He had not only innate intuitions but understood that others had
insights to share. He knew how much he needed those insights,
and he knew how getting them would connect him with others.
Therefore, he consistently set himself to learn from everyone.
During a discussion in the CTI offices, Billy once told us, “I am
thinking about the whole world all the time.” That statement
amazed us. With a burden like that, how could he feel anything
less than a great range of limitations, including cultural divides?
From language idioms to mind-sets, the challenges to the com-
municator are legion.
We asked Rick Marshall, one of the team, about this. He
described his reactions the first time he went to Billy’s hotel room.
“It was strewn with newspapers and magazines,” he said. “I was
very impressed by that. Here was someone not resting on his lau-
rels but reading the papers—not just one, but several.”
Rick told us that Billy’s staff would prepare a profile of each
community and connect him with key leaders. “It was Billy’s
openness that won them,” Rick said. “You know the root mean-
ing of the word disciplesimply means “a learner.” You stop learn-
ing, you stop growing. He was a learner.”
Rick emphasized that Billy worked hard at cross-cultural
understanding. “In Britain in ’84, we were in six cities that sum-
mer,” he explained. “The former chairman of the British Bible
Society and John Stott and others fed him anecdotal and illus-
trative material. He was reading the papers and watching televi-
sion every day, listening to the BBC. So, he communicated in
ways current and appropriate for the culture. If Billy did bomb,
he had someone like Grady Wilson who would tell him, or Ruth.
In other words, he had a group of confidants who weren’t afraid
to be critical.
“The same year Billy was to minister in Helsinki, Finland, he
met Dr. Arthur Grimstead, a professor at Concordia Seminary in
Moorhead, Minnesota. He was so impressed with Art’s grasp of
Lutheran tradition that he had him travel to Helsinki to be at his
side to help interpret for him Lutheran theology. It showed up in
his messages.”
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham