is it OK for televangelists to acquire obscene amounts of material wealth for their own personal use?

Question

via 'love gifts' from the hopeless and poor.

isn't squandering copious amounts of money, not to mention by deceptive means, supposed to be evil?

Answer 1

I'm a Christian, but I think these phoney "televangelists" are nothing but scheisters and crooks. Any person with reason knows that the money sent into these people are not going to be used to help anyone, or further God's Kingdom. It is individual greed, and they are using the name of God to make personal profit, to which I think is appalling and disgusting. God will remember.

Answer 2

Depends on what you consider obscene amount of money ;-)
I don't like tele-evangilists, however they have a big cash outflow that includes maintaining a radio or tv network and paying salaries to a few hundred people let alone, equipment, buildings and the like. They do give some of the money to charity too.
So like a large corporation they pay a higher salary to the CEO then the guy who moves the lights.
My question to you is.. if you were making all that money would you be complaining about it? would you take a smaller salary and give the rest to the poor and hopeless?
You have to walk in anothers shoes to answer that question.

Answer 3

For the righteous televangelist, those are blessings that we are all promised as descendants of Abraham as mentioned in Genesis. They have weathered storms and still had faith, they have been faithful in praying, fasting, tithing, confessing, despite the situations they may have been going through, they don't have those things just because they are televangelist, me and you can have those things too, if we desired them and gave God all the glory upon receiving them, there are a lot of people who get those things and don't give God the glory and guaranteed they loose them, for the things that are given by God are eternal. If people who don't serve God can have those things, why can't a man/woman of God, who spreads His gospel to many? If they are using those things for the wrong reasons and not doing what they have been led to do, by God, then yeah, it's for the wrong reasons, and only God knows there hearts. He know also their intentions, their works and faithfullness. Which leads to us all having our own judgement time with Jesus, some will get a "well done" and some will get a "I don't know you". But we are to just do as we are led to do by the Holy Spirit and not our own feeling and we will be blessed, abundantly to the overflow, but God knows our hearts and if we have intentions that are not in line with His word, it won't last long. He knows what we are going to do before we do it. When you do God's will you get 'love gifts', others want to bless you because of the annointing on your life, God blesses others so that they can bless the righteous. He even says in His word, "the wealth of the wicked is stored for the upright". Therefore, holdfast and do what you have to do and sure enough, with faith those things will come to pass in your life also.

Answer 4

No. It is not OK. The damage they are doing is incalculable. In addition to robbing the trusting and naive, they are robbing people of their opportunity to get to know their awesome Creator and the love that He has for them. Far to many of the millions of people who see through their ruse are forever turned off to the most important message they could ever hear. After watching these charlatans they will no longer listen to others who may bring the sincere message of the Gospel to them. Matthew 7:21-23 tell of their fate.

Answer 5

Yes, but as P.T. Barnum might have said, "There's a sucker born-again every minute......." Televangelists know that there are many people who blindly assume anyone espousing Christ as their saviour HAS to be good and virtuous, a trick many politicians have since used to their advantage.

In short, it's evil. Especially if it's sapping well-intentioned folks -- especially senior citizens -- out of their cash.

Answer 6

its hard to say if what they are doing is wrong. if they are spending this money selfishly and stealing form the people who donate it, than yes. if they are taking the money and putting it back into the church, than it is all in good faith. but off the record, i agree with you 110%. that kind of thing has become way to commercial and i believe that takes away from the true goal of such work: saving souls and that is nothing short of tragic and grotesque in every sense of the word. and dont think God isnt watching. He knows.

Answer 7

I don't think that the hopless and poor would be able to afford to give what they don't have so obviously the ones who do give, give by faith. I don't think it is wrong that the children of God who devote their life to doing God's work is wrong...it is their job....they too have families that need to get supported. Yes, there may be false christians out there taking advantage of people...the only thing we can do is pray for them that they open their eyes of this wrong doing and repent before judgement day comes.

Answer 8

Not "obscene" amounts but just like beauty, "obscene" is in the eye of the beholder. God does want to abundantly bless us, especially if we are faithful Christians and ONLY God knows our true heart. "Evil" is very different than sinful.

Answer 9

IMHO, I think they are basically evil people. Nothing turns my stomach faster than seeing one of those mega churches with the JumboJesusVision and their state of the art Bose sound systems. It just makes me sick inside.

Answer 10

When I see grifters at work, I'm sometimes torn between blaming the scammers and blaming the scammed.

Most of the time I don't really care, though.