In 1948, Billy Graham and three of his friends made 4 major resolutions with the intention of setting personal standards of integrity that they could live by. These have come to be known as the Modesto Manifesto.

I read varying biographies of these 4 men: Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows, George Beverly (“Bev”) Shea and Grady Wilson. There wasn’t mention of any scandal or questionable circumstances they had been involved in! This made me very happy because one of the things that turn non-Christians away from the gospel is the lack of integrity demonstrated by many Christians. One more thing I observed about them was they mostly lived rich long lives. Billy died at 99, Cliff 93, George 104 and Grady at 68.

[bctt tweet=”What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Psalm 34:12-13 ESV #life #longlife #speaktruth #faith” username=”InspirationAndL”]

The resolutions

1. At crusades and evangelistic meetings – To avoid financial abuses, to deemphasize the offering, and instead rely on as much as possible on money raised by the local committee in advance.

2. To avoid any circumstance that would have even have the appearance of compromise or suspicion. They decided that the Apostle Paul’s instruction to the young pastor Timothy would be theirs too. From that day on, Billy Graham did not travel, meet or eat alone with a woman other than his wife.¹ He did, however, break this rule once by having a private lunch in a public dining room with Hillary Clinton in 1989.
Some people call this particular resolution the Billy Graham rule and more recently the Mike Spencer rule. Yeah …. Mike Spencer … but that’s a story for another day.

[bctt tweet=”Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 NLT #truth #holiness #love #faith #heart” username=”InspirationAndL”]

3. To collaborate with all who would cooperate with them in the public declaration of the Gospel, and to refrain from an antichurch or anti-clergy attitude.

4. To be committed to integrity in their publicity and reporting of the attendance numbers at their meetings. They did this because of the tendency for some evangelists to exaggerate the number of people at their events.

I drew a few lessons from their Modesto Manifesto

1. Resolutions are good.

When I was much younger, I would always make a New Year resolution at the beginning of the year. After a few days, I would forget all about it! I’m pretty sure this has happened to the best of us. Looking back now, I realize that the real reason I never followed through was that some of them were spur-of-the-moment decisions. Also, I didn’t really think about short-term things I could do to reach my goals.

I understand better now that goals and resolutions help give my life direction and something to work up to. But I have to do them thoughtfully and prayerfully.

2. Write the vision.

I think that by making the extra step of writing out these declarations helped to strengthen their resolve.

Last week when I jumpstarted this blog, I followed an urging in my heart to settle down and write out my plan for the next few months. I was surprised at how much clarity I had by simply writing them down. I also worked on this blog’s policies and it’s helped to really keep me focused on what direction I want this blog to go.

3. The importance of having friends that share similar beliefs.

Before the Manifesto, Billy Graham asked his friends to spend an hour thinking of problems faced by evangelists. When they met again afterward, they were surprised to discover that they had all come up similar ideas. Having a friend who thinks like you is great because you are happy that someone else understands you.

4. The importance of having friends who inspire you to grow.

When I used to live in Paris, I and 3 of my friends used to meet once a week to pray and share our feelings. We let ourselves be vulnerable by praying freely and openly. They were like my sisters. I felt very sad when my time in Paris was over and I part ways with them.

Even though one of them, Evi (not her real name) has been through a lot of adverse situations, she still lives by the verse, ‘Your words have the power of life and death’. Anytime I make a negative confession, she never fails to corrects me and reminds me of the power of our words.

When I was preparing for my first Canadian medical licensing exam, I was so worried that I wasn’t going to pass. She called me aside and reminded me to change my thinking and my confessions. And guess what? I passed the exam!

When I was preparing for my first Canadian medical licensing exam, I was so worried that I wasn’t going to pass. She called me aside and reminded me to change my thinking and my confessions. And guess what? I passed the exam!

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend (Proverbs 27:17 NLT).”

5. The importance of accountability.

It takes humility, trust, and respect to make yourself accountable to someone else. I would like to think that Billy Graham and his friends had the type of friendship where they could talk about their struggles and encourage one another if and when they faltered.

When you have people who are not afraid to correct you when you are wrong, you should count yourself lucky! These sort of friends can help to keep you on the right track if you are willing to be open.

[bctt tweet=”An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Proverbs 27:5 NLT #love #friends #truefriendship #truelove #faith” username=”InspirationAndL”]

On the other hand, it’s also easy to fall into a pattern of hiding your mistakes from your close friends or even rejecting their advice completely. I’ve been there: I shunned the advice of close friends when I was dating someone who wasn’t a Christian and looking back, I wish I hadn’t.

1. [Stated in his autobiography, Just As I am*]

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