Letter from America

At the grand old age of 86, Billy Graham is said to be conducting his last American crusade in the city of New York.

The format appears to have changed little. The build up to the evangelistic message now includes more modern contemporary music from the likes of Jars of Clay, but George Beverly Shea (now, amazingly, 96) still sings immediately previous to Billy Graham’s sermon and the altar call is heralded with, of course, a full rendering of ‘Just as I am’.

Billy Graham has had many detractors over the years. In the early days he was said to be a firebrand stoking up emotion to create mass hysteria as the only explanation for his fantastic numerical success. Later on conservative evangelicals of great renown, even including the likes of Lloyd-Jones, criticised him for some of his techniques; and, in particular, his willingness to share the platform with Roman Catholic leaders was irksome to many.

More attuned now to the vagaries of American accent and culture, I can detect when hearing Billy Graham’s distinct Southern drawl (North Carolina I believe) which, no doubt, despite the best of intentions, plays into cultural stereotypes on this side of the pond.

Anointed

Yet even his fiercest theological critics have been unable to point the finger at him for financial or sexual impropriety, and therefore Billy Graham stands head and shoulders above numerous other proponents of mass evangelism in the 20th century. I am sure there are some reading this article who could date their first steps of faith when responding to a Billy Graham crusade in London. The man is clearly an anointed preacher of good news to poor sinners.

I suspect my experience of listening to Billy Graham is like that of many others. I have never found his sermons particularly impressive, nor even at times especially interesting. They seem astonishingly brief (you can tell the Baptist in me!), lacking in profundity, and not always even especially clear. And yet there is no denying the fruit. For some reason known to God, he has decided to use Graham as his instrument to bring many people to salvation. I’m sure it has something to do with God getting all the glory (1 Corinthians 1.18-31).

Yes, the man is the preeminent example of successful mass evangelism in the 20th century.

Next generation?

But what about the 21st century? Can we really look to an octogenarian as a model of preaching the gospel in a day when postmodernism is entrenched (if that is not an oxymoron), when technological innovations change contemporary world view thought patterns, and when, you know, if you thought typical attention span was short in the television age try the video game for its dumbing down effects.

And yet, despite the theological niceties (and some may be not such small matters indeed), despite the questions about the role of church in discipleship and the connection between the evangelist and the pastoral ministry of the church, despite the cheesiness of the hackneyed ‘crusade’ technique, I can’t help but admire a man who in downtown New York preached to 110,000 people about the judgement to come, the hope of heaven for those who have put their trust in Christ, and the need, the urgent need for response. His conclusion to his message: ‘I sense the Holy Spirit is working so please come forward’. No fanfare, no cleverness, no reliance on rhetoric (did I mention it was brief and unimpressive as a piece of homiletics?) but an undoubted sense of God doing something.

So in all our heart and soul searching about ‘how to reach the next generation for Christ’ I wonder whether it would do us good to take a long, slow look at an 86-year-old.

Back to the future?

Anointed

Next generation?

Josh Moody

Main Articles

Other articles