Just As I Am is the biography of a humble man. While outlining the
development of his ministry, Billy Graham’s biography is anything but an exercise in
self-glorification. He describes his evangelistic crusades from their early beginnings in
tent meetings in Los Angeles to "the more recent massive gatherings in sports
stadiums." He tells about his encounters with powerful heads of state. He recounts
his special friends who made up the support group that kept him faithful to his mission
and nurtured an integrity that even those who reject his message respect. Graham takes us
with him as he meets with presidents over nine administrations, amusing us as he describes
his brash holier-than-thou attitude in his first meeting with Harry Truman, and inspiring
us as he describes his compassionate pastoral attitude toward Bill Clinton.
Through it all he critiques himself in ways that will help those who would
make him a role model to escape his pitfalls. There is a kind of self-deprecation in this
autobiography that only serves to enhance his stature.
Particularly interesting are the roles that he played in facing the
pressing social concerns that have troubled the nation over the last half-century. Critics
might attack him for not expressing opposition to the Vietnam War or being more specific
in supporting civil rights legislation, but his autobiography reveals that he accomplished
more to further social justice causes than these critics might imagine.
For instance, in the early 1950s, Graham ended racial segregation at his
crusades in the deep South, even in the face of bitter criticism of local clergy. As he
tells his life story, we learn of his close ties with Martin Luther King Jr., and we
discover that King directed Graham not to get directly involved with the civil
rights movement. King believed that such involvement would hinder Graham’s ability to
get "Christian" racists to listen to what the Bible says about people being one
in Christ Jesus.
WHAT GRAHAM FAILS to describe in his life story is his gradual commitment
to an anti-nuclear weapons stance. He came to describe himself as a "nuclear
pacifist," but he does not state this in his biography nor spell out what led him to
this commitment. This evangelist, always trying to keep focused on winning converts, even
in his biography seems reluctant to raise controversial social issues that he himself
worked out in the course of his ministry, lest these issues deflect the reader from what
he believes is his primary mission.
Beyond touching millions with the gospel, Graham accomplished much
indirectly. As a case in point, this evangelical Baptist transcended a narrow
fundamentalism and forged an evangelistic movement that brought together Christians of
every theological stripe. Catholics, mainline Protestants, independent fundamentalists,
and charismatics all came together as he waved the banner of the cross before them. He may
have done more for the ecumenical movement than all of the "unity" conferences
that well-meaning clerics have sponsored.
This book is a must for Christians who are seeking a modern hero.
We’ll not be seeing the likes of this man again for a long time, so it will do us
well to read what he has to say about himself.
TONY CAMPOLO is professor of sociology at Eastern College in St. Davids,
Pennsylvania, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, and
the author, most recently, of Following Jesus Without Embarrasing God (Word, 1997).
Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham. Billy Graham. harperCollins/Zondervan, 1997.
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