Billy Graham Interview

Billy Graham is one of my heroes. His life is such a life of integrity, focus and humility that I'm in awe of his journey. I was reading the Newsweek Cover Story on Billy Graham and thought it was phenomenal. It does a great job telling the story of where he's at in the twilight of his life and the overwhelming message that comes through is one of humility on what he's learned in life and about God.

The author describes him in this way:

He is a man of unwavering faith who refuses to be judgmental; a steady social conservative in private who actually does hate the sin but loves the sinner; a resolute Christian who declines to render absolute verdicts about who will get into heaven and who will not; a man concerned about traditional morality...who will not be dragged into what he calls the "hot-button issues" of the hour. Graham's tranquil voice, though growing fainter, has rarely been more relevant.

The interview talks so much about his humility around how he has come to understand the bible over time - how his journey has affected his understanding of the scriptures and his view of God:

Belief in mystery is crucial to the Gospel Graham has preached for so long—a Gospel centered on the story that, for reasons unknown to the human mind, God chose to effect salvation through the execution and resurrection of his son. "As time went on, I began to realize the love of God for everybody, all over the world," he says. "And in his death on the cross, some mysterious thing happened between God and the Son that we don't understand. But there he was, alone, taking on the sins of the world."

He talks about how politics play into his message and how he has softened his injection of politics into his evangelism, even as his son is now criticized for speaking out in the way Graham did when he was younger:

"You know, I think in a way that has to be up to the individual as he feels led of the Lord. A lot of things that I commented on years ago would not have been of the Lord, I'm sure, but I think you have some—like communism, or segregation, on which I think you have a responsibility to speak out." Such proclamations, however, should not be "the main thing," and he admits he has no perfect formula: "I don't know the total answer to that."

I heard a story a while back on how George Bush senior had called Graham and asked him his take on salvation. I read that same perspective here, which probably really cheeses some people, but I believe is a very humble way to interpret the scriptures on this:

A unifying theme of Graham's new thinking is humility. He is sure and certain of his faith in Jesus as the way to salvation. When asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, though, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have." Such an ecumenical spirit may upset some Christian hard-liners, but in Graham's view, only God knows who is going to be saved: "As an evangelist for more than six decades, Mr. Graham has faithfully proclaimed the Bible's Gospel message that Jesus is the only way to Heaven," says Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross. "However, salvation is the work of Almighty God, and only he knows what is in each human heart."

When I'm Billy Graham's age, I'd like to be able to look back on my life and have had a fraction of the impact that he has. The stuff I do in my job doesn't change the world. What Billy Graham has done in his life has helped stop injustice, helped feed the hungry, care for prisoners and bring truth, joy and good news to a world in desperate need for it.

Tags: Billy Graham, Newsweek