A response to Franklin Graham's December 23 Facebook and Twitter post.
Mr. Graham,
Your comments seem to draw upon the truth of Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The idea is that no one should "boast" of their perfection before God (verse 27). But to use this concept to excuse the flagrant immorality of someone is to break one of the Ten Commandment by using the Lord's name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11). This misleads people about who God is. God detests immorality.
"There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community" (Proverbs 6:16-19).
And the Judges and Prophets and John the Baptist called out the immorality of kings, that the king might be chastened and that the people of God might not think the wicked prospering was a sign of God's approval.
When running for president, Republican Senators Lindsay Graham, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz all recognized Donald Trump's moral unfitness to wield presidential power. There is a more valid transactional argument that the least of all evils is that a Republican president should be supported because he furthers Republican policy. But it is another thing, as you do here, to throw sand in the eyes of people by saying there is no such thing as disqualifying immorality. "Woe to those who call evil good" (Isaiah 5:20).
This post by you raises the question as to whether your conscience is seared so you cannot see gradations of immorality. Indeed you received a salary of $636,451 in 2018 from Samaritan's Purse (Operation Christmas Child)—an organization supposed to be assisting the poor, while also drawing a full-time salary from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (last disclosed in 2014 as $205,999 according to public 990 tax forms). The BGEA now formally "exists to support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of Franklin Graham." All four of your children also receive salaries from either Samaritan's Purse or the BGEA. Franklin Graham's pay is “definitely an outlier for the nonprofit sector,” Sandra Miniutti, Charity Navigator’s chief financial officer, told the Charlotte Observer. Is this what you mean that you too are immoral like Trump? Consider whether Psalm 50 applies to you:
"God says:
When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
You harness your tongue to deceit.
When you did these things and I kept silent,
you thought I was exactly like you.
But I now arraign you
and to the blameless I will show my salvation"
– Psalm 50:16,18,19,21,23.