Legendary Evangelist Billy Graham has
been talking for years about moving to heaven, and this morning, at the age of
99, he made that move. We North Carolinians
proudly claim him as our own, and this blog is a memoir of how and where his
legacy and my own North Carolina life have intersected.
My Childhood and Youth
I grew up Southern Baptist, and if
Baptists ever had a pope, at least in my house, he was Billy Graham. The ultimate
spiritual icon, the most honored of all heroes, followed at some distance by
Lottie Moon, Corrie ten Boom, and all Southern Baptist missionaries. Well, OK,
my daddy did have another set of heroes during those days: Dean Smith, Bob
McAdoo, Mitch Kupchak, Phil Ford, and other young men who wore light blue
basketball uniforms.
Televised Billy Graham crusades were events
in my house. I don’t remember sitting down and watching more than one, but his
distinct preaching voice, George Beverly Shea singing “How Great Thou Art,” and the extended “Just As I Am” closing invitation were heard throughout the
house whatever I was doing.
In 1973, when I was 11 or 12 years old,
the Billy Graham Evangelical Association put out maybe their first ever
full-length movie, Time To Run (you
can watch it free here), and I remember that being especially meaningful
to me. Growing up, Billy Graham was just part of the air I breathed.
The BGEA published hundreds of books
too, many credited to Billy Graham, although I learned later what made sense,
that, like most other celebrities, he was much too busy to write books, and
used “ghost writers.” (Read Mel White’s Stranger
at the Gate.) Well, I remember when I was in high school, My charismatic friend Janet introduced me to contemporary Christian music and took
me to her tongue-speaking church a couple of times. My Baptist parents were
deeply concerned, and they bought me Billy Graham’s The Holy Spirit to explain to me (straight from the “pope”) what
the Holy Spirit was and was not supposed to do, at least for Baptists. My first of several BGEA books.
1996 Crusade in Charlotte
1996 Crusade in Charlotte
In 1996 Billy Graham held a crusade in
Charlotte, and my church volunteered to be a part. I learned a little about
what goes into such an event. Several months of work, prayer, and
preparation! With other members of my
church (and hundreds of other churches) I trained to be a counselor at the
event, and I led what was called “Operation Andrew” at my church, which was
about inviting friends to the crusade. Billy Graham did not attend the training
sessions, but if I remember correctly, we did meet Beverly Shea (or maybe it was Cliff Barrows).
I learned that the masses of people
moving from their seats during the “Just As I Am” time are not all responding
to the call, but many are the trained counselors like me. I don’t remember how
many evenings I attended, or how many evenings the crusade lasted, but I
remember sitting in the pouring rain with Pam, completely soaked, despite the
plastic rain covers we purchased there. And I remember the counseling room.
The Billy Graham Library
During Christmas of 2009, two years
after its opening, Darlene and I visited the Billy Graham Library.
Again I specifically remember the weather. It was so cold and windy! We explored
the exhibits, drank hot cocoa, rode the carriage, visited Ruth’s grave site,
and shopped in the gift shop. The library has become quite the tourist
attraction.
His
politics
In more recent years, as politics and evangelical Christianity
have become more and more interwoven, I have gained even greater respect for
him and his legacy. In the 1970s when Jerry Falwell
changed the face of American Christianity by marrying it with conservative
politics, Rev. Graham refused to be a part of it. In 1979 he refused to join Falwell's Moral Majority,
saying, "I'm for morality, but morality goes beyond sex to human freedom
and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak with authority on
the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or
person. We have to stand in the middle in order to preach to all people,
right and left."
Though ordained as a Southern Baptist and registered as a Democrat, he never let either of those distinctions rule his life. Graham willingly pastored all presidents regardless of political party, from Truman to Obama.
In 1981 he told Parade magazine, “I
don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if
there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political
right. The hard right has no interest in religion
except to manipulate it.”
Criticisms and Legacy
He has been criticized for aligning himself tightly with
President Nixon for a time, for which he repeatedly expressed regret. He is
criticized for not being there for his family because he was so often traveling
for crusades. Some criticize him for not speaking out on divisive issues.
When we allow him not to be God, though, what an
amazing 99 years he lived, leaving an unmatchable legacy, not just to those who
knew him, but to the world. He ministered for a lifetime without serious
controversy or compromise, keeping himself clean of all political factions, and
keeping his focus on the simplest message of Jesus Christ. Throughout history
there may not have been a more respected Christian leader than the Rev. Billy
Graham.
His children
Ruth and Billy Graham had five
children, and two of those have affected my life in some way. I heard Anne (Graham Lotz) preach twice – once at my seminary, and once I
traveled to hear her speak in a nearby church. Her father used to say she was the
best preacher in the family; and she was an inspiration to me, being a Southern
Baptist with few women in ministry role models. In later years, though she
turned back to her expected Baptist gender roles. I have blogged at least once
about her, and at least once about the politics of her brother Franklin.
See You Later
Billy Graham said while here, "My home is in heaven. I'm just traveling through this world." So now he's home. See you later, Rev. Graham. You lived well here.
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