Billy Graham on Serving God and Foxhole Atheists

The Rev. Billy Graham has a syndicated daily newspaper column called “My Answer.”  He recently addressed a question from a US servicemember in Afghanistan reconsidering their calling in life:

DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: Right now, I’m in the military deployed in Afghanistan, and I’ve really grown closer to God during my time here. Do you think God wants me to be a pastor or something like that when I get out? How can I know? — M. M.

Graham thanked the servicemember for their service and noted the “difficult situation” in which they are serving.  The answer he suggested was simple, sort of:  Seek God’s will — but remember you can serve God wherever you are.

Yes, God does call some into what we often call full-time service. But every Christian is called to serve God full time, no matter where they are or what they do for a living!

He notes God might have a plan for the servicemember for “full-time service,” but He might also be trying to use them right where they are:

If God is using you to touch the lives of others for Christ, and if he is burdening you in a special way with the needs of our lost world, then he may be calling you to some type of ministry. But he can use you anywhere as you put Christ first in your life.

This echoes the advice of other leaders in the faith who have encouraged Christians not to depart their current position just because they feel they should be in a “sacred” career field.  while it may be possible God wants them to serve as a missionary, pastor, etc, it is also possible God wants them to serve in the “sacred” field they’re in right now.  As R.G. LeTourneau said, God needs Christian businessmen, too, not just preachers.  The body is made of many parts, and if Christians remove themselves from the world, they can be a light to the world.

On a side note, within his answer Graham noted the spiritual challenges of “hard times” not unlike service in war:

Hard times usually do one of two things to people: They either cause them to turn toward God, or else they cause them to decide they don’t need God and can rely on their own strength. I’m thankful you’ve realized your need of him and have not been led astray by those who refuse to seek his help.

Graham’s sentiment follows the line of thinking in the cliché “there are no atheists in foxholes” — “hard times” can cause men to turn to God — but he also acknowledged war can turn foxhole theists into atheists, simplistically speaking.

The spiritual struggle in war can be great, something even many non-Christians acknowledge.  In fact, Graham’s final sentence in the quote above highlights that very fact.  While “Evangelical” is often disdainfully used to describe some Christians, there are other belief systems that are increasingly “evangelical” these days.

Many atheists, for example, seem to be on a campaign to “save” people from their beliefs.  This atheist evangelism extends even to those serving in the military.