The Book of Common Prayer asks the Lord to deliver us from “blindness of heart, from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy.” Jim Bakker spent nearly his entire life running toward those vices.
For decades, Bakker, who died this week at the age of 86, was a laughingstock, damaging the cause of organized religion in America to an incalculable extent. As one of America’s most visible televangelists, Bakker preached the “prosperity gospel,” justifying his lavish wealth by telling his viewers that if one lived a thoroughly Christian life, material wealth would be one’s reward. “God doesn’t want his people to go second-class,” he often said.
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