I have listened to Billy Graham and read his books for a long time, especially over the past decade. His autobiography, Just As I Am, is one of my favorites. One story from it has stayed with me: the night a friend told him he had left the cross out of his sermon.

It happened in Dallas in 1953. Graham recalled feeling that his preaching that evening had lacked spiritual depth, even though people had responded to the invitation. Afterward, he took a walk with his friend John Bolten, a German-born businessman. Bolten told him what was missing.

“Billy,” he said, “you didn’t speak about the Cross.”

In the account from Just As I Am, Bolten pressed him to explain Christ's death to the people he was asking to believe. Graham spent a sleepless night thinking about that conversation. By morning, he had resolved to make the gospel clear in his preaching, with Christ's death for our sins and His resurrection at its center.

He also told the story in a 1959 address to ministers. There, he recalled praying:

“Oh, God, so help me, there will never be a sermon that I preach unless the Cross is central.”

I admire his willingness to receive that correction. He took it seriously enough to change his preaching and to include the failure in his own autobiography. Reading it years later, I am grateful that he did. It gives the rest of us something more useful than an account of a successful evening.

It is possible to say many true things about Christianity and still leave someone unclear about why Jesus died. We can talk about living well, finding purpose, or having hope. We can defend the reliability of Scripture and answer objections to belief. But the person listening still needs to hear what God has done for sinners, and why we need Him to do it.

That part of the story really hits home for me. I care about apologetics. I read the arguments, think about the objections, and want to give honest answers. Those questions deserve attention. I also want anyone who reads what I write about faith to understand what I am inviting them to believe. Christianity rests on Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the dead. He calls us to turn from sin and trust Him for forgiveness. We cannot earn it by becoming better at defending Christianity, or by becoming impressive Christians ourselves.

In 1 Corinthians 2:2 (ESV), Paul put his purpose plainly: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Later in the same letter, he reminded the Corinthians of Christ's death for their sins, His burial, and His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). That was the good news Graham's friend was urging him to make clear.

For me, there is comfort in that as well as a responsibility. The message does not depend on my having Billy Graham's voice or his ability to speak to a crowd. I can explain what Christ has done, listen to someone's questions, and trust God with what I cannot accomplish in another person's heart.

I am thankful for Billy Graham and for the friend who spoke honestly to him that night. The reason the story stays with me is that I need the same Savior he preached. Whatever opportunity I have to speak about my faith, I want to make clear why my hope is in Christ.