Related articles and links |  1 of 6

This article originally appeared in the November 13, 1995 issue of Christianity Today.

Few, if any, developments in Billy Graham's ministry have been more surprising or controversial than his success in penetrating the Iron Curtain. It wasn't surprising, of course, that he would want to preach in Communist-dominated lands. He wanted to preach everywhere. Still, it was a notable turn of events when first one and then another and another Warsaw Pact country not only allowed him to visit, but progressively extended to him privileges that no other churchman, including the most prominent and politically docile native religious leaders, had ever received.

Graham has been clear and consistent about his goals in visiting the Soviet-bloc nations. As always, he sought first to preach the simple gospel message as publicly and to as many people as possible. Second, he sought to encourage believers in these countries by providing them with a tangible contact with world Christianity and assuring them they had not been forgotten by brothers and sisters in other parts of the world. And third, he tried to help the various Communist governments understand that religious organizations are a significant part of their society, that they are not going to disappear, that their members pose little threat to the stability of the government, and that granting them greater religious freedom would not harm the state. In addition, he stressed to Communist leaders that Americans view religious freedom as a basic human right and find it difficult to accept normal diplomatic relationships with countries that restrict that right.

Critics of the visits charged that Graham was being used by the Soviets for propaganda purposes. They pointed in particular to a 1982 Moscow "Peace Conference," which did indeed have a strong anti-American slant, and after which Graham made some inadequately considered—and inaccurately reported—remarks that seemed to describe greater religious freedom in the USSR than in fact existed. Graham understands, of course, that the governments of the countries he has visited have their own agendas and that preaching the Christian gospel is not a major priority. "Of course they are using us," he said. "But we are using them as well, and my message is stronger than theirs."

In light of the enormous changes that have occurred in the former Soviet Union and its satellite nations since 1989, no one can say with any assurance precisely what Graham's influence has been. It is worth noting, however, that no other Western churchman has had anything like the unique access to Eastern European leadership he has had, and, more important, that most of the changes he pressed for have been realized to a far greater extent than he dreamed possible as recently as a decade ago.

Important as they were, the Berlin and Lausanne Congresses may have meant less to Billy Graham than two conferences his organization sponsored in Amsterdam in 1983 and 1986. These were designed not to provide another international forum for scholars and noted leaders, but to provide on-the-job itinerant evangelists with basic instruction in such mundane matters as sermon composition, fundraising, and effective use of films and videotapes. Nearly 4,000 evangelists, 70 percent from Third World countries, attended the first conference; 9,500, from 173 countries, were present for the second. (As a sign of changing times, approximately 500 attendees at the 1986 meeting were women, and Pentecostals outnumbered non-Pentecostals.)

next page... |  1 of 6

share this page

November 13 1995, Vol. 39, No. 13