Decision Disaster

People have alleged all kinds of silly, goofy stuff about Billy Graham. Granted, his children have waded through enough scandal, but aside from a few unguarded jokes, the man himself is untouched by noteworthy moral failures.

That is, unless you understand the part he played in destroying the Western evangelical message. This really isn’t about him, but about his message, often referred to as “Decision Theology.” Indeed, his organization put out a magazine called Decision and it symbolized the easy believism. He once said that was a problem, but his preaching was precisely that. Go back and check the results of his crusades. In every location, he would gin up a huge army of local volunteers to follow up on those who “made a decision” at his worship services. In every case that anyone has recorded, not even 10% of those folks who crowded his alter calls ever gave evidence of having found faith. They apparently didn’t even “get religion” as the old expression goes.

Such was my experience when I volunteered as a follow up counselor for his and similar ministries. I can’t tell you that he knew about that. I recall reading somewhere that his staff tended to insulate him from stuff like that. He did and said a lot of things outside his crusade work that indicated he was just a bit cynical about things while always trying to be diplomatic and nice. Maybe he’s like most other humans — his own mixture of foibles and failures. However, no one can deny his fame is partly owed to WR Hearst and affiliated news organization way back when Billy was just starting out.

As well, I can’t produce any specific references on his ministerial background, but I recall someone said he was deeply influenced by Charles G. Finney. That would be more than sufficient to explain the “easy believism” stuff, because Finney openly insisted that this was good enough. He dismissed concerns about Fruit of the Spirit and went after the manipulation and huckster atmosphere with highly emotional altar calls.

Since Finney’s time, it has been very unpopular to criticize that empty, merely cerebral religion. When I was studying for the ministry, it was rare the teacher or guide who didn’t echo that garbage. At first I played that game and my efforts brought explosive numbers into whatever organization I served. While some part of me always felt a little dirty, but I kept pushing that into the background as “from the Devil.”

There is no room here to describe the memorable steps along my path to the truth. I’ve lost count how many times it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest as each small incremental shift brought shattering pain. It didn’t have to be that way, but a lot of well meaning people shaped my thinking so very wrongly. If you can walk away from your religion, it’s not very useful in giving shape to your faith. It’s no wonder a lot of heart-led folks stayed away from organized Christianity.

Finney, Graham and millions of others made no room for a heart-led faith.