The Life and Ministry of Billy Graham
Joshua Cehulik
THEO 650 Public Theology
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The Life and Ministry of Billy Graham
Billy Graham may be the most well-known evangelist in Christian history. Putting his
faith in Christ in 1934, he would become ordained in 1939. He would quickly move up the
ladder of renown over two decades from 1949-1971.0 He would begin by ministering on radio
programs and organizing Youth for Christ rallies and evangelistic meetings. In 1949 Graham
would begin the seven-week Los Angeles tent crusade. This would be the catalyst to launch the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1950. By 1957 he would hold the crusades in Madison
Square Gardens that would continue for more than sixteen weeks. Graham would gain influence
with statesmen, churchmen, men, and women of all ages. Wacker describes him as the most
famous living person at the time, other than perhaps Pope John Paul II.0
Graham’s statistics for the size of his audiences, number of conversions, and the sheer
volume of work surpassed all his evangelist predecessors since the time of George Whitefield.
Despite having a rather unremarkable childhood, Wacker designates a few reasons for Graham’s
success. The first is Graham’s “myriad of public faces, " in which he constantly presented and
reinvented himself in many ways over his long career.0 He could shape-shift his public persona
to match the needs of the time and situation—an essential characteristic for a public theologian.
Secondly, the public enjoyed the Graham household as the quintessential American family. They
modeled “honesty, modesty, sobriety, gentleness, and above all, fidelity.”0 Thirdly, he was known
as a man of integrity who embodied genuine warmth and empathy. This, according to Morris,
made Graham “the least colorful and most powerful preacher in the United States.”0
0 Grant Wacker, “Billy Graham’s America,” Church History 78, no. 3 (2009): 490, accessed March 9, 2023,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20618750.
0 Ibid., 491.
0 Ibid., 495.
0 Ibid., 496.
0 James Morris, The Preachers (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973), 387.
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Wacker describes Graham as transporting and repackaging the American South to various
places around the country.0 He could transcend geographical lines by embodying the endearing
attributes of the South without aligning himself with caustic ideology. Wacker articulates that he
was able to remind Americans “that hurtled toward a metropolitan future…of the receding world
of small towns, summer nights, and stable values.”0 All of this was during a bitter time of
segregation in America’s history. When engaging the church and state, Graham believed it was
always best to “work with, not against, the established authorities.”0 Graham understood that for
the communities of the South during his time, the most significant influence did not reside in the
statehouse. It lived in the church house. The pulpits were the most influential arenas of the
culture; there was no appetite for extremism within the mainline denominations of Graham’s
time. Wacker describes Graham as one “who may have been out of place, but he was not alone.
He took the South with him.”0
Graham had a way of leveraging new mediums to proclaim the message. He advanced
the gospel through radio, television, and print media. He utilized all the resources and the human
capital available through the Evangelistic Association. Graham’s crusades would be
characterized by engaging music, thoughtful testimony, and a clear gospel presentation with a
call to action. He would regularly encourage his listeners to “decide for Christ.”0 This was the
one constant of his life’s ministry – the message. Wacker states, “whatever the text, the actual
text of every sermon was John 3:16…all messages demanded a decision”.0 Despite his
detractors, Graham remained firm that a public decision was necessary for repentance and faith.
0 Wacker, “Billy Graham’s America,” 498.
0 Ibid.
0 Ibid., 499.
0 Ibid., 500.
0 Ibid., 501.
0 Ibid., 503.
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Initially claimed by fundamentalists early in his ministry, he would mature into what
historian Michael Hamilton would describe as a “cooperative evangelicalism.”0 The reason for
this was particularly adept. Graham knew that “millions of evangelical believers warmed the
pews of non-evangelical churches.”0 This is to say that he had a certain repour with faithful
believers regardless of the denominational divide. Graham was known for genuinely caring for
all people, particularly the physical and human needs surrounding him globally. The gospel need
could not be divorced from the physical need. This caused Graham to seek common ground in an
unusual way. He would embrace Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Pentecostals, and even Jews to
achieve the good of all people without deviating from the message.0 “Many people saw Graham,
but it is also true that he saw many people, and they left their mark.”0
Despite his adaptability, one constant thing was “his conviction that individual
conversion formed the only firm foundation for enduring social change.”0 Yet two things would
change that would characterize his ministry: individual conversion and social reform cannot be
divorced from one another. This must be an intentional process. Secondly, to see the whole fruit
of the gospel, “structural as well as spiritual solutions” must be sought.0 In Graham’s eyes, every
person was worthy of a second chance. People deserved the opportunity to make something of
themselves. He never lost sight of the individual’s responsibility to seize the opportunity. Still, he
fully believed that everyone had the God-given image imprinted on their personhood. His
ministry spanned decades that included some of the most volatile times in global history.
Navigating these waters while still holding unprecedented influence required wisdom and
0 Ibid., 505.
0 Ibid., 506.
0 Ibid.
0 Ibid.
0 Ibid., 508.
0 Ibid.
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adaptability. Wacker concludes that “neither romanticizing nor debunking him will go very far.
Rather, the task is to see how he used the times to speak to the times”.0 Perhaps in this way, he
embodied Christ the most. He could expertly navigate the times by leveraging lived human
experiences to advance the gospel. When someone truly listens to the plight of those around
them, only then can they apply the gospel to the point of need. This will involve proclaiming the
message, living it out in word and deed, and advancing the kingdom through initiatives that will
require crossing ideological lines to see humanity searching for physical and spiritual relational
connections. Graham’s most endearing quality may be that everyone felt they knew him and
could be like him.
0 Ibid., 511.
