We heard the news that Jim Bakker died. If you don’t know who he was, I will keep it simple: Jim Bakker, was an American televangelist, minister, and television personality best known for co‑hosting The PTL (Praise the Lord) Club with his then‑wife Tammy Faye Bakker. Rising to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, he built the $125 million PTL empire and created the Heritage USA Christian theme park. His career collapsed in 1987 amid a sex scandal and fraud charges, leading to nearly five years in prison. Returning in 2003 with The Jim Bakker Show, he shifted to apocalyptic preaching and selling survival products, but has faced renewed criticism and legal actions, including COVID‑19 cure claims. He, and others like him, convinced a lot of people to support his lavish lifestyle, promising that God’s blessing would come to them. He was among the worst of the worst in this field.
My wife and I happened to be visiting our sister in Charlotte, NC about a week after his fall – and it was an amazingly spectacular fall. Jerry Falwell – another charlatan/grifter/cheat – who had started the Moral Majority to get conservatives elected – took over the amusement park/overbooked hotel that was just over the border in S. Carolina. My son happens to live in the shadow of what is left of monstrosities. Because of my interest in all things theological, I convinced my wife and sister to visit, and we all came away with the same creepy feeling, like we had just visited hell. These businesses – I won’t call them ministries – are all about phoniness and greed. They do almost nothing for the poor; in fact, they demonize those who are struggling as not being loved or blessed or favored – a Joel Osteen go-to – by God. These charlatans, grifters, and cheats opened the door to today’s MAGA movement, convincing generations of people that God liked them best. They also taught that God hates LGBTQ people and women are inferior to men, the same lies being taught today by the next generation of charlatans, grifters, and cheats.
Bakker would do anything to make money; he sold his soul for power and money and notoriety. He mistreated his family and ripped off people who believed in him. At the end of his life, he was selling end-of-the-word food buckets so his true believers could ride out the coming Apocalypse. I am sure there are people who are mourning his death right now, but I will admit that I am not one of them. Bakker, Franklin Graham, Paula White, Jerry Falwell; they and so many others have taken the faith I love so dearly and perverted it for their own enrichment. The good news is that there are churches and church leaders all over the world – all over this country – who refuse to become like them. So, please – don’t give up! Search for a faith community that not only feeds you spiritually but helps you to feed others physically. Jesus is not coming back in our lifetime, so we all need to get to work helping the poor. Because that person you feed might be Jesus.
Prayer – Holy God, thank You for continuing to inspire us to goodness and compassion, even when so many who claim You are using You for personal gain. Thank You. Amen.
Today’s art is an image of Heritage USA, the Bakker’s playground. It is now abandoned and crumbling.