Guard Rails

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

A recent Washington Post profile of Vice President Mike Pence quoted a 2012 article that said "he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife." Not surprisingly, the revelation of this practice has generated a fair amount of ridicule, mockery, criticism, and media coverage. Instead of praising Vice President Pence's wisdom in placing guardrails around his relationships, some have even accused him of misogyny.

The Vice President is in good company when it comes to practicing this "rule." In 1948, Reverend Billy Graham began a series of evangelistic meetings in Modesto, California. Graham was 29 years old when he initiated an important discussion with other team members George Beverly Shea(39), Grady Wilson (29), and Cliff Barrows(25). The men were concerned about problems they had witnessed among other evangelists, actions that had undermined the integrity of the Gospel message, revealed hypocrisy, and ruined countless lives.

In his autobiography Just as I Am, Billy Graham recounts his Modesto hotel conversation with his fellow team members. Each man was asked to go to his own hotel room and list all the problems he could think of that evangelists and evangelism encountered. When the men returned, their lists were remarkably similar. The men made a series of resolutions or commitments among themselves that would guide future evangelistic work. The four areas identified are listed below along with a Graham summary statement explaining the men's rationale.

Money - "In Modesto we determined to do all we could to avoid financial abuses and to downplay the offering and depend as much as possible on money raised by the local committee in advance." Graham's team was committed to transparency and accountability in financial matters, especially as it related to nightly offerings.

Sexual immorality - "We pledged among ourselves to avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion. Graham wrote, "From that day on, I did not travel, meet, or eat alone with a woman other than my wife. We determined that the Apostle Paul's mandate to the young pastor Timothy would be ours as well: Flee...youthful lusts" (2 Timothy 1:22)

Attitude toward the local church - "We determined to cooperate with all who would cooperate with us in the public proclamation of the Gospel, and to avoid an antichurch or anti clergy attitude." The four men were determined not to undermine the local church.

Publicity- "We committed ourselves to integrity in our publicity and our reporting. The tendency among some evangelists was to exaggerate their successes or to claim higher attendance numbers than they really had." For Graham and his team, this was a character issue that could ultimately undermine their credibility.

The four guiding principles came to be known as the "Modesto Manifesto." No formal document exists, but it's interesting that "Modesto" means "modesty" in Spanish. Justin Taylor writing for The Gospel Coalition notes that over the years Billy Graham received intense media scrutiny, but hardly anyone accused him of violating any of those four principles."

Adam Parker, pastor of Pearl Presbyterian (PCA) in Mississippi, commenting on the "Graham Rule" writes, "Women are ultimately not the problem...Rather, all men are easily seduced by their own hearts. James tells us that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."(James 1:14) The prophet Jeremiah summarized the problem when he wrote, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.' We tend to rationalize, excuse, or justify our sin instead of avoiding it completely. Mike Pence looked ahead and counted the costs and consequences of sin. He developed a personal strategy for guarding his own heart and actions, protecting not just his wife and family, but his witness as well.

What about us? Are we guarding our hearts from the temptations that so easily entangle us and dishonor God? What are your personal accountability guard rails? Do you have a small group of peers who will hold you accountable to your character commitments? Most of us will never have the high visibility of Billy Graham or Mike Pence. But all of us are accountable to the One who still commands us to guard our hearts.

Guard your heart- for your own good, the sake of the ones you love, and the glory of God.

Amen and Amen!

Donna