April 22, 2023 by Donald Gorassini, howinfluenceworks.com
This article concerns the influence of Reverend Billy Graham. It provides a short biography of the man, traces the extent and type of influence he exerted, sketches the Graham personality, and gives an explanation for how his influence materialized as it did.
Billy (a form of address he encouraged) extended a helping hand to those in need. This made him similar to any other pastor. What set him apart was the massive number of people he was able to reach.
Biography
Billy Graham (1918-2018) was an evangelical protestant minister who became a household name in his native United States of America in a career that spanned sixty years, 1945-2005. He grew up on a dairy farm in North Carolina, U.S.A., the oldest of four children. He attended bible college in the state of Florida, U.S.A., where he was ordained in 1939, and then attended Wheaton College in the state of Illinois, U.S.A., where he graduated with a degree in anthropology in 1943. He had an active and unconventional early career, serving over the next several years as a church pastor, a bible college president, the director of a christian radio station in Chicago, Illinois, and the evangelist for a national christian youth organization.
As a preacher, he was well-known for his crusades: religious services conducted in selected cities. Frequently, the services were repeated over several days. The events were organized beginning months in advance and well-publicized. After September 11, 2001, the term crusade was changed to mission.
Billy’s first mission was conducted in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A., in 1947, a single service that took place in the town auditorium and attended by 6,000 people. A turning point in attendance occurred in a 1949 mission held in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Services were scheduled for three weeks and would take place in rented tents. Attendance was disappointing over the first few services, after which the event was publicized by the Hearst newspapers, a large national chain. The duration had to be extended to eight weeks to accommodate a resulting increase in attendance, which reached 350,000 overall. From then on, Billy Graham missions became nationally known and well-attended. As the years went on, missions were conducted internationally. Over his career, 417 missions, in 185 countries, covering 6 continents were run.
In a typical service, people would gather in a stadium, arena, tent, fairground, park, street, or field. There would be music. There would be testimonials. Billy would give a sermon. Afterward, in a notable feature of his meetings, he would invite anyone who wished to proceed to designated areas to profess their faith. Usually about 1% of the crowd made the walk. Each person who answered the call was greeted by a counsellor with whom they would discuss their commitment and devise a plan for pursuing their religious quest in a local church congregation.
Billy used all types of available media to further his work. Missions, magazines, books, radio and, the new medium, television, were all integrated into what became, by the early 1950s, an information disseminating empire. Billy remained always and foremost a minister. He became in every sense of the term a chief executive officer. He directed with characteristic vigour, commitment, and skill the large organization, named the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, which grew around the ministry. Billy was an unwavering force in these roles until his retirement in 2005, at age 87.
Billy and Ruth Bell were wed in 1943. The two raised five children and were married for 63 years. Ruth died in 2007 and Billy died, at 99 years of age, in 2018.
Magnitude and Kinds of Influence
Billy Graham affected millions upon millions of people. His influence can be compared in some ways to a big rock band of the day, say the Beatles (1960-1970). Spectators in vast numbers attended missions / concerts, worldwide—Billy preached to a crowd of 1.1 million in Seoul, South Korea, in 1973, whereas the Beatles’ largest concert crowd was 55,000 in New York City in 1965. Many experienced Billy / The Beatles through the media. Dissemination of new material was frequent but maintained were the trademark styles of Billy / The Beatles. The focus was Billy / The Beatles, not the organization that grew up around them. The phenomena grew from scratch.
Billy Graham’s influence was multifaceted. Saving souls was the ultimate goal. Billy asserted early in his ministry that, if he brought one soul to Christ, his career would have been worth it. How many reached Heaven cannot be ascertained. Short of that determination, a number of highly positive material influences can be discussed. His preaching and literature provided solace to the suffering and hope that things could change, suggested ways to change conduct, and identified sources of help and fellowship in the community. All this was sound advice that could have easily led to therapeutic changes in some proportion of listeners and to betterment of communities. Given his media reach, Billy extended this good advice to many millions of people the world over. Billy Graham services also became events unto themselves. For some people, the events were consumed as spectacle.
Billy was frequently seen in media human interest and news stories. He was a friend and consultant to many presidents of the United States and he associated with celebrities of various sorts. He was a famous man from the 1950s until a few years into the 2000s.
The Graham Personality
Not everyone could have done what Billy did. A few words can profitably be said about Billy’s personality. He seemed suited to a life of travel, service, contact with others, and running a large media organization. I will construct a profile of Billy based on the Big-5 personality traits, a system used commonly in psychology.
Billy was open to experience. He was willing to make changes necessary for his own development and his organization’s progress. He left home to attend bible college in Florida and later university in Illinois. He married Ruth and, with her, raised a family. He conducted missions throughout the world. He brought innovation to his ministry. He used the most up-to-date technology. In broad terms, he adapted well to an occupation that had no playbook.
Billy was extraverted. He was frequently in the company of other people and comfortable in that role. He was socially skilled, warm, and funny, evidently a pleasure to get on with.
Billy was conscientious. He was motivated to fulfill his duties. This was essential of someone with the responsibilities of a pastor and CEO. Task demands were a constant reality. To complement the motivation to perform required tasks, Billy possessed the ability to do so.
Billy was low in neuroticism, a trait characterized on the high end by negative emotionality (anxiety, sadness, anger) and internal conflicts. Billy was stable, comfortable in his own skin, and energetic. This, in tandem with conscientiousness and intelligence, likely contributed to his ability to keep mission oriented. Any conflict Billy experienced came from the fact his occupation demanded leaving wife and family for months at a time. He and Ruth accepted this unpleasant reality and adapted.
Billy was agreeable. He sought harmony and avoided conflict. He offered solutions to problems rather than criticism of people. This was evident in his ultimate prescription, in which he emphasized gaining heaven but toned down the threat of going to hell. He made sure his missions did not interfere with local church activities. He listened to others and delegated authority within his organization. He was criticized for being too agreeable at times and failing to confront political leaders for their transgressions.
I’m not sure a personality could have been better suited for mass media evangelism. Could someone different on any one of the traits—thus, resistant to having new experiences, introverted, low in conscientiousness, high in neuroticism, or disagreeable—have accomplished what Billy Graham did?
Why Such Influence?
How was Billy Graham able to exert such influence. In just a few years, he went from no influence, as an anonymous undergraduate in Illinois, to the singular combination of pastor, media mogul, and celebrity. Once established, he was able to sustain his impact for many decades. His remarkable influence was a result of his message, his capacity to engage many people, and motives endemic to humanity.
The Message
The features of an effective influence message are a definition of expected conduct, the promise of a gain for performing that conduct, a depiction that makes the gain seem plausible, and a portrayal of the source as credible. Billy Graham’s message contained these features.
What did Billy Graham ask his audience to do? Summarized under the request, make a commitment to Jesus Christ, he asked people to adopt a lifestyle befitting of biblical teaching, with particular emphasis on New Testament content. Through multiple media, Billy Graham and counsellors frequently repeated the general prescription of accepting Jesus Christ and offered concrete advice—for instance, on how to overcome addiction—for a better life.
A promise of gain drives influence. Repeatedly, in Billy Graham’s messages over his many media, members of the audience learned about potential gains that they could achieve if they accepted the advice provided. Some of the outcomes could be realized during earthly life. These included better coping with tragedy, trauma, stress, defeat, personal weakness, and shame; and the realization of joy, self-respect, reliability, success, fellowship, and love. Billy cautioned that the paths set out would not be easy to follow, but would make for a more meaningful and fulfilling life, and even if life was not always perfect, the gain awaiting after death would be worth the sacrifice. Accepting Christ would mean eternal life in heaven, not hell. The reward for complying was as good as could be and the cost of refusal was as bad as could be.
There were reasons to believe the message. First, the message was multifaceted. Even if you did not believe one part, you might believe another part. Second, multitudes of people appeared to believe the message. There must be something to it if taken so seriously by so many. Third, after years of repetition, the message took on the quality of time proven. Fourth, the advice, overtly mouthed by an ordained minister, could be coming directly from God. Fifth, the act of believing might have been pragmatic. Recipients could take the experimental approach, believe in the possible utility of the advice, and give things a try in case they worked. Sixth, following advice was not compelled. Why would such freedom be afforded if the advice was not sound? Seventh, emotions were elicited to lend authenticity to messages. Encouragement and music helped evoke feelings of deep meaning and hope. How would it be possible to have such feelings if the message was not real? Eighth, recipients were encouraged to work within their local congregations. There was nothing secret or hidden. Any one or some combination of the above factors could have prompted believing that the forecasted outcomes would occur if the recommended behaviour was performed. With believing would come compliance.
Credibility pertains to the message source, in this case Billy Graham, and his capacity to forecast outcomes accurately. There is a paradox here. Of anyone we should be able to evaluate on past performance, it is a source who has been making the same prediction of gain for many years. Indeed, Billy piled up decades of promises to millions and millions of people that Heaven awaits those who accept Christ. The validity of this claim can never be measured in the earthly realm. So, it has never been possible to know for sure if all, none, or some intermediate number of predictions turned out to be true.
Short of verification on the ultimate promise, the serious observer has had to gather clues that might suggest something about credibility. There were several things one might go on. Billy was an ordained minister and perhaps somehow anointed. He seemed to lead an exemplary life. He was admired by millions. He made predictions about earthly outcomes and these could be assessed from testimonials and one’s own experiences. From these sources, the inference might be drawn that Billy was credible.
Engagement
What contributed more than anything to setting Billy Graham apart from other evangelists was his reach, and what contributed to his reach were the media used to convey his message. His ministry contained a media company. He conducted face-to-face meetings in the form of missions. He published a weekly magazine, with advice column, to which millions of letters were submitted and all answered. He produced weekly radio and television programs on major American networks for many years. Many of his missions were televised. Several books were published and, toward the end of his career, a website went online. No pastor before him had access to this level of mass communication and no pastor since has been able to monopolize the media to the extent he did, much less do it for decades.
As any pastor, Billy had a message many people would find compelling, and, as with any pastor, he had to get his message across. As discussed at more length in the tutorial of this website, the source would have to engage recipient attention, learning, and evaluation. Billy was able to do this in an impressive way. First, by the sheer constancy and volume of communication over media platforms, incidental engagement with recipients who beforehand knew nothing about Billy Graham would occur. Seeing the handsome pastor on TV could have captured attention long enough for one or more of his promises of gain to be learned. Even though incidental engagement might only affect a small percentage of potential recipients, a small percentage would translate into a large number of people. Second, some people may have been in a state of need and vigilant for sources of aid. One highly visible source was Billy Graham. There were always invitations to follow up by attending missions, reading literature, consuming media, or attending a local congregation. Third, there was an existing set of believers who sought out the communications and would serve to spread news by word of mouth. The message was out there for those who would listen to it.
Motives
A pastor’s message can be a compelling thing. Message content, in the form of a promise of gain, reacts with motives in the audience. In assessing existing motives of Billy Graham’s audience, it is not surprising to see that he garnered such a following. There were several motives to which Billy Graham’s various messages could appeal.
Perhaps there was no motive targeted more explicitly than personal well-being. Some in the congregation were suffering and found aspects of the messages appealing for the comfort provided. Relevant to everyone, of course, would have been the choice of how to spend eternity, either in eternal bliss or in eternal perdition.
Being good is not easy. We can use all the help we can get. For those who were seeking guidance on being good, Billy’s messages were a solid source of advice.
We are motivated to maintain good standing in the community. Billy’s messages offered advice on how to be vital members of family, congregation, and country. On a more mundane level, some may have attended a service in order to tell their friends or grand children that they were there.
Human beings value competence. Billy offered solutions to life’s most vexing problems. The suggestions were taken seriously because they might work. Also in line with the competence motive would be attending a service in order to see first hand what all the fuss was about.
We manage our emotional states, which can include comforts, thrills, pleasure, and pain. A Billy Graham revival was a moving event. For believers, a spectator would feel closer to God. Even for nonbelievers, a spectator would feel a sense of occasion.
Summary
How is the influence of Billy Graham explained? In pursuing his duties as a pastor, he successfully extended a helping hand to many millions of people worldwide over the course of his career. Although he did not differ much from other pastors in his desire to help or in what he asked of his flock, he differed radically from other pastors in the fact he created and skillfully ran a large media company to disseminate his message widely. His personality was well suited to the compound identity of evangelist and media mogul. Many people the world over possessed one or more motives that prompted compliance with one or more of the behavioural prescriptions that Billy communicated.
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