The Truth About Billy Graham
What to do with Billy Graham's legacy?
I've been struggling with this question for the last week.
I was reading this morning from Matthew 18. In verse 1, Jesus' disciples ask. "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
Many would say, Billy Graham. "Look at the impact his preaching had." "So many people came to Christ." "Imagine his reception in heaven with so many people thanking him for preaching the gospel and bringing them to God."
Right.
Funny thing though. When Jesus was asked that question, His answer was not, "The greatest is the one with the most converts." He didn't say, "The greatest is the one with the biggest church." "Most money." Or "Coolest webpage."
I think Graham IS one of the greatest examples of a Christian in the last 100 years. Not the fire and brimstone younger Graham. But the gentler, less effective, but more Christlike Graham of old-age. The one pictured in the photo above with Barak Obama.
Why?
That's the humble Graham. The Graham who loved mercy more than sacrifice. That's the Graham who made friends with people he might not have agreed with politically. That's the Graham that the fundamentalists got nervous about.
Would you believe that some folks accused him of universalism in his old age? The greatest evangelist of the last 100 years was a universalist? Wow.
Graham wasn't perfect. He didn't understand Paul's vision of the church as a place without racial, gender or status bias. He didn't join with his brothers and sisters to fight for civil rights. He stayed a-political. A privilege his whiteness afforded him.
But he grew. He learned. He listened. And as he got older, he became more and more like Jesus. More humble. More merciful. Less sure of himself and more curious. More childlike.
Funny this - that's kind of what Jesus says qualifies a person to be greatest in the kingdom of God.
