this question; just me alone. As is the case with all God’s requirements, they are always addressed to individuals, even if they may involve some others in some corporate action (see I Corinthians 11). “Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess” (Romans 14:11) puts the responsibility right where it is.

“Do.” Do-ing is what our question addresses. The question is all about what your or I must do. What does that mean? It means that we must produce. It means we must perform. It means we must execute. There is little value to be gained from merely knowing that something is important; that knowledge must be followed by some action. Actually, knowing and not doing is what faith without works is all about (James 2:22, 26). Certainly there has to be some recognition of one’s personal obligation to a task, but it doesn’t end with that recognition; there must a doing that follows it. “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

It all adds up to this: there must be a follow through. We have to take each of the questions argued under the general heading of What Must I Do? and follow through with the answers given –- and there were many. Nearly every important subject with which we must deal in this age was covered by one or more of the subjects discussed this week. It’s up to us to follow through. Will you?

Yes, the speakers were excellent, the singing was inspiring, the attendance was splendid, the interest of the audiences was obvious, the number of visitors was encouraging. But that’s not the measurement of the success of the lectures–at least, not by itself. The final question is this: What must I do?

–Dee Bowman