by Maggie Watts with Cissie Graham Lynch

Cissie Graham Lynch is the daughter of Franklin Graham and the granddaughter of Billy Graham. She lives a life of outspoken, unwavering conviction in God’s truth. But the journey there was filled with lessons, struggles, and redemption through the blood of Christ.

Child Salvation

Lynch gave her life to Christ as a child, but she came to know Him more deeply in college.

“I can remember giving my life to Christ in the car, driving from Montreat, North Carolina, from my grandparent’s home, back to Boone one night with my mom,” she said. Although some question child salvation, Lynch firmly believes in it.

When her son asked about receiving Christ at a young age, someone told her, “Your son gave all he knows of himself at five years old to all he knows about Jesus. That’s true whether we’re five or 45 when we give our lives to the Lord. We give all we know about ourselves to all we know about Christ,” she said. “So, I don’t ever question or doubt somebody’s child’s salvation and what God has done in their life at a young age.”

However, Lynch said her story is more complicated than being saved as a child. In public high school, she wrestled with being herself and discovering who God was to her.

 “I really struggled having the last name Graham,” she said. “I really struggled with my faith for a bit, trying to prove that I was just Cissie — I wasn’t just Cissie Graham, but I was my own person.”

“I never fully walked away from the faith, I never doubted God’s sovereignty in my life, I never doubted God’s goodness, His holiness in my life. But I really struggled with who He was to me,” she said.

Healing from addiction

During her last two years of high school and the beginning of college, Lynch struggled with an addiction to diet pills.

“I just struggled with self-image, like many young girls do. I fell victim to the ‘90s and 2000s, of what we were told to look like in a certain standard. I knew I was under bondage. I would go to bed at night crying ‘Lord!’ I knew the right answers, I grew up knowing the right answers, I’d tell the right answers. But so many people who are struggling go to bed knowing what they’re doing is wrong,” she said. “For me, I just wanted to see myself through God’s eyes — knowing that I am engraved in the palms of His hands, that I am His masterpiece, I’m His craftsmanship. I wanted to see that, and He wasn’t answering those prayers.”

She took a semester off of college during this addiction and served with Samaritan’s Purse, where she worked in an orphanage. That’s when God radically changed her life.

“It was there that God truly healed me of my addiction. I think when you struggle with an addiction, it’s always a selfish thing. It’s ‘me, me, me.’ And we live in a self-serving world. Everything is about ourselves and putting ourselves first. And with an addiction, I would wake up thinking of myself first thing, and I would go to bed thinking of myself as the last thing,” she said. “It was there in serving — I was working in an orphanage — I didn’t have time, I was too busy — I didn’t have time to think of myself. And it’s like God truly healed me of that. Because we know that Jesus Christ came to serve, not to be served.”

“I was stuck in a selfish motive, and in that moment of being in a different country and not thinking of myself in this world, that we are always putting ourselves first... in the morning I was rising up and I was putting God first, for the first time,” she said. “And that was healing to me. And it was over a time period where I realized ‘Woah. I don’t think I’ve struggled with my self-image in weeks or months.’

“In college, God really started moving and changing my heart... I was really opening up the scripture for the first time,” Lynch said. “I don’t doubt child salvation, but through mine, I really had to figure out who Christ was. And thankfully, it was early on in college that I had to dig deep in the scripture to know who Jesus was.”

Fearless

Lynch started her Fearless podcast in June 2019, with the aim of “helping you have a fearless faith in a compromising culture.” Fearless discusses taking on cultural issues as a Christian and encourages believers to stand strong in God’s truth.

“I remember sitting in Boone, in downtown Boone, at a restaurant with a friend of mine. We were having this discussion, and it was over going to a friend of ours’ same-sex wedding. In the world we live in — I think this was 2015 — we all know and love somebody that is part of the LGBT community, whether it’s a family member or a dear friend,” Lynch said. “I saw Christian’s not knowing how to navigate their faith in this culture that is forever shifting, this culture that was becoming very hostile toward Christians. How do we balance love, and how do we balance truth? How do you balance that grace and not compromise the truth?”

“It came down to the line as ‘Look: according to scripture, same-sex marriage is wrong. It’s a sin. And in no way, shape, or form can Christians celebrate this. And so, how could I do this? I felt God calling me to stand for truth, to show your friend you don’t have to compromise that truth, but you can do it with grace. Jesus was 100% grace, and He’s 100% truth,” she said. “That’s what my heart was behind Fearless. How can we tackle some of these cultural issues that we never thought we would be facing in our culture? And how can we do it with grace? How can we always do it with love and respect toward one another? To never ever be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to not compromise the Gospel?”

Lynch believes the previous generation of the church preached a lot of truth, but they sacrificed grace. In contrast, she said many churches today emphasize the grace of Jesus while sacrificing His truth.

“I’m watching these churches one after another, pastors too, that don’t talk about these tough cultural subjects because they don’t want to offend anybody. They lack the truth, and the truth is what is gonna set people free,” Lynch said.

Daniel 11:32 (ESV) says “...the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Lynch said she has clung to this verse throughout recent years.

“We have to know God. There’s a difference in knowing about God and knowing God. We have to know Him. We have to know His attributes, the holiness of God, the love of God, what angers God,” she said. “Those who know their God will be able to stand in strength, so you’ll be able to stand in this culture that we face. And you’ll be able to take action, whether that’s in your job, whether that’s among your friends. Now, you will lose jobs, there will be sacrifices to make. But for the holiness of God, it’s worth it.”

Family

“I grew up in a wonderful Christian home where our faith was lived out. The same Graham’s you saw in public is what you saw behind the scenes,” she said.

“My mom was always full of grace. Now, with my mom, you didn’t mess around,” Lynch said. “She meant business. My mom’s yes meant yes or no meant no — that’s another thing I’ve always learned from my mom. And if my mom said she was gonna do something — you know, if you disobey, this is gonna happen — you knew it was gonna happen.”

She said her mom was filled with truth, but it didn’t take away from her grace.

“I felt like maybe that was an example of God’s Word. God’s Word is truth. He is the sovereign God. His Word is His Word. But He’s also full of grace and love. And I think my mom, that’s how she was. She set that example, and my father did as well — full of truth, but always of grace too,” Lynch said.

She recalls seeing her parents reading the Word each morning when she woke up as a child.

“I didn’t realize at the moment, how important that was, until I became a mom. And I wanted my children to know where Mom would seek wisdom, where their mother wanted to find wisdom, where their mom would find strength and the solid rock that they stand on. So, when my kids were little — I mean, they’re still little — but, especially in those early years, when they would wake up super early, I would be at the table reading my Bible. Or even if I finished before they would wake up, I would always keep my Bible open, because I wanted them, first thing in the morning, to see that,” she said. “And I would ask my son, ‘What is this?’ And he would go, ‘It’s truth, Mama.

And what is truth?

‘It’s the solid rock that we stand on. It’s God’s Word.”

Husband Corey Lynch

Lynch’s husband is retired NFL player Corey Lynch, and at the time of this interview in the Spring of 2022, they had two children, Austin and Margaret. The husband and wife met during college when Corey was playing football at Appalachian State and Cissie was a student at Liberty University, before she transferred to App. They met at a Graham family lunch with other App State football players.

“My mom kind of adopted a lot of these guys and would let them come hang out at the house, or do their laundry at the house, or she would take them out to eat. And it was over time that I really fell in love with his heart,” she said. “His football poster was all over the town at the time, and I didn’t realize what a big deal he was in the football world. I didn’t track with App football at the time, which I’m so thankful for. Because, as a young girl at like 19, normally that would be the first thing you would notice, like ‘Oh this football star, he’s on the poster.’ And I didn’t even notice things like that, and I’m so thankful. I think God kind of blinded me from all of that. And I really, truly fell in love with his heart, that he didn’t compromise his stand with the Lord. And it reminded me a lot of my father. And he was not ashamed of the Gospel. Once again that reminded me a lot of my father.”

Lynch recalls a chant the football team would do, which included curse words. Corey stood strong for his convictions and went against the flow.

 “He stood up and said ‘We are not gonna do that because not all of us on this team stand for that kind of language.’ And they listened to him. He was a leader on that football field,” she said. “He set himself apart from the world, and in the football world that’s hard to do. Eventually, they led a very special Bible study on that football team. Anybody that would track with them knew there was something different about them. And I believe it’s because the Lord was the center.”

A retired NFL player, Corey continues to stand for God’s truth today.

“As a Christian, the eyes of the world are on you. They want to see if you practice what you preach, if the Jesus that you talk about in Bible study is the same Jesus He is on game day, or in the hardships — when Cory was injured or got fired from a team. I just remember the world was watching for a reaction,” Lynch said. “You know, you have to watch what you say, you have to watch what words come out of your mouth, you have to watch what you wear because they wanna see, ‘Are you different from their life?”

“It doesn’t matter — in the NFL, in the corporate world, whatever business — as a Christian, you’re gonna be mocked,” she said. “But they wanna see ‘is God still gonna be your God during the hard times?”

Priorities

Though Cissie’s opportunities for ministry are many and she and Corey lead busy lives, she said that no matter what opportunities come about, she strives to put family first in everything.

“You only have your children for a short time. The scriptures say they are olive shoots around our table, and these olive shoots you have like 12 years before they start producing and going out. [Psalm 128:3] We have our children for such a short time. Our greatest mission field is our kitchen table, and we only have our children for a short time,” she said. “We can’t say yes to everything. We’re not meant to say yes to everything. And family time comes first before anything.”

“My brother Will really helped me with this when he taught me to draw wisdom from 1 Samuel 24-26, where David spares Saul.”

“David had the opportunity to kill Saul in the cave and he didn’t. That opportunity was presented to him but he knew that wasn’t right,” she said. “What that taught me is that not every open door is meant to go through.”

“We feel like we have to say yes to every opportunity, like we have to make something of ourselves, like if we say no we’re losing an opportunity, like we’re gonna lose money, like we’ll lose influence, especially in the world I’m in. And I think God has just given me peace not to say yes to everything. I have learned that in my life I’ve had to say no,” Lynch said.

God currently has Lynch in Florida, but Boone holds a special place in her heart.

“I am grateful that I grew up in Boone, North Carolina; that I could travel the world with Samaritan’s Purse and see the things of the world and travel in different cultures. But I was so thankful that I always got to come back to our small, family farmhouse in Boone, North Carolina. And growing up, I can always remember in high school, people were like ‘I wanna go do this,’ and ‘I wanna travel and do this,’ and ‘I wanna move to New York City,’ or ‘go L.A. and California,’ or all these dreams. And, honestly, I didn’t care wherever the Lord called me. I was so grateful that I grew up in a small town. But it’s funny to see now, so many people that have children. My friends are moving back from the big cities to Boone to raise their children. Boone is a special place, and I’m very grateful that the Lord had me grow up there.”