Church Life

Grace Under Fire

The Billy Graham model for handling conflicts and controversies.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
-Colossians 4:6 (NIV)

For as long as I can remember, Billy Graham has been part of our family. Not in a literal sense, of course, since my father grew up in Minnesota while Billy Graham was raised in the South. Yet, God chose to weave their lives together—calling both to the work of evangelism, giving both the privilege of introducing tens of thousands of men and women to Jesus Christ, and planting in both an enduring friendship. Drawn together during the 1940s through the ministry of Youth for Christ, Billy Graham, Merv Rosell, and a small cadre of gifted young evangelists—sharing not only sermons and songleaders but also long seasons of prayer and a growing sense of awe at what God was doing through them—became the surprising leaders of what the editor of United Evangelical Action would by 1952 be calling “one of the greatest outpourings of the Spirit in the nation’s history.”

Those powerful midcentury revivals, marked by the large evangelistic crusades that swept through scores of American cities during the late 1940s and early 1950s, not only swelled the ranks of a resurgent evangelical movement, but they also helped to make Billy Graham the best known and most respected leader of our century. With Billy Graham’s new prominence, however, came increasing criticism. Old friends as well as new enemies began to voice concerns about everything from his theology to his style of preaching.

Well-known figures, of course, are always vulnerable to criticism—and special scrutiny, it would seem, has frequently been reserved for religious leaders. From Whitefield and Finney to Moody and Sunday, American evangelists have all felt the sting of unfavorable judgments made against them by their contemporaries. Yet few seem either to have understood the importance of criticism or to have developed as constructive a strategy for dealing with it as has Billy Graham.

One of his greatest legacies to those of us who come after him, I am convinced, is the pattern of dealing with criticism that he has practiced with such remarkable consistency across the years. Centered on five key principles, it is a model of Christian charity that evangelical Christians in our day would do well to emulate. I have enumerated below some of the key elements undergirding his approach to ministry and his response to critics.

1. Commit yourself to moral purity

Richard Baxter, whom J. I. Packer has called “the most outstanding pastor, evangelist and writer on practical and devotional themes that Puritanism produced,” opened his seventeenth-century classic, “The Reformed Pastor,” with a striking admonition to Christian leaders: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine, and lest you lay such stumbling-blocks before the blind, as may be the occasion of their ruin; lest you unsay with your lives, what you say with your tongues; and be the greatest hinderers of success of our own labors.” It is “a fearful thing” to be “an unsanctified preacher.”

Few preachers, I suspect, have been as determined to heed Baxter’s warning as Billy Graham. Early in his ministry, during the 1948 evangelistic meetings in Modesto, California, he called the members of his team together to discuss ways in which they could fortify themselves more fully against “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). As William Martin describes it in his recent biography, “A Prophet with Honor,” the Elmer Gantry image attached to American evangelism, which Sinclair Lewis had “assembled from skeletons and scraps found in the closets of real-life evangelists,” was well known by Graham. So he asked his colleagues to identify “all the things that have been a stumbling block and a hindrance to evangelists in years past” so that together they might establish effective means of avoiding them.

Out of that discussion emerged the “Modesto Manifesto,” as it came to be known, a set of practical guidelines for maintaining moral purity and avoiding even “the appearance of evil” amid the lures of money, sex, and power. Realizing that such rigorous standards would be impossible to keep without God’s help, they joined together in fervent prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guard them from those dangers. The fact that Graham’s ministry has been so miraculously preserved from even the whisper of immorality is clear evidence, I am convinced, that their precautions have been honored and their prayers have been answered. Christians around the world have been blessed as a result.

The importance of this principle for Graham was underscored once again in the “Amsterdam Affirmation,” the 15-point document to which over four thousand evangelists from every continent of the world gave enthusiastic assent at the close of the International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists, sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and held during 1983 in Holland. As Dad and I sat together at that session, I could not help being impressed at the clarity of Affirmations VIII and X in pointing to the continued need for moral purity: “We acknowledge our obligation, as servants of God, to lead lives of holiness and moral purity, knowing that we exemplify Christ to the church and to the world”; and “[we pledge, moreover, to be] faithful stewards of all that God gives us [and] to be accountable to others in the finances of our ministry” and to be “honest in reporting our statistics.”

We “must study as hard how to live well,” Baxter once wrote, “as how to preach well.” Many a “tailor goes in rags, that maketh costly clothes for others; and many a cook scarcely licks his fingers, when he hath dressed for others the most costly dishes.” God never saved anyone for being “an able preacher,” but because the preacher was “justified,” “sanctified,” and “faithful” in the Master’s work. Therefore, “we must take heed,” Baxter concluded in a warning that Billy Graham has echoed many times, lest we “mar the work of God by our weakness.”

2. Weigh everything against Scripture

While eager to learn all he can from his critics, Billy Graham’s ultimate authority is always the Bible. Early in his ministry, among the pines of the Forest Home conference grounds in California, he came to the rock solid belief that the Bible is the very Word of God. Questions about the authority of Scripture had been troubling the young preacher for weeks. Knowing that the matter must be settled in his mind if he ever hoped to preach with authority and power, he wrestled with his doubts until he was able to pray: “Oh God, I cannot prove certain things. I cannot answer some of the questions my friends are asking. [Yet, here and now I am ready to accept the Bible] by faith as the Word of God.”

That simple prayer transformed Graham’s ministry—and convinced him, once for all, of the Bible’s absolute authority. Since that special moment at Forest Home, no conviction has marked his ministry more deeply. Across the years, the Bible has remained the foundation for his preaching and the ultimate standard by which he judges both his relationships and the conduct of his evangelistic work.

Some, of course, have interpreted Graham’s generous spirit—evidenced by his willingness to join hands with people of many traditions and backgrounds—as a sign of weakness or a lack of resolve. Yet, even here, we see that his policy is the result of deep reflection on the Bible’s teaching.

Two interesting examples of this principle come to us from the 1957 New York City crusade. “If criticism is a blessing,” wrote George Burnham and Lee Fisher in their book Billy Graham and the New York Crusade, “then [Billy Graham] is certainly one of the most blest of men.” Charged by those on his theological Left with preaching a gospel “devoid of social emphasis” and by those on his theological Right with “fraternizing with liberals,” Graham found himself “caught in the cross fire.” His responses in both directions are instructive.

When sharply criticized from the Left by Reinhold Niebuhr, then a well-known faculty member at Union Theological Seminary, for preaching too simplistic a gospel, Billy Graham responded in characteristic fashion, as quoted by Martin: “When Dr. Niebuhr makes his criticisms about me, I study them, for I have respect for them.” While acknowledging that he “had read nearly everything Mr. Niebuhr has written,” and that he had come to a deeper understanding of America’s social problems as a result, he went on to make it clear that fundamental disagreements still remained. “I don’t think you can change the world with all its lusts and hatred and greed,” he concluded from his study of the Bible, “until you change men’s hearts. Men must love God before they can truly love their neighbors. The theologians don’t seem to understand that fact.”

Meanwhile, criticism of a very different sort was coming from some of his fundamentalist friends on the Right. Citing the scriptural command to “Come out from among them, and be ye separate,” they began to express their growing concern about Graham’s willingness to join hands in his crusades with what they considered to be “liberal” or possibly even “apostate” pastors and churches. This issue of cooperative evangelism, marking in one sense the final and wrenching break between fundamentalism and evangelicalism, was a major turning point in Graham’s ministry. But it was one that he took only after he had carefully weighed the criticisms against the teachings of the Bible.

In a lengthy letter “on separation” that was published in November of 1958 in Eternity magazine, Graham wrote: “During the past few weeks, I have come to some very deep convictions. It seems to me that the entire weight of Scripture lies in the direction of fellowship rather than separation. John 13:34 and 35, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another. … By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’ What is the great overwhelming evidence that we have passed from death unto life? Orthodoxy? Morality? Evangelistic passion? No! It is love!”

Using other biblical texts—such as John 17, Romans 14, Ephesians 2, and 1 Corinthians 12—he distinguished between appropriate and inappropriate separation. “There come times,” he suggested, “when we are to separate on theological grounds! [I recognize] that there are some modernists we are to separate ourselves from; and yet, on the other hand, I am convinced there are some ‘so-called’ fundamentalists we are to separate ourselves from. In my opinion, the same spiritual defect which is apparent in extreme liberalism that causes deadness, hardness, callousness and unbelief is the same defect that causes bitterness, jealously, rancor, division, strife, hardness, a seeking after revenge and vindictiveness that characterizes a few fundamentalists. It seems to me the Scripture teaches that we are to avoid both extremes.”

Here we find underscored an important key to Billy Graham’s approach to criticism. Having wrestled with the issues raised by his critics, and having revealed his willingness to be instructed by their concerns, in the final analysis it is the Bible alone that must supply the ultimate conclusions.

3. View criticisms as opportunities for correction and growth

Most of us will never have to face the kind of relentless and sometimes brutal scrutiny to which leaders such as Billy Graham are regularly subjected. Yet we can learn valuable lessons for how to deal with the stones thrown our way by observing how others have treated their critics over the years. From cynical reporters and theological opponents to angry students and jealous colleagues, Billy Graham has seen them all. Yet, with what the London Daily Telegraph described in 1955 as his “charm, sincerity, and simplicity bound together by a deep Christian charity,” he has again and again turned many of his critics into his most ardent admirers.

Graham’s approach to criticism can be seen in an article he wrote for the Christian Century (Feb. 17, 1960), entitled “What Ten Years Have Taught Me.” In it we see just how seriously he listened to his critics.

[It was] just ten years ago, that my evangelistic work came to the attention of the church as the result of a Los Angeles crusade. To me it was like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. … I found my sermons and statements being analyzed and criticized by hundreds of clergy, laymen, and theologians throughout the world. Religious periodicals joined in applause or criticism on my message, methods, and motives. To say the least, I was baffled … and even frightened.

Over and over again I went to my knees for guidance and direction. … There have been triumphs and defeats, elations and deflations, but never once have I doubted the validity of the gift or the call to evangelism. [I do wish that] I could take back some of the statements made in those early days because of immaturity or a lack of knowledge and experience. Many of those early statements were lifted out of context by some critics and used to ridicule the message as a whole. Then there were some misquotations that I still have to face and live down. For example, one evening in Pasadena I quoted the then secretary of the air force to the effect that America had two years in which to prepare. The next day a wire service sent across the country a report saying that I had predicted the end of the world in two years. It took me a long time to learn that a public [speaker] must be careful about the text as well as the context, else he is sure to be misunderstood.

“The lessons of this decade,” Graham continued in the article, “have been staggering. [I] have come to recognize more clearly [the] narrow limits assigned to the evangelist … that mass evangelism,” while an appropriate tool, may not be “the most ideal method of reaching out to sinners.” Furthermore, he continued, “[my theological convictions] have deepened,” particularly “with regard to the truth and power of the Word of God.” Moreover, he continued, his view of the church had broadened, his “belief in the social implications of the gospel” had “deepened,” and his “confidence in the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God” had “increased.” God has “intervened more than once in history, and there is every reason to believe that he will intervene again.”

Here, in capsule form, we can discover the spirit that has come to characterize Billy Graham’s response to criticism. It involves, first, an awareness of his own weakness and need for correction. Second, it points to his continued reliance upon God’s sovereign power, appropriated through prayer, for the fulfillment of his ministry. Third, it is ready to admit that mistakes have been made within his ministry. Fourth, it reflects a determination to correct those mistakes and make whatever changes are needed. And finally, it reveals a passionate desire to serve God as fully as strength and human abilities will allow.

What is not expressed directly, but which seems to underlie all the others, is a loving regard for those whom he is called to serve—even if they happen to be opponents. David Poling in his book “Why Billy Graham?” seems to capture the sentiment when he writes: “When the last conclusions about Graham are sifted and recorded, [it may be] that his greatest gift for the last half of the twentieth century” was not that he “packed them in” at Madison Square Garden or Earls Court or the Hollywood Bowl, or that he was successful in “radio and television” and “publishing.” Rather, it may be that he “loved people greatly [and] by loving them, led them to the gates of the kingdom of God.”

4. Remember that your most exacting critic is God

In “A Biblical Standard for Evangelists,” published in 1984, Billy Graham reminded himself and his colleagues in evangelism of the need for “transparent honesty” in everything they said and did. Even if others are “not watching us and evaluating our ministries by what they see of our honesty and integrity,” he argued, “we still should be above reproach, because we are accountable to God.”

There is a sense in which Graham’s critics have not been nearly as hard on him as he is on himself. In his 1979 biography “Billy Graham: Evangelist to the World,” John Pollock reports a conversation in which Graham commented about his growing concern that in a “day of publicity and media exposure,” people would have a tendency to “put him on a pedestal” where, he is convinced, he does not belong. “[I am] not the holy, righteous prophet of God that many people think I am. I share with Wesley the feeling of my own inadequacy and sinfulness constantly. I am often amazed that God can use me at all.”

What prompts such a comment is the awareness that God’s standards for truth and righteousness are far beyond any expectations that even the harshest critic might harbor. Standards of lifestyle and conduct for those in the Christian ministry are rooted in the Scriptures. Therefore, it is essential that each Christian prayerfully study God’s Word, come to understand its commands, and seek by the power of the Holy Spirit to obey them.

The question before all of us, as it has been for every generation, is a matter of basic loyalties. Will we continue to serve our own interests or give our allegiance to a holy God? Will we seek to please those around us or will we follow God’s commands? Will we be guided primarily by a world that seeks to press us into its own mold, or will our lives be conformed to the image of our dear Savior, Jesus Christ?

“I remember many years ago,” Billy Graham once wrote, when “plans were made for me to address a meeting in an East European country. There was great excitement and keen anticipation. But then twenty-four hours before going, there was a clear direction both to me and the organizers that I should not go. There was no time to stop people traveling from all over the country to attend the meeting. There may have been some human disappointment at my not being there, but it did not hinder the working of God’s Holy Spirit. The place was packed. The preaching of a local evangelist was powerful. God’s Spirit moved and many came to Christ.”

From a human perspective one may think that Graham should have gone. But, as he phrased it, “God had another plan for me at that time”—and ultimate accountability must be to him.

5. Stay focused

As one of the most admired individuals in the world, one who enjoys access to its leaders and whose opinions are regularly sought, it is quite remarkable that Billy Graham has been able to maintain such a singular focus on his work as an evangelist. Graham once commented that he has had a number of opportunities to become involved in television, motion pictures, or even to help in the building of a great Christian university. “But always the still, small voice has said, ‘God called you to be an evangelist.’ When God calls us, we are to remain faithful.”

This is also the reason that Graham has been so reluctant to enter into public debate with many of his critics. “Why should I engage in controversies?” he once wrote in a letter. “I would soon become so embroiled that the effectiveness of this ministry would cease. … I am reminded of Nehemiah’s answer to his critics, ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?’. … [We] cannot afford to get bogged down in disagreements.”

Since its founding in 1942, the National Association of Evangelicals has called for the avoidance of unnecessary contention. “[We will not] be diverted to participate in some back-alley scrap,” wrote Harold John Ockenga, the founding president of the association, in the first issue of United Evangelical Action (Aug. 1, 1942). “Far too much energy, money, and time have been lost in this kind of mistaken strategy already. Let our motto among the brethren be, ‘His banner over us was love.’ … [Let us] refuse to waste our time and energy [in] fruitless controversy.”

What is needed, President Ockenga was convinced, is nothing short of a genuine spiritual awakening-a “heaven-sent, Holy Ghost” revival such as God has used to refresh his people so often in the past. What Harold John Ockenga could not have known, as he voiced the hope for a fresh spiritual awakening in the early 1940s, is that the revival for which he prayed was already under way. At first it was but a gentle breeze. By the early 1950s, however, the great winds of God’s Spirit had begun to blow with such strength throughout America and beyond that the editors of United Evangelical Action were ready to proclaim 1951 “the Evangelical Year.” The “revival of religion that is underway in America,” they reported, has broken all of “Billy Sunday’s mighty records in attendance.” While many others were being used by God in providing leadership for this midcentury awakening, “the most spectacular demonstration of revival power” was headed by Billy Graham. He had clearly been “chosen and anointed by God,” as Dad likes to phrase it, to preach the gospel around the world-the task to which he has continued to give himself with singleness of purpose for 50 years.

“What a moment to be an ambassador for Christ,” Graham once wrote. “What an hour for the proclamation of his gospel! This is the time to make Christ known, whether we be pastor, teacher, evangelist or layman. I intend to keep on going, preaching the gospel, writing the gospel, as long as I have any breath. I hope my last word as I am dying-whether by bullet wound, by cancer, a heart attack, or a stroke-I hope my dying word will be Jesus.”

Garth M. Rosell is professor of church history and director of the Ockenga Institute at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Copyright © 1995 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

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