Whitefield and the marks of true revival, praying together for
another Great Awakening.
Yet Billy was also ready to learn from intellectuals who differed
from him. Billy never flinched at connecting with scholars but posi-
tioned himself as a learner with deep appreciation for scholarship
and its role—and was always candid about his own limitations.
On a pragmatic basis, he studied his predecessors: Dwight
Moody, Charles Finney, Billy Sunday. For instance, he cribbed all
sorts of publicity, church mobilization, and programming ideas
from the game plans of Moody and Sunday. Billy was always
quick to learn from anyone with a better idea or a better method.
He also learned from his critics. One writer castigated him for
a statement that was seen as insensitive to the poor. Graham
wrote him an apology and urged him to “kick me in the pants”
when necessary—and thereafter he watched what he said.
Billy listened to those close to him, including, perhaps first of
all, his intelligent and perceptive wife, Ruth. Interviewees often
told us Ruth was crucial to Billy’s success, and her advice was
often pungent. For instance, in the 1950s when she heard that
Billy had speculated he might be elected president if he ran on
the right platform, Ruth called him and said she “didn’t think the
American people would vote for a divorced president, and if he
left the ministry, he would certainly have a divorce on his hands.”
It was the same sort of response her father, L. Nelson Bell, had
given him about entering politics, and Billy had listened. With a
multitude of such counselors, he kept his focus.
The sources of advice were broad. When Melvin was telling
us about Bill Henderson, who was Brethren, we asked about
denominational influences. His response was to tell a humorous
story about Billy’s colleague, T. W. Wilson.
“Old TW said someone had asked him, ‘TW, if you wasn’t a
Baptist, what would you be?’ And TW said, ‘I’d be ashamed.’”
Melvin had smiled as he told that, and we could all envision
TW, tongue in cheek, delivering the punch line. Melvin then
added, “That’s the way Ruth was about Presbyterianism. If she
wasn’t a Presbyterian, she’d be ashamed.”
Learning — and Leveraging Weaknesses