Billy Graham: South Carolina Baptist

CBS affiliate WSPA of Spartanburg, SC has reported that the Rev. Billy Graham of Montreat, NC has decided to become a member of the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Graham, unquestionably the greatest and most well-known evangelist of the 20th century, was a member of the esteemed FBC Dallas since 1956. For some reason, Dr. Graham has decided in the later years of his life to switch his membership from the “Vatican” of the Southern Baptist Convention to the 7,000 member FBC Spartanburg. This is an interesting development for two reasons.

First, the most famous evangelist perhaps since D.L. Moody or even the likes of Whitefield and Wesley is now a South Carolina Baptist. Rev. Graham has preached to millions across the world, been an advisor to many presidents, and has written many books. Just the fact that he is actually a member of a South Carolina church is pretty astounding. One has to wonder however at the fact that while Graham has lived in North Carolina recently, he has still maintained his church membership at a church in Dallas and now one in Spartanburg. As far as I know, Graham is a shut in and can’t physically attend church anymore so he has to rely on televised preaching ministries (such as the ones at FBC Dallas and FBC Spartanburg). Nothing against Billy Graham, but wouldn’t it be better for him to join a church closer to his home where the people and pastors there can be closer and therefore minister better to him?

Second, this shows us something about Graham’s personal eschatology. Graham joined FBC Dallas when the great W. A. Criswell was pastor. Criswell is well known for his dispensational view of the end times. The current pastor at Dallas, Dr. Robert Jeffress, is a well known graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, that vanguard of dispensational fundamentalist theology. To the best of my knowledge of what I have heard Dr. Wilton, the pastor of FBCS, preach, he too is a dispensationalist. My best speculation is that Billy Graham is one too and as the unifying figure of the evangelical movement he represents an uneasy (if Biblically incorrect) consensus that unifies the evangelical movement. The big question here is whether or not this consensus will remain after the passing of Rev. Graham and whether or not that is a good thing. Regardless of wherever Billy Graham goes to church or what he believes, we must always focus on building God’s kingdom in view of what Christ has done for us. We would do well to remember that.