Lent Day 21: Two Men, Two Paths, Two Epilogues.

William Franklin Graham Jnr., Evangelist, and Hugh Marston Hefner, Founder of Playboy magazine. I will bet my last dollar those two names have never been in the same sentence, paragraph or article. But they do have at least three things in common.

1. They were both privileged to live into their nineties, dying within six months of each other. Graham was born in 1918 (the post-war years), dying in February 2018; while Hefner was born in 1926 (the roaring twenties) dying in September 2017.
2. They were both wildly successful in their chosen endeavors/business of life and impacted millions around the globe with their message and philosophy.
3. They both had businesses that were largely media driven. (Television & Radio, Films, Print & Internet)

And this, I’m guessing, is where it ends. There couldn’t have been any two more different people.

Please note that I am not attempting to judge or criticize either man, that is left to The One who created them and/or whomever they served. I know who Graham’s God was from his own proclamations, I cannot tell for sure who Hefner’s god was, and I will not dare to guess. However, I write from a Christian perspective, so I will expound from that angle.

From the common knowledge available about both men, they were very zealous and extremely focused on what they considered their mission in life; one to spread the gospel and the other to spread a sexual revolution. They both ended up being flag bearers in their respective professions. It is a testament to the clout of both men to note that despite their differences in ideology and lifestyle, they had millions of cross-over fans, mostly secretly. Need we point out that approximately 60 percent of pastors in a 2016 Barna Nation-wide Survey admitted to being a fellow-servant of God like Graham, and also admitted to struggling with being fans of Hefner’s business? And 5% admitted outright to being addicts of Hefner’s business?

The seed of accepting Jesus that Billy Graham sowed in millions of lives helped to spur the explosion of Christian Tele-Evangelism across the world. Again, I cannot postulate as to how this affected the family unit or society as a whole over the decades, but I can make an educated guess that it was not for the worse. Graham was also one of the few servants of God whose lifestyle actually matched the words he preached, thereby setting an inspiring example of  the fruits of the intertwining of faith and marriage in a Christian home. The Billy Graham Rule might as well have saved many marriages from collapse.

The seed of sexual liberation that Hugh Hefner’s business sowed in millions of lives can be readily tied to addiction issues and damaged marriages. Spouses have cited pornography addiction as a causative factor in a large number of divorce cases and parents have struggled to monitor what their children feed on while browsing the internet. Nobody is trying to pin the in-your-face sexuality that is prevalent in our culture today on one man, but his role in promoting it can also not be understated. His often-stated insistence that women were sex objects influenced a lot of men.

In an article written for The Independent-a British newspaper- on 9/27/17, writer Julie Bindel noted that Hefner turned pornography into a legitimate business empire, which then grew wings into the multi-billion dollar industry we have now.

The death of both men caused headlines around the world and their legacies were dissected. One man was mourned openly by ordinary folks, rulers and authorities with testimonies of his direct influences on individual personal struggles abounding. The other was noted for his contributions to sexual liberation and the objectification of women, civil rights and first amendment issues. Only one of them laid in the same Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC, where past presidents had lain. Only one of them had living presidents pay their last respect in person.

Aaah, one last similarity and difference. Both men died very satisfied with their contributions to humanity and looked forward to their concept of life in the hereafter or eternity. Graham as a bona-fide Christian, could not wait to go spend eternity with his God in heaven, and his body was interred next to his wife at the Billy Graham Library in his hometown.

Hefner had purchased the crypt next to Marilyn Monroe’s own for $75,000 as far back as 1992, because as he stated in a 2009 LA Times interview, “spending eternity next to Marilyn Monroe was an opportunity too sweet to pass up”. Observe that Hefner, by his own proclamation, said he would be spending eternity deep under the ground next to the skeleton of a once-beautiful woman, and longed for that privilege with pride. One man looked upward to the heavens, the other man looked downwards into the pit of the earth….your inspired guess as to where in the pits of the earth is probably better than mine.

The choices these two men made in their lifetime can be compared to the choices we make everyday. Overtly or covertly, we are influencing the people who watch and assess us everyday. They watch to see if we are truly followers of Christ and His teachings, or just friends and fans. Sometimes our choices and decisions have brought some people closer to Christ, and at other times driven some away, or left them indifferent and unimpressed. We who claim to be Christians have been called to be Ambassadors of Christ, in our present everyday circumstances. May we honor that call with all our strengths and gifts, and with the seriousness it deserves. Amen.

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