How Billy Graham Avoided Scandal His Entire Life

Charisma News ^ | 3/1/2018 | J. Lee Grady

[metmom]

Evangelist Billy Graham lived 99 years, wrote 30 books, met with 12 sitting American presidents and preached the gospel to millions. But when he is buried this Friday, March 2, in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, he will be remembered not only as a world-changing hero of faith but as a humble preacher whose personal integrity set the gold standard for every minister in this country.

Why was this man so respected? How was he able to keep his ministry free from scandal for more than 75 years?

In 1948, when Graham was just 30 years old, he and his small ministry team met for Bible study and prayer at a tiny motel in Modesto, California. The other men in that meeting including assistant evangelist Grady Wilson, singer George Beverly Shea and song leader Cliff Barrows. Graham challenged them to pray about what codes of behavior they needed to adopt in order to keep the ministry clean.

The results of that meeting were profoundly prophetic. The men outlined what would become "the Modesto Manifesto"—a list of core ministry values that became the guiding principles of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The BGEA was founded two years later, in 1950, just one year after media coverage of Graham's eight-week gospel campaign in Los Angeles made him a household word.

Here are the four key components of the Modesto Manifesto, along with notes that Cliff Barrows jotted down in their meeting:

Honesty: "It was resolved that all communications to media and to the church would not be inflated or exaggerated. The size of crowds and the number of inquirers would not be embellished for the sake of making BGEA look better."

Integrity: "It was resolved that financial matters would be submitted to a board of directors for review and facilitation of expenditures. Every local crusade would maintain a policy of 'open books' and publish a record of where and how monies were spent."

Purity: "It was resolved that members of the team would pay close attention to avoiding temptation—never being alone with another woman, remaining accountable to one another, etc. A practice of keeping wives informed of their activities on the road and helping them feel a part of any and all crusades they undertook would be encouraged."

Humility: "It was resolved that members of the team were never to speak badly of another Christian minister, regardless of his denominational affiliation or differing theological views and practices. The mission of evangelism includes strengthening the body of Christ as well as building it!"

Graham has always been a spiritual hero to me for this reason. Early in his ministry—in fact, before he ever became famous—he realized that his ministry was a stewardship from God and that he could not run it any way he wanted. He had to manage it according to clear biblical principles.

Graham never forgot his humble roots, and he never let popularity change him into an egotistical monster. Even though he was invited to dine with presidents, queens and celebrities, his passion was taking the message of Christ to the common person. And when an usher tried to segregate black and white sections of an auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1953, Graham removed the barriers himself. Related Articles

"I am not a great preacher, and I don't claim to be a great preacher," he once said. "I've heard great preaching many times and wished I was one of these great preachers. I'm an ordinary preacher, just communicating the gospel in the best way I know how."

He also carried with him a healthy fear that he might try to touch God's glory or take credit for evangelistic results.

Graham said: "So many people think that somehow I carry a revival around in a suitcase, and they just announce me and something happens—but that's not true. This is the work of God, and the Bible warns that God will not share His glory with another. All the publicity that we receive sometimes frightens me because I feel that therein lies a great danger. If God should take His hand off me, I would have no more spiritual power. The whole secret of the success of our meetings is spiritual—it's God answering prayer. I cannot take credit for any of it."

So much of what we call ministry today has been compromised by ego, marketing and man-made agendas. Some of our own "Spirit-filled" preachers are happy to sell a healing or a financial miracle for $29.95. Others claim spiritual superiority because they have the largest following on social media or because so many lined up to attend their packed conferences.

We have exchanged honesty, integrity, purity and humility for hype, fake anointing, manipulated photos, inflated attendance reports, sensuality and boastful swagger. God forgive us.

Billy Graham raised the bar for all ministers. I pray we will never forget his legacy.

[P-Marlowe]

i told you you should have quit while you were behind.

[Bodleian_Girl]

Is that bad, to believe the Bible?

[Jamestown1630]

Many people also have a bad taste in their mouths about God because of religion. They had a bad experience with religion and project that onto God and in rightly rejecting the religion, inadvertently also end up rejecting God.

I can't speak for Hot Tabasco; but he/she doesn't seem to have a problem with 'God'. The problem - if there is one - seems to be PRECISELY with 'religion' - as evidenced by all of this HUMAN infighting among religious sects. We see this tiresome stuff on FR all the time.

All of this fighting and arguing certainly turns many people away from religion who might otherwise become interested in embracing it. People want to see that your religion is somehow/somewhat 'transformative'; they want to see how it has made you different and transcendent of all the petty stuff, if even in a small way.

But when individuals feel obliged to fight so much to prove the superiority of their particular 'flavor' of religion, they lose credibility among those who might be looking for... something.

By all of this arguing, the religious actually DISprove; they don't Prove.

People undergo 'bad experiences with religion' on FR, almost every day...

[metmom]

Just what flavors of religion are so many promoting as being superior?

Could you name a few denominations and just who is promoting them as being better than anyone else’s?

[Jamestown1630]

People seem to be doing so by inference, with snarky comments toward others who don't believe every jot and tittle in the same way as they do themselves.

Just picking out a few comments that I've seen:

"many of those claiming to be His people sure aren’t."

"yeah I’m sure you don’t want to read something that might make you question your uninformed presuppositions. Just stay ignorant. Ignorance is bliss."

  "Look who's talking. You're projecting a little too much there."

I'm just saying that all of this contentious, and sometimes snarky, back-and-forth isn't useful - not to mention that it's ungracious, and certainly not the way that Jesus would express himself.

If you want to bring people to God, I don't think that this approach is working. It just turns people off.

[metmom]

So your complaint isn’t really about one religion positing itself as being superior to others after all.

So tell me this....

Do you think it’s acceptable to misrepresent something someone said almost 60 years ago and spread your interpretation of the comment about as a fact to slander a person?

And that has NOTHING to do with religion but rather character assassination. And I would object even if the issue wasn’t about what someone said concerning religion.

BTW, what’s your opinion of the topic of the thread?

[P-Marlowe]

Is that bad, to believe the Bible?

It’s too bad Billy Graham didn’t. He might have amounted to something.

[Jamestown1630]

I think I already told the thread my opinion of it.

I grew up listening to Graham - and to Bishop Sheen. I thought they were both men who took their faith seriously, and were admirable, faithful men who did an enormous lot of good in the world.

I’ve also said, on this thread, that ‘avoiding scandal’ as Billy Graham (and Mike Pence) have done, is a logical approach to being a public figure.

I’m not at all interested in your various arguments with Bodleian Girl, over baptism. I think arguments like that are a destructive distraction, and don’t really mean much to individuals who are sincerely seeking God.

I don’t think that God cares much about them, either.

[Bodleian_Girl]

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

[metmom]

I’m not arguing with her over baptism.

I’m objecting to her making the thread about her interpretation of an off the cuff remark he made 57 years ago, treating it as a fact, and her condemning him for it.

She made a claim about him that she cannot back up and has ignored the topic of the thread.

I’ve suggested to her several times that if she wants to discuss that particular topic, then she should start her own thread about it.

That has not happened yet.

[P-Marlowe]

I’ll stipulate to that.

[Bodleian_Girl]

Thank you.

[Jamestown1630]

Maybe you should just give it up as a loss; and go pray.

I’m sure where he is right now, Billy Graham doesn’t care at all.

[metmom]

Give up what?

I posted a thread about the incredible integrity the man displayed in his public life and organization so that in more than 75 years of the ministry operating, it was never hit with a scandal.

Why do you have a problem with that?

[P-Marlowe]

There are those who admire Billy Graham and then there are those that don’t. Looks like you and I are numbered among the former.

[Jamestown1630]

I have no problem with it. And I agree entirely with your assessment of Billy Graham.

But you seem to have become overwrought because of some of the responses that you’ve received.

Responding to them has been a waste of time and energy that may have been better spent on some other endeavor. If you think about that, you might agree.

You can’t make people agree with you; and arguing with them online is a huge energy-sapper.

God Bless!

[P-Marlowe]

The thread was pretty Civil up to post 40 when someone accused Graham of teaching a “False Gospel”. Sorry but I felt compelled to respond.

If Billy Graham preached a false gospel, then I must be a heretic.

I believe Billy Graham was the modern day John the Baptist bringing the gospel of repentance and salvation to a lost world.

Unfortunately some Baptists seem to think he was a heretic.

[Jamestown1630]

John 21:22

[Bodleian_Girl]

Why is it ok for you to argue a position but she can’t?

[Jamestown1630]

Anyone can argue, if they want to.

I’m just saying that contentious arguing about doctrine isn’t very useful. Say what you believe, post it; and leave the contentiousness out of it.