Billy Graham always reminds his listeners that they don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll live another day or have another chance to repent.<\/p>\n\n
A decade or so ago, variations on this theme began appearing in news reports after his crusades. A kind of \u201clast altar call syndrome\u201d developed, with reporters reminding readers that this would probably be the evangelist\u2019s last visit to their region.<\/p>\n\n
Certainly, no one missed the symbolism of June\u2019s crusade in Minneapolis \u2014 the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association\u2019s home since 1950. And last week, the 77-year-old evangelist preached to 336,100 in Charlotte, N.C. Once again, people came forward \u2014 22,249 in four days.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not too late. \u2026 You have a moment before God that may never come again,\u201d he said, ending his last rally in the city in which he was born and, 16 years later, born again. \u201cI\u2019m going to ask you to come and say `yes\u2019 to Christ. You don\u2019t understand it all, or have to. You just say, `Lord \u2026 I acknowledge that I have sinned. I believe that Jesus is the only way.'\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Graham says he\u2019ll preach until God makes him quit. Parkinson\u2019s disease has weakened him so much that crusade planners provided a hydraulic lift to take him on and off the high stage in Charlotte. Still, he plans to lead 1997 crusades in San Antonio, Tex., and in the San Francisco Bay area. Aides are studying invitations from South Africa and Brazil.<\/p>\n\n
Many say Graham\u2019s finale will end the era of mass evangelistic meetings in North America. Truth is, his own work points to changes that began years ago. For two decades, Graham has stressed the need to find new Third World evangelists, saying that his true heirs will be found there. Also, his crusades have increasingly used advertising and media to target single adults, teens and children. His son, Franklin, has found his largest audiences in another \u201cniche\u201d \u2014 Promise Keeper rallies for men.<\/p>\n\n
Evangelism will evolve, if people have faith that God can still change lives, said the manager of the Charlotte crusade. The \u201caltar call\u201d will only pass away when church leaders become too timid to challenge people to repent.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThere is a certain foolishness to this kind of evangelism in what is supposed to be such a sophisticated age,\u201d said Richard Marshall, who has worked in 50 Graham crusades. \u201cThere\u2019s a kind of intolerance to the Gospel and people today pride themselves on a certain kind of tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This is even true in Bible Belt cities such as Charlotte. Not long before this crusade, the veteran publisher of the city\u2019s newspaper went so far as to write a series of editorials blaming many of the world\u2019s problems on Christian orthodoxy.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIt intrigues me that many speak with such certitude \u2014 such choking, stifling, judgmental certainty\u201d on eternal issues, wrote Rolfe Neill of the Charlotte Observer. He offered waves of critical quotes, such as this from a freethinking Presbyterian: \u201cThe belief that \u2026 salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, that all other religions are false \u2014 is not the whole Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Graham has kept preaching his basic message in the face of such criticism, while many others have surrendered, said Marshall. Even conservative \u201cmegachurches\u201d may avoid altar calls and clear calls for repentance for another reason: fear of scaring those seeking less pushy ways to turn around their lives.<\/p>\n\n
Too often, preachers become obsessed with people\u2019s problems, which seem to have \u201cincreased tenfold\u201d amid blitzes of media and the sheer pace of life, said Marshall. The goal is to address the \u201cfelt needs\u201d of today\u2019s religious consumers. The result may be sermons that substitute personal growth for conversion. Altar calls become anachronisms.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cYou end up with churches built on murmurs of the past, murmurs of the faith of your grandparents,\u201d he said. \u201cYou take out the altar call. Then you take out the confession of sin. Soon, you are left with a kind of religious show. It looks good. It feels good. But does it have any power to inspire people to make decisions that can change their lives?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Billy Graham always reminds his listeners that they don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll live another day or have another chance to repent. A decade or so ago, variations on this theme began appearing in news reports after his crusades. A kind of \u201clast altar call syndrome\u201d developed, with reporters reminding readers that this would probably be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n