july 6, 2006
Billy Graham: The Changing of the Guard
Change is in the air. Of course, it is always in the air -- that's the nature of life. But as we watch events unfold around us, it is apparent that a fundamental shift is underway. Late last month we witnessed the beginning of the end of an era for a giant of his generation, the great Rev. Billy Graham. With the close of his triumphant New York meetings, Billy preached what could be his final crusade in the United States.
In 60-plus years of ministry, Billy Graham has taken the gospel to 200 million people in more than 185 countries around the world. He has seen millions of people come to Christ through his meetings. Many believe he is the most influential Christian minister since the Apostle Paul.
No one can downplay the important role that Billy Graham has played as the chief ambassador for Christianity throughout the world -- making a dramatic impact on the lives of countless people from kings and presidents to the poorest beggars.
But I believe that Billy himself would be quick to point out that part of the key to his successful ministry has been the fact that throughout his life, he wanted to do God's will, God's way. He has always been insistent on personal purity -- having a ministry colleague with him at all times to avoid even the appearance of evil. He has always called on people to turn from a life of sin to a life of holiness. He has faithfully upheld the primacy of the Bible as the Word of God.
And he has always been a man of prayer. Perhaps his most famous act of prayer almost derailed his ministry early in his career. In 1950, Rev. Graham had just visited President Truman in the White House and was surrounded by reporters on the White House lawn. Not only did Graham report what he and Truman had said during their private meeting, he also demonstrated for reporters how he and his associates had prayed. They knelt in prayer on the White House lawn, as the gleeful reporters popped their flashbulbs. Truman later gave orders never to invite Graham back.
But this act of youthful zeal did not set his ministry back for long. Soon, presidents from Eisenhower to Clinton brought Billy Graham into their inner circle, making him the countries' minister-in-chief. In all of this, though, the simple message of salvation through Jesus Christ has remained the same.
As Billy has concluded the recent New York meetings, he announced that he is prayerfully considering one more crusade in London this fall. As he winds down his crusade ministry, he hands the baton to his son, Franklin Graham, to carry the gospel forward to a very different world than the one in which Billy first preached to in the 1940s.
"The generation in which we're living is much different than the generation back in the late '40s," Franklin recently said. "But the needs of the human heart haven't changed."
While there will always be the select few "crusade style" evangelists, we live in a new era where individual believers understand more fully the biblical admonition of Jesus to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:19-20a). Today, Christians are taking every opportunity to share the gospel through their businesses, at sporting events, on the Internet, and through on-one-one friendship evangelism. And media ministries like CBN continue to take the Good News to the nations through television, video, radio, film, and the Internet.
I applaud Billy Graham for a life of service and sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.
But when we stand before the Lord on the last day, He won't say to us, "Well done, you were just like Billy Graham." What He will say to believers -- like Billy Graham, whose sole purpose in life has been to obey God -- will be "well done, good and faithful servant." So I also applaud the millions of believers who have dedicated their lives to preach the gospel in thousands of different ways by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
You can read more about this in my article today on CBN.com, Pay-ers, Pray-ers, and Pray-ers
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