By Baptist Message staff
WASHINGTON (LBM) – Tim Tate, the pastor of Sen. Lindsey Graham, described the late senator as a man grounded and committed to Jesus Christ during his memorial service at the National Cathedral, July 28.
“We’ve joined together today to celebrate and I choose the word celebrate because I know where Senator Lindsey Graham is because I know by his profession of faith, he professed Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior,” Tate told the crowd gathered following his death, July 11. “So for that cause, we celebrate.”
Tate shared he did not realize when he became pastor with Corinth Baptist Church, Seneca, S.C., 15 years ago that a U.S. senator was a member of his congregation. But as the years passed, he appreciated Graham’s constant encouragement.
“Senator Graham was my friend and I tried to be a friend to him,” he said. “We would sit and talk sometimes in my office and sometimes in the living room. I wanted to be a safe place for him. I didn’t ever want to go to him and want a favor or want something because so many wanted him and needed him and he was always there for them. But I just wanted to be his pastor and be afforded me the opportunity to do that.”
Tate shared a favorite memory of how Graham helped arrange a meeting with President Donald Trump when he was at an event in Pickens, S.C.
“Senator Graham was a man who could make things happen,” Tate said.
Referencing Philippians 3:14, Tate said Graham pressed on.
“There are a lot of times it’s easier to bow out,” he said. “It’s easier to go just a different way, the path of least resistance. But he stayed the course, even when it wasn’t going to make him popular.”
Tate urged the crowd not to delay accepting Christ as their Savior.
“Senator Graham woke up on his last day the same as you and I woke up this morning, never knowing that he would breathe his last,” he said. “It’s risky business for us not to live our life not being ready.”
Tate said that if Graham was standing before the crowd, he would share only about Jesus.
“I think he would tell us ‘listen my friends, if you don’t know Jesus, you need to meet Him. I met Him. I have stood at His feet.”
