Billy Graham--Answers to Life's Problems

I sat down this morning to read a book by Billy Graham called "Answers to Life's Problems." The book is segmented into headings like "Relationships," Spiritual Concerns", and so on. Under each heading questions are listed as they have been written in letters sent to Billy Graham. His responses follow. I skipped to the section entitled "Spiritual Concerns."

As I read each question and response, I noted a common theme to Dr. Graham's responses. Every response directed the person that had posed the question to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. I flipped to the section entitled "Relationships," and the same thing held true. The answer to every question was a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham's gift is definitely Evangelism. I've wondered in the past how this gift can benefit believers--I've always thought that the gift of Evangelism was of sole benefit to "the Lost." After reading through Dr. Graham's responses to everyday situations that Christians find themselves in, I realize that the role of an Evangelist can also be to encourage believers into a deeper relationship with Christ. This may seem obvious to some people, but I've always thought that ministry to believers falls under people with the gifts of pastoring, administration, teaching and servanthood (helps). I had a mental picture of an Evangelist as more of a "John the Baptist" type, out in the wilderness, screaming about repentance and the dangers of Hell. As an unbeliever or a backslider the thought of an Evangelist scared me... they forced me to see the distance between myself and God--also the futility of my life when my destination was Hell. As a believer, I now see the role of the evangelist as the same, they show me the distance between myself and God, but I don't see it as "scary," I recognize that the evangelist is encouraging me to a closer relationship with someone I already love--and my future is not futile, but filled with the promise of Heaven.

I now pray that the gift of Evangelism grows in me. I want to encourage others as I have been encouraged.