Evangelist, 69, Feels Good but Is Ready to ‘Move On’ : Graham ‘Cringes’ at Scandal, Suffering

Evangelist Billy Graham says he is weary of the world’s iniquities and ready to move on to heaven. But he no longer talks about retiring.

“I’ve quit that because I feel so good,” says the elder statesman of globe-trotting crusades for Christ. “I’ve slowed down a little bit. I’ve got more gray hairs. When I go down steps, I hold on to the rail.”

But Graham, 69, is sticking to a heavy schedule, with a steady series of preaching forays planned in this country and abroad next year, starting the day after Christmas at home in Montreat, N.C.

“Most of my life has already been lived,” he said in an interview here this week. “I’ll be glad when the moment comes that the Lord calls me to heaven. I get tired down here sometimes.”

Graham, whose new book, “Facing Death,” published by Word, has jumped to the best-seller lists, said:

“I cringe at so much suffering and immorality, the fraud and all the things going on. The biggest problem facing America is the moral situation, the scandals in business, Wall Street, sports, in every area, even the church.”

In one of his first comments on the sex-and-money scandal that toppled the TV ministry of Jim Bakker and crimped contributions to some other TV preachers, Graham said:

“In its own backhanded way, I think it may help the church. It has caused everybody to realize there must be financial accountability.”

Graham, who had spurred the formation in 1979 of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, said he felt sorry for those who had failed to join in its strict financial reporting standards and who became tainted.

“I’ve prayed for them a lot,” he said. “I had warned about this, and predicted it would happen unless there was a change. But I don’t think the church-at-large has been hurt in any way.

“The gates of hell will not prevail against it, Jesus said. Things like this have happened down through church history, Protestant and Catholic, but the work goes on.

“Think of Aimee Semple McPherson (fraud-linked evangelist) and Father (Charles) Coughlin (anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi priest, both early in this century). We’ve always had things like this, even in the early church.

“The work of the Lord continues. One bad meal at a restaurant doesn’t mean you quit eating.

“No, I’m not worried about the future of the church. God is sovereign. His will is going to be worked out. I think this is a great time in the history of the church. Its opportunities have never been greater.”

While some TV preachers have suffered drops in contributions, Graham said support for his organization has grown about 4% this year to about $75 million.

This includes budgets of various subsidiaries, such as for movie-making and evangelism-training, as well for his roving crusades in cities.

While he sees general conditions of ethics as bleak, he said “I’m a little bit more hopeful about the world after last week.” He referred to the arms-reduction pact between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

“They may have set us on a little different track.”