Lewis Drummond - The Evangelist

Contents

I t was, I believe, an Episcopal clergyman who lodged a complaint against Billy Graham during the 1949 Christ for Greater Los Angeles Crusade. His criticism was that Billy Graham had set back the cause of religion a hundred years. Billy Grahams rejoinder was typical. I did indeed want to set religion back, he said, not just 100 years but 1900 years, to the Book of Acts, when first century followers of Christ were accused of turning the Roman Empire upside down.

This quip of Billy Grahams is a good example of his innocent humor in the face of opposition, and of his ability to turn a critical comment to the advantage of the gospel. It is also an unselfconscious assessment of his ministry. He sees himself (and rightly so) as belonging to the mainstream of evangelical faith and witness, as it has continued down the Christian centuries. So in his opening address at the Lausanne Congress in 1974 he was able to claim that the Congress stands in the tradition of many movements of evangelism throughout the history of the church.

Dr. Lewis Drummonds purpose in this book is to test this claim and to consider Billy Grahams place in history. His twelve characteristics of evangelism constitute a cluster of essentials, which may also be found in the evangelistic message, methods, and motives of Billy Graham.

Readers will enjoy this opportunity to compare the contemporary with the historical, and to evaluate the extraordinary ministry of Billy Graham by these twelve criteria. They form a substantial picture of evangelism. One might perhaps sum it up as follows:

Evangelism begins in the loving heart and sovereign will of Almighty God, as revealed in Scripture. It is essentially a bold proclamation by word and deed of Jesus Christ, incarnate, crucified, risen, reigning, and returning. It is undertaken in obedience to the Great Commission, whatever the cost, and in dependence on the Holy Spirit. It summons all humankind to repent and believe, and then to live a new life of godliness in Gods new community, the church.

More simply still, evangelism is the proclamation of the revealed Word of God the Father, focusing on His Son, Jesus Christ crucified and risen, in the power of the Holy Spirit. For authentic evangelism is Trinitarian evangelism, and Billy Graham is essentially a Trinitarian Christian, who stands in the central tradition of the church.

It is my conviction, however, that Billy Graham will go down in the history of the church as more than an evangelist. First, and foremost, he is a Christian, determined by grace to follow in his Masters footsteps. In the increasingly permissive society of the last half of the twentieth century, Billy Graham has refused to bow down before the winds of public opinion. He has maintained his personal integrity. He has walked humbly with his God. He has loved his enemies who have vilified him, bearing the pain and declining to retaliate. In sexual self-control and financial accountability (areas in which other evangelists have fallen), Billy Graham has been above reproach. In brief, he has embodied the gospel that he has proclaimed. The Manila Manifesto declares that nothing commends the Gospel more eloquently than a transformed life. Billy Grahams testimony has been eloquent indeed.

Second, Billy Graham will be remembered as a churchman. He has never been a lone evangelist. He believes in the church. He has cooperated with the churches as much as he could. He has also called the church back to its mission. He has often said in my hearing that if the church were faithfully evangelizing, there would not need to be a person like him. He was exaggerating, of course, for there will always be some Christians whom God endows with the charisma of an evangelist. Nevertheless, we take his point. If every individual Christian were a faithful witness, and if every local church were diligently reaching out into its own neighborhood, mass evangelism would not need to be so prominent as it has been in our generation.

Third, Billy Graham has been an internationalist. Although he is a patriotic American citizen, he has never been a nationalist or been infected by the spirit of nationalism that has been so pervasive in his day. In visiting 185 countries, he has always been respectful of other cultures. He has opposed racism and almost from the beginning of his ministry refused to hold a racially segregated crusade. His internationalism has been acknowledged by world leaders, and he has been granted an audience by innumerable heads of state. Moreover, in these interviews he has always had the courage to go beyond protocol to testimony.

Fourth, Billy Graham has been a statesman. He has been wonderfully liberated from a preoccupation with his own ministry and has gladly recognized the importance of others work. In consequence he has brought training and encouragement to multitudes of fellow evangelists throughout the world. His concern for them culminated in Amsterdam 2000. There, in July and August, 10,000 evangelists assembled from 209 countries. It is said to have been the most representative gathering, secular or religious, in the history of the world. What a vision! Although Billy Graham was unable to attend owing to ill health, his influence brooded over the assembly, as evangelists the world over look to him for inspiration. He was also the pioneer spirit behind the numerous congresses on evangelism (international, regional, and national), in particular Lausanne I (1974) and Lausanne II in Manila (1989). Nobody else could have created such a widespread and substantial evangelical unity.

I venture to commend Lewis Drummond for undertaking the task that has resulted in this wide-ranging book. He has thoroughly researched the evangelistic ministry of Billy Graham in order to ascertain his place in history. Although Drummond never descends to the level of hagiography, I prophesy that a careful reading of his book will convince us that, by Gods providential grace, no single person in the twentieth century has been more influential for Christ than Billy Graham.

JOHN R. W. STOTT

December 2000

THE EVANGELIST

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Nelson Books and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible . Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations noted NKJV are from The New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson.

Scripture quotations noted KJV are from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the Holy Bible: New International Version . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Produced with the assistance of The Livingstone Corporation, Carol Stream, IL, and the following individuals: Janet and Geoff Benge, who adapted and condensed chapters 1 to 13; Barbara Kois, who researched and adapted chapter 14; and Joan Guest, project manager.