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Sen. Grassley’s Probe
By John W. Kennedy | March 5, 2008
I’ve had mixed reactions observing the back-and-forth battle between U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley and half-a-dozen prosperity gospel televangelists.
Grassley, the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, has demanded answers from tax-exempt ministries on why they operate corporate jets, own mansions, drive luxury cars and pay their leaders excessive compensation. Grassley, a 74-year-old Baptist from Iowa with a reputation for integrity, remarked that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a Rolls Royce.
More than four months after the investigation began, only one ministry has fully complied with requests for financial details. A couple of others have dragged their feet at providing information while three haven’t cooperated at all.
Wrapped in a cloak of tax-exempt status, ministries can refuse to divulge particulars about where contributions are going. But a lack of financial accountability isn’t the reputation TV ministries need, 20 years after the last round of televangelist scandals. If these ministers are really following Jesus, why are they resisting scrutiny and inviting skepticism? Most reputable parachurch ministries have outside auditors and file voluntary financial reports available to donors.
Still, another part of me is troubled by the government demanding to know ministry details that are constitutionally protected. The First Amendment says Congress cannot inhibit the free exercise of religion (and the press, too). This means ministries are protected from disclosing exactly where the money comes from and goes.
The Founding Fathers saw the wisdom of freedom of religion and the press in protecting unpopular viewpoints. So if the Assemblies of God falls out of favor with a high-ranking government official (such as a U.S. senator), he wouldn’t be able to shut down a biblically based magazine such as Today’s Pentecostal Evangel for publishing a message that might run contrary to government policy.
Through all this I’m most confounded as to why viewers send donations to preachers whose main message is to send them money so they, too, can enrich themselves. It costs a lot of money to stay on the air, yet some televangelists continue to live in the lap of luxury. The health-and-wealth proponents avoid Scriptures dealing with the wise use of money, including Mark 10:25, where Jesus taught how difficult it is for the rich to reach heaven.
And another question. Why aren’t the donors who are keeping these televangelists flush with funds giving the money to local churches instead?
Topics: televangelists |
March 7th, 2008 at 11:39 am
We may in fact have a problem with the government in the long run, but I am all for exposing the abuses and excesses of those who are using the Gospel for personal enrichment. For many of the unchurched, these characters are the face of Christianity. Why would they give Christianity a serious look when the representatives on TV are such obvious phonies?
March 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
DR speaks the truth!