“Playing at Christianity”

The Norwich, Connecticut, Bulletin of June 6, 1957, published the sermon of preacher Albert M. Pennybacker of the Taftville Congregational Church; it was a sermon on the Billy Graham New York crusade, then in progress. Declared preacher Pennybacker: “Christian faith is not meant for twaddlers and nincompoops. It is not something to be played at. It is not wrapped up in smallness or mediocrity. It deals with the real issues, those that lie below the surface symptoms. . . .

“Perhaps the greatest example of this playing at Christianity is taking place now in Madison Square Garden. With gigantic advertising and stupendous crowds and banner-draped galleries, Billy Graham each night calls men to a decision for Christ. I do not question his sincerity or his motives or his results or his finances or his crowds. I do question whether the Christian faith is as simple as Graham says. ‘Either you are converted here this evening and come down the aisle or you go away with a hardened heart.’ The issue is not the call of God; it is the invitation of Billy Graham. It remains of man-made size. Its dimensions are not those of God and Satan, but of a great advertising campaign and a large sports arena.

“It is the sort of playing at Christianity of which we are often guilty. It is the making of God and His salvation fit our words or be pigeon-holed into our churches or our Sundays. It is a small gospel for small people. . . . It is a religion for ‘twaddlers and nincompoops.’ They want their religion simple; the only trouble is that the Christian faith is not simple. Would that it were! . . . Would that it never disturbed the conscience or passed judgment on ourselves and the world that we create! . . . Is there a middle course, another alternative other than the simple, hollow, wordy playing at Christianity or the blind ignorance of what the real issues are? We would like another way. We would like to see big issues and be a part of gigantic struggles. . . . The twaddler, the nincompoop, those playing at Christianity . . . are too busy making money or fighting wars or saving souls.”