Billy lasered in on the 5 percent, explaining the decision a per-
son needed to make regarding Jesus. When a person makes that
decision, Billy encourages local churches to follow up with the
elements of the 95 percent for spiritual growth.
Billy’s associate Rick Marshall describes Billy’s role as the obste-
trician, not a pediatrician. “I have four children,” says Marshall.
“They each had an obstetrician, but I only got two things from the
OB—a baby and a bill. I never expected the OB to treat my chil-
dren as they grew up.” Billy, the spiritual obstetrician, understood
his role, even as he appreciated the many pastors who, like pedi-
atricians, would be required for the subsequent follow-up care.
■ ■ ■In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis masterfully and imaginatively
constructs the correspondence between a senior devil, Screwtape,
and his protégé, Wormwood. In one letter, Screwtape instructs
Wormwood in the art of gaining souls for the Devil by diverting
their energies in multiple directions. For instance, he tells him to
entice people to exaggerate their everyday interests and worries,
thereby making those diverse concerns “the main thing,” and thus
preventing anything of significance from being accomplished.
Billy kept his focus on the core mission, but this was tested
most seriously in the late 1960s when he was asked to help start
a Christian university. Strong voices urged him to consider found-
ing a graduate university, solidly Christian, with academic cre-
dentials that would rival Yale or Harvard. But should it be part of
Billy’s mission? In 1966 he told a reporter, “If someone came
along with $10 million to invest in such a school, I’d consider it.”
A year later, the conditions were met, and he had to consider
it—and make a difficult, and ultimately painful, decision.
The opportunity became a real one when insurance financier
John D. MacArthur offered a thousand acres in Palm Beach Gar-
dens, Florida, along with a pledge of millions of dollars to launch
the project. When others heard that Billy would be involved,
additional millions of dollars were offered, and planning for
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham