The Real Billy Graham--by Linden Malki

This week we are saying farewell to a real man of God.  Although Billy Graham had a many honors and was a major public figure he did not wish to draw attention to his accomplishments.   He titled his autobiograpy "Just As I Am". ...Billy identified himself with every convert walking to the front and confessing sin and weakness.  ... He says that he too is the recipient of grace, and God has done all the work.  ... "Most of all, if anything has been accomplished through my life, it has been solely through God's doing, not mine, and He, not I, must get the credit." ... "Almost every night I say, 'I wish I had done better, because I'm a representative, really, of Christ.  That's a tremendous responsibility." *

This is a man who was a great example of being real. He felt a calling to tell all the world about Jesus and the salvation that He brings, but he  not only felt it, he did it.  In the process, he stood up for Godly values, but not as a judge, but as an example.  During a 1953 rally in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Graham tore down the ropes that organizers had erected in order to segregate the audience into racial sections.  When the ushers refused to remove the ropes, he pulled them down himself. In his memoirs, he recounted that he told two ushers to leave the barriers down "or you can go on and have the revival without me." He became a friend and mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr.  and a supporter of equal rights, but avoided radical political action.

He became a friend and prayer partner with every President from Harry  Truman to Barack Obama, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, who became a good friend as well. He went on a speaking trip to Russia in 1982, when the Cold War was still in the ice age, against advice from almost everyone in the US government and even his own organization.  At that time, he was restricted to small audiences in the semi-underground churches, but it led to him being able to hold a major crusade in Moscow in 1988 after the thaw.  It is estimated that he spoke,either in person or by satellite, to over 210 milion people in 185 countries.  He was associated with a number of educational and missions organizations, and had millions of dollars pass through their hands, but was never accused of financial or personal misconduct.

We thank God for calling this man who took his calling seriously, and with the power of God did amazing things and set an amazing example. The key, I believe, is that he constantly drew on the power of the God and always gave God the credit--and confessed his own shortcomings and missteps for grace and forgiveness through His Son.
*The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, Harold Myra, Marshall Shelley,  Zondervan, 2010