Billy Graham

Posted by Mike O on: 11.08.2007 /

Yesterday was Billy Graham’s 89th birthday. Billy Graham is my hero, but not because he’s a great preacher or even a great Christian (whatever that means). Sure, I admire those things about him but his occupation and fame are not why he’s my hero.

Billy Graham is my hero because he remained humble when fame should have screwed him up. To play on a point made by Benjamin Ady last week, there is very little disparity between Billy Graham’s “projected image” and his “actual image.” Billy Graham, for all his fame, never projected more than he really was. He is a simple man with a simple message that never changed and never got sullied. Frankly, I suspect he’s surprised at - and a bit uncomfortable with? - the recognition he’s received.

I admire his unswerving, confident, quiet integrity. When other televangelists fell, he stood. When religion got soiled, he stayed clean. When others thought he should distance himself, he risked his ministry to stand with people other Christians would have nothing to do with - President Clinton comes to mind.

Billy Graham made the world a better place. His faith did to him what I hope my faith does to me - it made him strong and relationally attractive rather than abrasive and judgemental. If more Christians handled their humanity the way he handled his - with humility - perhaps Christianity would be a bit more attractive than it is today.

Here’s a video tribute to Billy Graham.

Happy Birthday, Billy.

7 Responses to "Billy Graham"

  • Comment by: makarios

    1 11/8/07 9:35 AM | Comment Link |

    Ya. Kind of amazing isn’t it. Would that we could all be people of integrity.

    Here’s a fairly recent quote by Charles Templeton, onetime co Evangelist with and friend of Billy, now turned atheist - “Billy is pure gold. There’s no feigning or fakery in him. He’s a first-rate human being. Billy is profoundly Christian - he’s the genuine goods, as they say. He sincerely believes - unquestionably. He is as wholesome and faithful as anyone can be.”

  • Comment by: Marty SB

    2 11/8/07 10:33 AM | Comment Link |

    Mike - thank you for your lovely tribute to Billy. I could not agree with you more.

    As a young college student, I was trained to be a counselor for the 1963 Los Angeles crusade. I attended every one of the 21 meetings of the crusade. I did not counsel because I had not (and have not) had the born again experience that is fundamental to Billy’s ministry - but I did go under the coliseum and was one of fifty or so people who typed up the information from those who had gone forward. That information was sent out that morning to local ministers to follow up with the converts.

    The Billy Graham Crusade is the best, most professional organization I have ever been involved with.

    Billy touches me deeply for reasons that you describe and his incredible goodness. His form of preaching does not touch me - but I am convinced that it has made immense differences in hundreds of thousands of lives. Despite the fact that I have not had a born again experience and have lived much of my life extremely displeased with those who have attempted to impose this belief upon me - I believe that this experience is very real for many and seems to be a manifestation of God that can turn around people who are into crime, alcohol, drugs, etc in ways that other forms of religion or disbelief (either of which I am personally more comfortable with) can not.

    Billy is in a class by himself.

  • Comment by: Pseudonym

    3 11/8/07 5:55 PM | Comment Link |

    There’s one thing I don’t approve of with Graham’s conduct, and that’s that he does publically endorse political candidates. (I know he says he doesn’t, but he does. He endorsed Nixon and George the Second.)

    But really, I think this is because he’s a product of his era. His personal integrity is impeccable, even if I disagree with him professionally.

  • Comment by: Karen

    4 11/8/07 9:00 PM | Comment Link |

    Some tapes of him talking to Nixon and saying some very distasteful anti-Semitic remarks came out a few years back. I was disappointed in that.

    Clearly, he’s only human and was repeating the kind of bigotry he was probably steeped in growing up in the Southern Baptist tradition. But that did make me think less of him.

  • Comment by: Mike O

    5 11/9/07 1:08 PM | Comment Link |

    I’ve gotten very close to enough religious leaders (pastors and evangelists as friends) to know that everybody is human. And fallable.

    I do wonder, though, what BG could have said that would have been anti-Semetic.

  • Comment by: cautious

    6 11/10/07 5:40 PM | Comment Link |

    http://www.counterpunch.org/vestgraham.html

  • Comment by: Billy Graham

    7 09/26/08 9:44 AM | Comment Link |

    The new Billy Graham movie Billy: The Early Years hits on some of these topics talked about in this blog. Check it out at billytheearlyyears.com.