Billy Graham’s Evangelistic Thrust: The Crusaders and Changing Times

Each period of history leaves ample room for improvement. Let’s thank God, then, that the “good old days” are always changing!

What 15-year capsule of time has witnessed such devastating and explosive challenges as the present atomic era? Two global wars had exhausted the initiative and idealism of our fathers. Now new things were coming to pass: expansion of military might, exploration of space, new treatment for physical maladies, new approaches in sociological matters.

The religious world, too, has experienced its share of revolution since the 1940s. The latter part of that decade was a turbulent season of transition for the churches. On the one hand the excitement of the war and its concomitant turning toward God had subsided. Attendance had not yet begun its phenomenal surge. Empty seats, small budgets, narrow vision, and tremendous appeals for restoration monies faced returning servicemen as well as those who had in local parishes “stayed by the stuff.” Again the Church was a tolerated institution rather than a transforming agency of life eternal. Only if notorious, was news of religious matters noticed. Front page coverage was negligible. Items that found their way into print appeared in the back pages together with obituaries and want-ads. Newsmen grudgingly used quips about churches as filler somewhere between legislative foibles and the weather reports.

It would be unrealistic to assume that this attitude is now reversed. Yet to ignore the overall improvement would be equally erroneous. While some churches are struggling for stable memberships and balanced budgets, they are the exception. Prospects and programs of growing dimension are the general rule. The swelling demand for leadership is known in all expanding denominations. This need has been met in part by returning servicemen who have turned to the ministry with sober thought and prayerful commitment to Christ. While the quality of theology has not improved noticeably, its study is again deemed respectable by the erudite. Once again the press views the affairs of man’s spirit as being of interest and of influence in the community. Rather than being relegated to seasonal observance, topics of moral and spiritual value find all-year welcome on platform and forum.

Awareness of “one world” has so captured us that in spiritual things we have finally eliminated the false tags of “home” and “foreign,” “we” and “they.” At last we see the true division of mankind as the Church of our Lord regardless of whether race or country aggressively assaults the legions of materialism and unbelief. Here we must admit only a partial gain, however. Some of the strength of this new advance has been drained off to serve lesser causes. Widening vision has sometimes led only to more complex, expensive, unwieldy and frequently autocratic organization. Quick action on the part of smaller groups and “fringe sects” to meet immediate needs has often been misinterpreted; “poaching” or even worse has been charged. With little enthusiasm or optimism the “standard-brand” denominations have watched the new dynamism of these groups and their amazing success. Perhaps an awareness that they themselves once employed this vital force dampens their appreciation. The fact is that these small aggressive groups simply insist on the conservative theology and scriptural discipleship written in the constitutions and creeds of the larger church bodies. They simply implement the cry, “Jesus is Lord,” a claim which too often we are content merely to have engraved on our best quality bond!

All who are spiritually sensitive praise God for the privilege of sharing in this flow rather than ebb of the religious tide. With great thankfulness we acknowledge that these blessings result from the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit. From him we receive these tokens of grace. They do not issue from the ingenuity of man’s mind, the purification of his motives, or some new resolve of his will. Yet, as always, our sovereign God chooses to make men the instruments of his peace. Of every race and clime he has raised prophets in our time to testify of things eternal. From martyr’s cell and bishop’s chair, from professor’s study and pulpit throne “their line is gone out through all the earth.”

A Singular Ministry

As in so many categories, in things spiritual, too, God has chosen an American for the leadership of greatest impact. Billy Graham has been thus singularly chosen. Now in his early forties, he has already accomplished a ministry of evangelism spanning 15 years and touching every continent of our globe. In a culture both blessed and blemished by evangelists of various sorts, Graham has been heard with respect and response. In a time marked and marred by arrogant mishandling of things once held sacred, he has faced materialism in society and modernism in theology with conviction and compassion. In a world made small by fellowship of spirit and scientific invention, he has successfully hurdled barriers of language, precedence, and local custom all over the world with apparent ease and grace.

Statistics are often cold, bold, and misleading. Yet it is noteworthy that since November of 1947 this unassuming leader has labored about 275 weeks in 120 crusades. He has proclaimed the Good News to 30 million persons and has seen nearly 900,000 souls making decisions to yield themselves to Christ! These numbers, of course, must be taken with the proverbial “grain of salt.” Actually the recorded totals are probably too small! They cannot possibly and do not include the vast radio audience around the world which for years has so eagerly listened to “The Hour of Decision.” Nor do these figures estimate the persons reached by relay and television chain extensions that are frequently used in connection with crusades in metropolitan areas. In the providence of God surely some souls have made life-changing decisions through these media. Whatever the exact calculations may be, the fact remains that this single evangelist has addressed more of his fellow humans than any man in history thus far.

If we use the preacher’s yardstick—the size of the crowd—as evidence of the smile of God upon this herald, some interesting comparisons can be made. In his hometown, Charlotte, North Carolina, Billy Graham has on two occasions been heard with honor. In November, 1947, 42,000 attended over a two-week period, and 1,200 recorded decisions. In October, 1958, a five-week crusade attracted 420,000 persons of whom more than 17,000 responded to the earnest invitation. In September, 1950, a Billy Graham crusade was conducted in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the site of the Association’s headquarters. In three weeks about 280,000 attended and approximately 3,700 made commitments to Christ. In the summer of 1961 about the same response was experienced in just one week! In our nation’s capital two crusades were held eight years apart. For five weeks in early 1952 an aggregate of 300,000 attended in Washington and in excess of 6,000 came forward in yieldedness. In June of 1960, a total of 140,000 crowded Griffith Stadium and in one week 5,000 made decisions. It was the eight-week crusade in Los Angeles in September of 1949 which first brought this amazing young man into national prominence. During that season of harvest, 350,000 heard and more than 3,000 responded to the claims of Christ. A few months ago this enviable record was surpassed in the first two weeks of the latest crusade in Philadelphia. Similar figures could be assembled to suggest God’s care and direction in other great centers like London, Melbourne, Glasgow, Berlin, and New York. “What hath God wrought!”

What Is The Method?

In my mind, the greatest single asset in the whole Graham enterprise is the crystal-clear humility of this evangelist. This rare quality weaves like a golden thread through his entire being. He has said repeatedly in public that he has no power in himself; and in no way does he presume to share God’s glory in the crusade. In private, he strongly manifests this same self-denial. The warm welcome to old friends, genial attention to new acquaintances, deference to others even in small things, disavowal of any claims to superiority, acknowledgment of limitations, recognition of others’ gifts—these traits of Graham come readily to mind and reflect the exceptional grace that marked the Lord who humbled himself and became obedient. What has been the result? Just what God promised! He has been exalted! This lanky, earnest preacher has found reception as a welcome guest and minister in the chapels of royal palaces, in the offices of heathen potentates and diplomats, on the bases of military forces, in the halls of government, at the world’s seats of learning, amid the avenues of high finance, at the tables of service clubs, in the homes of lofty and lowly, and on the campuses of theological study. At the same time, this man is possessed with a spiritual insight and incisive approach to human personality which enable him quickly to appraise a situation. This evaluation he makes not so much with a view toward judgment, as with hope that he may in some way provide help. A few lines from Rudyard Kipling aptly describe Graham’s well-balanced approach to life:

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or talk with kings, nor lose the common touch;

If neither foe nor loving friend can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much.…

This description is the garment worn comfortably by the most humble man I have ever known.

These crusades which have done so much to alter and improve our spiritual climate are not one-man-shows however. In this respect they differ from campaigns of famous predecessors. These crusades include the work of a team of devoted committee fellow laborers whose great mark is willingness to be used without fanfare. Wives and families who delight in this singular ministry deserve just recognition, too. Then there is a platform team of six or seven who from pre-service prayer to the helping of the last seeker night after night share an experience ever new and ever sincere. Years of working together have given these men unusual facility and sensitivity without robbing them of freshness and depth. Then, too, there is the corps of behind-the-scenes workers. Some arrive early to make campaign plans. Others do the necessary detail work during the crusade. A few remain behind to gather together all the fragments so that naught of the blessed outpouring be lost. Much of the smooth procedure results from careful and continued co-operation by the local committee. The clergy and lay people of the local committee often determine the atmosphere into which will come the evangelist and his helpers. More often than not, this committee’s general attitude is an accurate barometer that forecasts the climate of the services.

This summary brings us to the organization of the crusade, a matter that from the beginning has been an item of great concern. Very early in his experience Billy Graham made a careful study of great evangelists. Particular research was done to ascertain wherein each man’s strengths and weaknesses lay. Graham hoped to imitate the positive aspects and to avoid those practices that seemed fruitless or open to criticism. The result has been the most complete and efficient operation in the history of evangelism. Special committees on ushering, finance, music, counseling, property, arrangements for the handicapped and infirm, office management, publicity, foreign language groups, follow-up—these and other groups are carefully organized and trained. Strangely enough, this very efficiency has been a favorite target for the critics. “It is too professional, too much like a well-oiled machine, too much of a performance,” they say. Do these critics, we wonder, in their own small bailiwicks foster that which is careless and ill-planned? Do they feel that God puts no stock in efficiency, just so the motivation is high? We are inclined to agree with C. S. Lewis that any good works must also be good work on the part of the workman.

Another phase that is often criticized is that of follow-up. “They move in for a few weeks and are gone, and what benefits remain?” “What becomes of the converts?” Often these critics are preachers, pharisaical in nature. Actually, Billy Graham has done more to insure the continued care of the new-born Christian than any of his predecessors in this high calling of evangelism. Contacts are made in keeping with the convert’s stated church preference. Pastors are asked to call on these converts, and are given forms for reporting the calls. Only where no special church preference is indicated are contacts attempted at some nearby congregation of an evangelical nature. The real nurture of the convert, therefore, lies in the hands of the local Christian constituency, rather than in the evangelist’s. Any journey begins with a single first step. If the traveler does not continue his course with diligence and joyful persistence, this failure cannot be blamed on the one who gave the right directions in the first place.

Perhaps the most repeated and most groundless criticism of the crusades concerns finance. “How much will it cost?” “How much will they take out of the community?” are typical queries. These descendants of the Gadarenes who ask such questions still make the same infuriating choice as their ancestors: “When they saw the young man—and the bodies of the pigs—they asked Jesus to leave.” It costs too much! What, we ask, is the price of a soul? It would be interesting to learn what cost index these 120 crusades would provide. (In Oklahoma City in 1956, the price paid for each commitment was about that of a season football ticket at the university.) Even on the basis of dollars expended, 15 years of crusades have proved the fruits of these efforts to be real bargains. Finances are handled and audited locally. No “love gift” appeal, no wearisome squeezing by some team member plagues the visitors to the crusades. There is scrupulous avoidance of any suggestion of greed or avarice. This group of workers is a salaried team worthy of its hire.

Broad Local Support

One of the finest improvements made by Billy Graham over the course of time concerns his insistence on a broad base of local participation. The spotlighting of some particular personality has passed. Gone, too, is the unilateral approach to operations. I personally know that in more than one city Billy Graham has refused invitations offered by single strong denominations. Instead, he has waited with prayerful patience until some church council or federation has issued a joint expression of welcome. Though he seldom wears the badge of the much-labored word “ecumenical,” Graham demonstrates that spirit in its best sense. By the scope of his travels and the breadth of his attitude of co-operation, he manifests the meaning of the word more than many of its vocal champions. To insist on a broad base of support in local campaigns has been significant. Ministers have discovered a deeper spirit of fraternity; nonmember churches have found warm fellowship within councils of churches; nonco-operative groups have found opportunity to join in a concentrated effort to advance their most cherished doctrines. As one preacher of the Southern Baptist Convention confessed, “I found some other preachers believed the Gospel besides us.” By standing shoulder-to-shoulder in these crusades, weary, faltering pastors everywhere have gained needed encouragement of heart. A modern Jonathan, as it were, has sought them out “to strengthen their hand in the Lord.” This method of procedure has always been incorporated into the framework of the Church. Graham is no critic or competitor of the local congregation. He meticulously avoids entering ecclesiastical struggles for power. And he insists that his meetings in no way conflict with regularly scheduled services of worship. This practice is more than just good public relations. It represents the evangelist’s conviction that his mission is to strengthen and to supplement Christ’s work in the local church, to cause the body of Christ to leap rather than to limp because of his coming.

All in all, the method of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has made a major contribution to Christian witness in our time. Helpful tracts, syndicated question-and-answer columns, a respectable magazine, Bible helps and suggestions for Christian growth and service constantly augment the initial effort of the crusades. Such measures enable the babes in Christ to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

The Message Spoken

It is the message of the crusades that explains their success, for even the most efficient machine is cold and lifeless without proper fuel or power. What Billy Graham says is what God has honored. Others may preach the Gospel more eloquently than Graham, but they cannot preach a better Gospel! He has moved through the whole inhabited world with a Scripture-based message of man’s sin and need of Christ. Many of us rejoice over his repeated insistence on the authority of the inspired Word of God. “The Bible says” has sounded throughout the world, and on this firm foundation Graham has stood unafraid and unashamed. This basic conviction has given him a freedom of proclamation that many preachers have yearned to possess but which they find elusive. Graham has the same objectivity in declaring the whole counsel of God which the late Donald Grey Barnhouse used to express: “I’m just the messenger boy. If you don’t like the message, take it up with the sender, not out on me.”

This full conviction that God has spoken through the written and living Word has given this herald of our times the ready ear of the multitudes. His trumpet call is clear. The common people hear him gladly, even as once they heard the Lord. Here is confrontation in its simplest and most direct style. Whoever pauses to listen cannot say he has not been offered reconciliation.

One of Graham’s strong points is his interest in the individual. His sermons proclaim the worth and responsibility of each soul before God. This insistence on the personal approach is relevant because it brings variant human nature before the judgment of the constant truth of God. Such preaching is always up-to-date and always applicable to human experience.

It should be insisted, however, that the preaching of the crusades also has vast social implications and impact. Those who lament that Graham’s emphasis is too subjective and without social influence in our troubled world are simply and deliberately blind to the facts. Feature articles by Billy Graham in national magazines have discussed crucial issues of our times. Almost without exception he has met press interviews on “touchy” subjects with characteristic candor, directness, and modest restraint. Again and again he has publicly voiced considered opinions on both national and international crises. At times he has volunteered his services as an advocate of truth in situations that have sent others scurrying for cover.

The Call To Decision

In a time when life is more geared to feelings than ever before, “too emotional” is the broad umbrella under which nonparticipants have hidden from the crusades. Actually these meetings are less emotional than the average soap-opera or situation comedy. Like his Lord, Billy Graham begins his preaching with Moses and the prophets. In the light of the eternal law of God, he clearly interprets life as we know it. Then he invariably shows the grace of God in Christ as fulfilling the law for us, and offers the benefits of this work to all who will commit themselves to the Saviour by faith. This challenge to decision involves but a minimal expression of what might be called a froth of emotion. For me personally the most significant and sobering time of the meeting comes after the invitation. In the magnificent silence of that moment the truth of the message is stirring in men’s souls. Team members and other Christians are in prayer. Billy stands silent with head bowed in thanksgiving and intercession. Then with quiet strength he offers another “Come.” His appeal is to the will. Softly the choir sings the hymn, “Just as I am.” Then from everywhere come the searching souls. The waiting is over. From balconies and grandstands at arenas, ball-parks, and fairgrounds, they come to the altar with no tugging except that of the Holy Spirit of God. Enroute to the front they are joined by someone of similar age and sex who will give spiritual help when the meeting is dismissed. In the counseling room each person receives individual care, and faith is declared on the basis of God’s promises in the Book and not on feelings of the moment. Emotion: Only that of joy which the Spirit gives to those receiving the Good News!

To All Mankind

No one in our time has had greater opportunity to meet a cross-section of mankind than this traveling preacher from North Carolina. He has seen life from the vantage point of a door-to-door brush salesman and has stood before royalty as well. On all social levels he has shared the comradeship of humanity. He practices none of the artificial distinctions of age, race, financial or social status. The crusades therefore, appeal to all people. Graham speaks to youth without being maudlin, and a son of the manse responds. He speaks to the aged without special deference, and a gray-haired church trustee comes forward. He addresses the public without compromise, and both rich and poor yield themselves to Christ. He meets his critics without fear or rancor; some respond to his message, all respect him as a man. Liberty, authority, power, love, and humility are his arsenal as he battles for the souls of men. His compelling sincerity encourages all kinds of people to respond to the Gospel. We have seen the reporter who came to scoff, remain to seek. The young businessman who wanted success now trusts God for salvation. The sophisticated socialite now finds true beauty in holiness. The aggressive executive has brought his energies under the yoke of Christ. The hopeful seminarian who came to dissect remains to discover. The homemaker has the house of her heart set in order. “And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell.…”

We do not mean to suggest that these efforts have had unanimous support. Every community has had preachers blind and insensitive to spiritual needs and remedies. Such individuals have rejected the chance to co-operate, sometimes, as it were, disdainfully gathering their robes of righteousness about them. Almost without exception they have suffered, however, for their hungry, honest parishioners have bypassed them to find spiritual blessing. Some pastors who have been “too busy here and there” to accept the hour of opportunity have later matched their associates’ rejoicings with expressions of regret. There have been sincere opponents, too, of course, usually extremists. These groups have sometimes had their Goliaths who deliberately attacked Billy Graham as a preacher and as a person. It is sad indeed that they should thus prostitute God-given talents in futile and base conflict.

This total opposition is a rather small force, insignificant, really, from the larger view. Against these opponents the crusaders have used primarily the weapon of silence. Refusing to quarrel with some bumptious individual, magazine staff, or official, Graham has turned situations to his own advantage. Aligning himself with evangelical Christianity where the real thrust for God continues to be made, he allows his ministry to speak for itself. This it does, and with eloquence.

These crusades are serious ventures. Billy Graham knows that our era calls neither for the shadow-boxing of liberal, nor for the hair-splitting of fundamentalist leaders. He yearns to conserve and to cultivate the grass-roots interest which he senses. Here may lie the earnest of a true revival of spiritual power. These anxious days compel men seriously to consider eternal things and God’s eternal purposes. Seeing his hopes for world peace bum ever lower, man today may very conceivably turn his attention heartward. There, under the kindling and control of the sovereign God, he may find and nurture his own “little patch of peace.”

How Shall We React?

Let us rejoice, therefore, that God has privileged us to labor together with such an earnest and talented worker as Billy Graham. His efforts are singular but they are not restricted. The apostolic pattern still functions: “One planteth, another watereth, but God giveth the increase.” Sometimes Billy Graham is the sower; then again he puts in the sickle for the harvest after others have maintained faithful plowing and harrowing of the field. If everyone were a planter, the ripened grain would wither on the stalk. If all of us were harvesters, our scythes would rust in idleness awaiting the sowers.

Evangelism is the life-breath of the Church, and it has pleased God to equip some of his servants for the particular ministry of evangelism. Basic as it is, however, breathing is only one function of the body. It is a means rather than the end of operation. Evangelism and evangelists, therefore, are but means, also. They are to initiate rather than to consummate the vital activity of the Church. Repentance and renewal should stimulate rather than satisfy the Church. Those of us who claim bona fide relationship in the “beloved community” should seize our opportunity in evangelism with joy. That same Holy Spirit who brings life to a soul through the preaching of Billy Graham can build up that soul through the nurturing ministry of the congregation. This task is the challenge that awaits committed clergy and lay witnesses alike. While “our times are in his hands,” yet the quality of life depends on what we invest in these God-entrusted days. Let us all rejoice in God’s ministry through Billy Graham. Let us repent of our failure to accept the responsibility of supporting him and others like him. Let us faithfully intercede for all who sow, who water, and who nurture unto the harvest of God. Let us respond in depth to the continued desire of the Holy Spirit to indwell us to the exclusion of all else. Then indeed we shall thank God and take courage, “We saw one casting out devils in thy name” and we “thanked God and took courage.”

GRAHAM CRUSADE STATISTICS

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