his leadership and actually impact people? How did he balance this
off with the leader’s necessity to face brutal facts and take action on
them, and to deal with life’s rugged realities? After all, the Bible
also speaks of God’s wrath and judgment, which Billy warned
about. Some religious leaders are viewed as emphasizing lots of
wrath and little love, lots of anger and little compassion.
Somehow, in the most difficult situations, Billy has commu-
nicated a heart full of love for others. People sense it. His inter-
nalizing love has deepened through the years as he has listened
intently to the Spirit, whose first fruit the Bible says is love. In a
Christian Centuryarticle, Billy explained what had been happening
to him after a decade of international ministry.
I am now aware that the family of God contains people of var-
ious ethnological, cultural, class, and denominational differ-
ences.... Within the true church there is a mysterious unity
that overrides all divisive factors. In groups which in my igno-
rant piousness I formerly “frowned upon,” I have found men so
dedicated to Christ and so in love with the truth that I have felt
unworthy to be in their presence. I have learned that although
Christians do not always agree, they can disagree agreeably, and
that what is most needed in the church today is for us to show
an unbelieving world that we love one another.
In his meetings, Billy has often asserted, “God is saying to you,
‘I love you. I love you. I love you.’” His love has been obvious to
others and has radiated to his colleagues and those he leads, as
well as to the watching world.
■ ■ ■Two years after 9/11 with its destruction of the World Trade Cen-
ter, Billy was holding meetings in Dallas. Some Americans felt all
Muslims were suspect. Billy’s colleague, Rick Marshall, told us, “It
surprised me to learn that one of the largest U.S. populations of
Muslims is in central Texas. We were at Texas Stadium in October,
right between Dallas and Fort Worth. Billy did an interview with
the Dallas Morning News, and one of the questions the writer putThe Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham