Does Billy Graham Stand Up For the Poor?

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on January 27, 2009

While reading the TIME 100 biography of Billy Graham, which profiled him as one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century, I came across this odd statement:

“Though Graham has never, to my knowledge, spoken out on behalf of the poor, it seems legitimate to conclude that his almost exclusive emphasis upon soul saving is his passionate center, even his authentic obsession.” (emphasis mine)

The author, Harold Bloom, is making the correct point that Billy Graham has focused on telling people about Jesus above all else. But he also makes a very incorrect statement, assuming that Graham has never “spoken out on behalf of the poor.”

You don’t have to look far to come across one of Graham’s most quoted statements about social justice:

“As Christians we have a responsibility toward the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden and the many innocent people around the world who are caught in wars, natural disasters and situations beyond their control.” (from Billy Graham: God’s Ambassador, among other sources)

As you did deeper you come across many other examples. A 1985 Christianity Today article is chock full of quotes about helping the poor:

“We’re going to see this deficit making a tremendous impact on this country’s economy, and it’s going to affect everyone. … We’ve been living way above our means. And this inequity (between the wealthy and the poor within the U.S., and between America and most of the rest of the world) is going to have to change somehow, whether voluntarily or by law. You can’t have some people driving Cadillacs and others driving oxcarts and expect peace in a community. There is a crying need for more social justice.” (emphasis mine)

He went on to add: “The solution is beyond me, but I’ve found about 250 verses in the Bible on our responsibility to the poor.” It is perhaps true that Graham has not focused on social justice and poverty for his entire career. In the 1970s he started the World Emergency Relief Fund to respond to disasters and in the 1980s he began to have a wider focus, speaking out against nuclear proliferation and encouraging a Christian response to social justice issues:

“I had no real idea that millions of people throughout the world lived on the knife-edge of starvation and … that I have a responsibility toward them. I’ve come to see in deeper ways some of the implications of my faith and the messages I’ve been proclaiming.”

“For me, it’s not just accepting Christ as Savior and Lord, but being a Christian every day. I want to emphasize the price you have to pay, and the changes that must occur in your life.”

And for Billy Graham that’s where real change happens for the poor. Not through political action or demonstration, but through the life-changing transformation that can only come when a person believes in Jesus Christ. Graham has definitely put salvation above all else, but that’s because he sees it as the only true solution to every problem plaguing mankind. But to say he’s never spoken out on behalf of the poor is simply wrong.