July 18, 2021, column:

Visiting, and revisiting, Billy Graham's legacy

By Mike Haynes

            The huge cross that forms the entrance to the replica dairy barn is the first thing you notice. I’m sure that’s on purpose. I suspect it’s the main image people remember from Billy Graham’s televised memorial service on March 2, 2018.

            The barn, reminiscent of Graham’s childhood when he milked scores of cows daily, is the main building of the Billy Graham Library outside Charlotte, North Carolina. “Library” is misleading,

because like the U.S. presidential libraries, it’s more of a museum with displays of memorabilia from the famous evangelist’s life and career, photos of him with notables from Johnny Cash to President Reagan to Martin Luther King Jr. and videos of his sermons and ministry trips around the world.

            Despite the focus on Graham and his six-decade ministry, don’t get the idea that he or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wanted the Charlotte tourist attraction to sing the praises of one man. When my wife, Kathy, and I toured it a few weeks ago, we noticed that on the walls of every exhibit were large signs with scripture verses such as 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors; as though God were making his appeal through us.”

            As Graham did throughout his life, his successors – headed by his son, Franklin Graham – stress the message more than the messenger. A quote by Billy’s wife, Ruth – who had her own, less publicized ministry - is prominent in one room. Following the eight-week Los Angeles tent crusade that brought Graham to national prominence in 1949, she said, “We felt we were just spectators. It had been God’s work, (Billy) had only been the instrument.”

            But leaders of the BGEA organization understand that the name Billy Graham, listed for decades as one of America’s most admired people, still attracts people. If visitors come to see Billy Graham’s traveling pulpit or a proclamation in his honor from Queen Elizabeth II or his childhood home, which was moved to within yards of the library, they leave having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ over and over.

            One of many videos on the library tour shows a large Russian army choir singing at a 1992 Graham crusade in Moscow. Among other spiritual songs, the former Communist soldiers sing – in their uniforms – “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Watching it was just one of several emotional moments we had at the library.

            Also on the grounds are the graves of Billy and Ruth Graham; Cliff Barrows, the ministry’s longtime music director and emcee, and his wife, Billie; and George Beverly Shea, the beloved bass-baritone soloist at Graham’s crusades. All the grave markers are simple and flat in thick, green grass, surrounded by the beauty of North Carolina trees and flowers.

Ruth’s epitaph reflects her theology and wit: “End of Construction – Thank you for your patience.” Billy’s reads: “Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – John 14:6.”

A day after our library visit, Kathy and I followed up with a 45-minute tour of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove. The retreat center is outside Asheville, North Carolina, two hours west of Charlotte. It also was worth our time.

 A retired pastor greeted us in front of an elegant stone chapel with a steeple rising above a Blue Ridge Mountains forest. He showed off the center’s high-tech auditorium and handed us a schedule of past and future speakers and musicians, which included Christian heavyweights such as Tony Evans, Michael Card, Lee Strobel, Chip Ingram, Phil Keaggy, Tony Dungy and Graham family members Anne Graham Lotz and Will Graham.

When we mentioned being from Amarillo, Texas, our enthusiastic tour guide said he knew that Franklin Graham and his team were preparing for their Sept. 26 Amarillo visit and other stops on their Route 66 God Loves You Tour.

The Cove center has its own exhibit highlighting the history of the Graham ministry, but Kathy and I didn’t see any photos of our in-person exposure to Billy Graham. We both attended his 1975 crusade in Lubbock’s Jones Stadium – 15 years before we met each other in Amarillo.

Separately, we had been inspired in 1975, and more than four decades later, our visit to the library and the training center in North Carolina stirred us again to be more proactive about the message of Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham consistently preached that message. Maybe he was on to something.