Billy Graham? Thoughts on his 93rd birthday

From a 2007 post

I've always felt there was something lacking, something not quite right about Billy Graham. I'm not saying he hasn't had good evangelistic sermons, or done a good job of reaping a harvest of souls, bringing them to Christ, but maybe it's the way in the Decision magazine, the message stays constantly on getting saved and doesn't progress for those who are already saved to other topics relevant to the life of the believer.

I don't know. There is a place for continuing to give the evangelistic message, but something is definitely wrong, and people don’t identify it because Graham has been totally deified. No one dares touch Billy Graham.

The truth is that Graham is powerful. On his 93^rd birthday yesterday, people were saying he is the greatest preacher ever - that he has reached more people than any preacher in the history of the church! Unfortunately, that much power has allowed him to hurt a lot of people.

I can only use one thing as an example - one thing I found in the Decision mag that my parents receive. He clearly writes something false and misleading and even hurtful. He writes about the battlefield of the mind in the latest November edition ( I originally wrote this in Oct. of 2007). And he mentions the doubtful mind. He quotes only a part of Romans 14:23 and says the Bible says "He who doubts is condemned" referring to doubting about whether or not one actually belongs to Christ. Now this is taking it completely out of context. This is only a portion of the verse, and the word condemned is not meant in the heavy, eternal context that he is using.

The verse is talking about the eating of meat and drinking of wine for those who think it's wrong, and whether it is wrong to offend those who think it is wrong. Prior to the words, "he who doubts is condemned," it says, "happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves." And the verse actually says, "he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith." The word condemned is not talking about hell. Graham is taking a verse out of context. Is it as a scare tactic? Doing this is scary and disturbing. Honestly, reading his work, I don't feel I am reading anointed words from the heart of the Father God. I am disappointed in Graham.

I knew there was no place in the bible where it actually said, "he who doubts is condemned." In James, the first chapter, it says, "he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord." We can have doubt that interferes with receiving from God, such as the unbelief in Jesus' town of Nazareth that he said was so bad that he couldn't do mighty works there.

But you can have doubts enter into your mind and into your life and at the same time, the sum total can be faith, such as Abraham, who went through terrible doubt to the degree that he went ahead and had sex with a woman not his wife in order to get a son (Ishmael) yet he still went on to receive the son of the promise through his wife later on (Isaac.)

But no where does it say that doubt is equal to losing your salvation. Wow! Wow! I was struck by that one!

I remember how he was the representative of Christianity in my early life, and how I gave my life to Christ partly because of him. A good thing, yes? But then, it led to frustration. I kept looking at him and his goodness, and at my own frustrations with sin that I couldn’t overcome, and there was a huge chasm between him and his perfection and my inability to live the Christian life.

He wasn’t making it accessible. He just kept giving the altar call, so, I would repeatedly give my life to Christ, as if this would solve the problems. But it didn’t. It took a long time before Christians came along who started offering teaching for how to overcome the different struggles that a person may have in overcoming sin, and dealing with personality strongholds.

Until then, it seemed like it was only Billy Graham with his fiery sermons preaching salvation. Don’t get me wrong. I always admired him – his integrity, and his message. But something bothered me. I know now that the power of God was compromised in his thinking and teaching. Add to that the anti-Semitism that I learned of later.

There is a serious problem in any Christian’s life who harbors ill will towards Jews. It again shows a lack of understanding in his life. I can honestly say I am thankful to be me and not him, that God has given me the revelation that I have, and that I don’t have the limited understanding that he has shown. And I pray for the people damaged by his bad theology. I think many problems in our country regarding trusting in Christ stem from the misunderstandings that Billy Graham planted in the minds of so many Americans.

That is a serious statement.

Is it possible that Graham’s scare tactics, trying to scare people with threats of hell whenever they doubt that they are saved, has turned people away from God, or turned them towards itching ears – seeking other theologies, and other types of Christianity, opening them up to the erroneous teachings of Joel Osteen and other, even more false preachers?

I read an article in the Dec. 2011 edition on the Fruit of the Spirit that was really good. So, he has written some very good things, don't get me wrong. And the problems I have had with him only require that I forgive him, of course. And someone I told this to said - everyone has some error in them, even Billy Graham.