BILLY GRAHAM & THE U. N.
by George Burnham A strange name was mentioned often in the beautiful corridors and offices of the United Nations Build ing recently. It touched off disagreements and probing questions in a building fa mous for such things. In fact, one of the few things ever agreed upon by the U.N. was that the name be forgotten in the quest of peace. The name was Jesus Christ. Differing somewhat from the U.N., the Bible says, “ . . . the gov ernment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall he called Won derful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” The questions came at a press conference for U.N. correspondents after Billy Graham had talked pri vately for 30 minutes with Secre tary General Dag Hammarskjöld. Before answering questions, Gra ham stated: “ The United Nations, in my opinion, will never be permanently successful unless a great moral and spiritual resurgence comes to sup plement the efforts now being made. “ Problems of the world are not quite as complex as we make out. Visit the Auca Indians, who live in a kind of stone age, and you will find lying, hating, stealing, cheat ing, lust and all manner of evil. The things those people need, you say, are education and economic security but we also have the same symptoms and problems as the Auca Indians. Our greatest wars have been fought by so-called civil ized people. “Human nature needs a revolu tion. I believe Jesus Christ can change human nature. He changed mine and I have seen Him change thousands of others. I believe Christ put His finger on the problem of the world when He said, ‘Ye must be bom again.’
peal. In Christ there can be world unity. I believe He is the only answer. He is the author of peace. Q. If the U.N. is to be success ful will the whole world have to be converted to Christ? A. The Bible teaches that the world, as we know it, will never be wholly converted to Christ. It teaches there will be a climactic moment in history, when the peo ple in this building will be at then- wits end, and at that moment Christ is coming again to set up His King dom. I think the U.N. should con tinue to work for peace, but I be lieve peace ultimately rests on the second coming of Christ. Q. When is He coming again? A. I don’t know. A woman correspondent said as she left the room, “ I don’t believe in the second coming of Christ.” The pretty uniformed guide who showed Graham around the build ing remarked, “ There hasn’t been this much excitement around here in years.” Before leaving the U.N. Graham stopped at the Meditation Chapel. In the center of the small room he saw a six-ton slab of crystalline iron ore, a gift of the Swedish govern ment. A tiny shaft of light reflect ed from the top. In dedicating the room, Hammarskjöld referred to the stone: “ The origin of the idea was one which I think you will all recog nize; you will find it in many great religions; it is the altar. In this case it is an empty altar, empty not because there is no God, but empty because God is worshiped in so many forms. The stone in the cen ter symbolizes an altar to the God of all . . | Graham sat alone, with bowed head, on one of the five stools. He prayed silently . . . in Christ’s name. END.
“My mission in life is inviting people to be loyal to the person of Christ, not to an organization, and to live like Him. The world, how ever, is not following Christ. A European diplomat said recently, ‘If the devil will offer us a solution to our problems, then I will follow the devil.’ “Christ has offered the solution, but we aren’t following Him.” The questions and answers ran like this: Q. You speak of allegiance to one man. Would you agree if the U.N. enlarged this celestial company to include other great prophets who preached peace and brotherhood? A. A true Christian believes in the exclusiveness of Christ, Who said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ Christ differed from the prophets in the redemptive aspect. He laid down His life on a Cross for the sins of the world. The Christian Church would lose its mis sionary zeal if it believed anything else. Q. Who converted you? A. Christ converted me. I would like to make it quite clear that I have never converted any one. I am a proclaimer of the Good News that Christ died to save sinners. Christ does the converting. I came face to face with a decision when I was 17. Christ was either who He claimed to be or He was the biggest hoax of all time. I made my de cision to live for Him. Q. Why? A. Why did you decide to sit in that chair? You just decided to do it. I decided that Christ was who He claimed to be and surrendered my life to Him. Q. Wouldn’t the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man make for a better universal appeal than a narrow faith in Christ? A. Christ made a universal ap
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