Thoughts On Billy Graham

I saw that Billy Graham was in the news again - still in the hospital. He has Parkinson's, cancer, and macular degeneration. Yet he keeps going and going. Quite a testimony, don't you think? I mean, with all that against him and he still outlives his wife. God has his hand on Billy.

When Billy Graham comes to mind, I can't help but praise the Lord for such an upstanding, gifted evangelist. I know that the Lord is behind all he does because of the miracles surrounding his life and the focus of his life's work. I've heard the attacks against him - by believers and unbelievers alike. I find them to be based in one or the other - ignorance, jealousy, fear, awe. People have tried to attack his doctrine, his clout, his procedures, his family, his personality and his team. But he continues his message, and the response is as strong as ever. That's because Billy has, through the years, resolved to preach Christ and Him crucified - nothing more, nothing less. He has never watered down the gospel - not even to Presidents and Congressmen.

I've already mentioned the attacks - and as I write, I'm reminded of one in particular that was fairly personal, since I'm a pastor. One person tried to judge Billy's worth as an evangelist based on the failure of a prominent politician's political decisions - failure in a biblical issue (not moral, but political). This politician, who claims to be led to Christ by Billy personally, seems to be making some (not all, mind you) "unChristian" decisions. It is for that reason that a Christian friend of mine has questioned Billy's work as an evangelist. It's as if he were saying that Billy must have been a poor evangelist, must have watered the truth down, because of the failure of one of his converts. Is that really fair? I don't think so.

It does bring up an important point to those of us who are Christ's disciples - our actions reflect upon Him. Others judge Jesus by our success as His converts. What sort of reputation do we bring to Jesus?