What Billy Graham Meant to
Evangelicals
By
R. Alan Streett
Billy Graham was a TRANSCENDENTAL figure.
He was the closest thing Protestants had to a Pope. Whenever he preached,
people of all denominations flocked to hear him. He filled stadiums for nights
on end, and sometimes for weeks on end. His evangelistic meetings at Madison
Square Garden in 1957 lasted 16 consecutive weeks. Over the years 2.2 billion people heard him
preach and of those an estimated 3.2 million responded to his gospel call to
give their lives to Christ.
Each year since 1948, Gallup pollsters
ask Americans to name the one person—male or female living anywhere in the
world—who they admire most. The results are compiled into an annual top ten
list. Billy Graham makes the list 55 times. Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II
follow far behind, capturing top ten honors 31 and 27 times, respectively.
Conservative evangelicals, a small
minority of the American population in the decade of the 50s and 60s, trusted
Graham and looked to him to speak on behalf of their causes and moral concerns.
He had access to the halls of power, rubbing shoulders with governors,
senators, and presidents. He dined with them and played golf, and even stayed
in their homes as an invited guest. Evangelicals believed, rightly or wrongly,
that through Graham, their voice was being heard in high places. And best of
all, they knew Graham would share the message of salvation with these movers
and shakers. Religion and politics seemed like a natural combination.
As evangelicals grew in numbers and influence,
many looked to Billy Graham as the unofficial High Priest of America’s civil
religion. They yearned for America to return to its “Christian” roots.
Billy Graham was a TRANSFORMATIONAL
figure. Since my days in seminary,
Billy Graham was my hero and mentor.
When I preached my first sermons, I drew my content directly from his
books World Aflame and Peace with God. I studied his every
move—how he warmed up a crowd with a few personal anecdotes, the way he folded
his hands in prayer under his chin, the inflection in his voice as he pointed
to God’s Word and intoned, “The Bible says ….”
For hours I stood in front of a mirror practicing his movements, imitating
his accent, and calling out to an imaginary audience to leave their seats and
come to Christ.
Billy inspired me and a whole generation
of ministers to become more evangelistic. In July 1974 the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association (BGEA) sponsored the Lausanne Congress, inviting 2,700
vocational evangelists and missionaries from 150 countries and dozens of
denominations to Lausanne, Switzerland for 10 days of training and inspiration.
The BGEA provided travel scholarships, lodging and food to those in Third World
and emerging countries. Out of these meetings a new generation of evangelists
emerged, trained by Graham and his associates. A special committee was formed,
composed of scholars and theologians, and assigned the task of defining evangelism.
The result was The Lausanne Covenant, the most comprehensive statement ever
penned on the nature of evangelism. It was read, adopted and signed by the
conferees, setting a new standard for evangelism in future generations.
The Lausanne conference was the turning
point for world evangelization because it called upon evangelists everywhere to
ascribe to an agreed upon definition of evangelism and to unite in the common
mission of reaching the world for Christ.
When I began work on my doctorate, my
dissertation topic was “The Public Invitation.” My research took me to the
Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL), where I watched numerous
archived sermons that Graham preached from 1950—1981. I paid particular attention
to the way he gave the invitation. When Graham came to my hometown of
Baltimore, Maryland for one of his crusades, I arranged a personal interview to
get his thinking on the topic. We met an hour before he was to preach.
That night I not only gained insight
about his invitations, but insight into Billy Graham, the person. Our meeting
took place under the old Memorial Stadium, home of the Baltimore Orioles, in
the office of manager Earl Weaver. Mr. Graham sat on a sofa and I in a chair. I
found him to be a contradiction of sorts. On the one hand, he was very
impressive, even bigger than life. As he stood to greet me, he was taller and
slimmer than I expected—about 6’3”, 185 pounds. His striking features, deep
eyes, chiseled chin, and sandy hair, set him apart from mere mortals. I was a
nervous wreck and giggled a lot throughout the interview. I was like a 35 year
old teenager!
On the other hand, Billy Graham seemed
unsure of himself. As I entered the
room, I noticed him biting his fingernails. Later I observed that all his nails
were chewed to the quick. I was shocked—“My hero bites his fingernails!” He was
also very self-conscious. At least twice he mentioned how he wished he had gone
to seminary for formal ministerial training and apologized for not being a
theologian. He treated me as his
theological superior. That was unsettling and caused me more anxiety. Here I
sat with the world’s best known preacher and he was deferring to me.
About 20 minutes into the interview I
recognized Mr. Graham’s son-in-law standing outside the office with his two
small children. Billy’s attention was diverted for a moment and he said he
hadn’t seen his grandkids in more than six months. I felt so badly. Here I was,
a total stranger, taking time away from this man and his family. How often had
others imposed on him, just as I, with little concern for his privacy? I
suggested I could leave a hard copy of my interview questions with him to be
answered at his convenience. He was appreciative and thanked me. I left the
room and made my way through an underground tunnel back into the light. Billy
later sent me hand-written answers to my questions.
My dissertation was approved and
published under the title The Effective
Invitation (Kregel). It includes a chapter devoted to Billy Graham’s use of
the public invitation. As a result, I was hired as Professor of Evangelism at
Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, where I continue teaching students to preach
and give effective invitations. I still use the Lausanne Covenant as the basis
for defining evangelism.
Over the years I have kept abreast of
Billy Graham’s ministry, attended crusades, sat on the platform while he
preached, and wept as I watched untold thousands respond to Graham’s call to
repent and believe.
I am only one among millions of others
that Billy Graham has touched. He transformed the entire evangelical landscape.
Evangelicals loved Billy Graham. He was
one of us, our standard bearer, used of God to speak to the nations. We prayed
for him as if he were a member of our family. Yet we shared him with the world.
He was transcendental and
transformational. He rarely let us down, and the full extent of his influence
will not be measured for generations to come.
*R. Alan Streett, PhD is the Senior
Research Professor of Biblical Theology at Criswell College (Dallas, TX).
