On June 28, 1953, Billy Graham was concluding a monthlong Crusade in Dallas. That evening, the famous Cotton Bowl stadium would fill to capacity with more than 70,000 people at the final meeting.

But earlier that day, Mr. Graham preached a guest sermon at the storied First Baptist Church of Dallas, pastored at the time by W.A. Criswell. And after Mr. Graham preached that morning, he joined the church, becoming a member of First Baptist even though his home was nearly 1,000 miles away, in Montreat, North Carolina. He maintained his membership there for more than 54 years.

Sitting in the pews that Sunday was a young couple, Robert and Judy Jeffress. Judy had committed her life to Jesus Christ earlier that month during Mr. Graham’s Crusade. When she heard that Billy Graham was about to join First Baptist, she said to Robert, “If it’s good enough for Billy Graham, it’s good enough for me.” The couple joined the church that same day. Their first child, Robert Jr., grew up loving Jesus, and he has now served as senior pastor of First Baptist since 2007.

Given the ties between Billy Graham, First Baptist and the Jeffress family, Robert Jeffress Jr. brought a unique perspective as he spoke during a Friends of the Billy Graham Library event last month.

And given his clear, Biblical insights into issues facing churches, believers and the nation today, Decision asked Jeffress prior to the event about the moral and spiritual state of our culture.

“I know some people talk about revivals going on, and there may be spots where that’s happening,” Jeffress said. “But I think the moral and spiritual trajectory of our country continues to be downward. And we shouldn’t be surprised; it’s what the Bible predicts.”

The bad news, he said, is that one of the signs of the last days that Jesus described was apostasy—fewer and fewer people identifying as Christians, and professing Christians giving up long-held truths of God’s Word. “The good news,” he said, “is we know how the story ends, and Christ is coming back to fulfill His promise to every believer.”

Jeffress, who has been described as “a friend and informal faith advisor” to President Donald Trump, says Christians owe a debt of gratitude to the president.

“He has been the most faith-friendly president in the history of our country,” he said. “Nobody has done more to ensure religious freedom than Donald Trump. And this wasn’t just a campaign slogan for him. I’ve known the president for years, and it’s been a constant theme of his, even before he became president.”

Although the president has taken many steps to safeguard religious freedom, Jeffress cautions that there is no guarantee the government will always be friendly to people of faith.

“That’s why, as Jesus said, we’d better work while it’s day because the night is coming when no man can work. We need to think beyond this president because he’s not going to serve forever, and we need to try to build in the principles that our first Founding Fathers established because they believed that the first freedom was the freedom of faith.”

Many people look at evangelical leaders’ relationships with a president and accuse them of simply seeking political power. But Jeffress would say it is wise to exercise Biblical influence wherever it is possible. Martin Luther King, for example, advocated for civil rights, and many Christians in the 1800s wielded their influence to argue for the abolition of slavery. Those were political issues, but they were also moral and spiritual issues. 

“When we fight for the rights of the unborn, when we stand for the sanctity of marriage, when we stand for religious liberty, when we support Israel, you can say those are all political issues,” Jeffress said. “But they’re spiritual issues as well.

“God is no respecter of people or nations. Any nation that honors God will be blessed by God. Any nation, including the United States, that rejects God will be rejected by God. As a Christian, you can’t be at peace with a culture that’s at odds with God.”

Jeffress urges Christians to stand up and be salt and light, as Jesus taught, and that requires engaging the culture and its leaders with Biblical truth.

“Salt in the salt shaker does no good,” he said. “It has to come out of the shaker. It has to penetrate Hollywood, Wall Street, Main Street, and it has to influence government. I think Christians like Billy Graham, who had access to every president from Harry Truman to Donald Trump, used that influence for good. And I think with whomever we have influence, we need to use the influence we have for good, whether it’s somebody in Washington, D.C., in Hollywood, California, or on the city council in our town.

“Just look at what happened to Nazi Germany in 1938. Hitler rose to power because German Christians, specifically German Christian pastors, remained silent. They said the same thing you hear today: ‘We don’t get involved in politics. We just need to trust in the sovereignty of God. We just need to preach the Gospel.’ And because of their passivity, 6 million Jews were exterminated.” ©2025 BGEA

Photo: Logan Ryan / ©2025 BGEA