Gospel entrepreneurs: Jesus is good for business

Bishop T.D. Jakes, the most recent gospel entrepreneur import to hit Australia, has been and gone.

Described as “Oprah in the pulpit”, the “black Billy Graham”, “America's best preacher”, and friend of George Bush: Bishop T.D. and “First Lady Jakes”, as she is known, represent the new generation of global gospel entrepreneurs.

Grammy Award winner, “business visionary, entrepreneurial trailblazer, altruistic philanthropist and spiritual shepherd to millions around the globe”, bishop of the Higher Ground Always Abounding Assemblies, with access to a private jet and a garage of Mercedes, BMW and Lexus cars, has been and gone, curiously, with remarkably little publicity.

His visit was hosted by Phil Pringle's $38 million Christian City Church: this is one of the two churches (the other being Hillsong) opened by the prime minister.

Jakes runs a wide-ranging organisation, including a congregation of about 30,000 (Potters House); author of some 40 books, many of them bestsellers (everything from how to manage your cash, women's rights, novels and dieting); "Megafests” (in 2005 one was broadcasted to “two thirds of the world's population”); a private “world-class Christian college”; water wells in Kenya and a prison ministry.

Cash and TD

There is little doubt however that Jesus is good for business, and for the bishop and other gospel entrepreneurs business has been good to them.

Most churches and many para-church organisations, including the Billy Graham organisation in the US, belong to the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability (ECFA). Members commit to being open, public and transparent in the way they handle their cash.

Neither Jakes or Potters House are members of ECFA. Forbes Magazine (October 1, 2005) noted, “Potters House ... revenues are a closely guarded secret”. Ministry Watch is a major US auditing organisation which believes that all “Christian ministries have a responsibility to be good stewards of financial resources they receive from donors”. It concludes that Jakes “demonstrates little or no transparency with regard to finances”.

Billy Graham - as a further step in accountability - had an independent board to oversee his organisation.

Jakes is founder, chair and CEO. Belonging to no denomination, he is now affiliated with the Pater Alliance, of which he is founder, CEO, senior minister and mentor.

Gospel entrepreneurs including Jakes, as promoters of “prosperity theology” (God wants Christians to be successful in every way, especially in their finances”), hold that “the myth of the poor Jesus has to be destroyed because it’s holding people back”. As he - and others like him - argues, Jesus must have been rich, after all he had to look after the 12 disciples and their families.

Jakes is in good company. Ministry Watch advises donors not to contribute to Trinity Broadcasting Network, over which Jakes broadcasts his programs. Creflo Dollar (yep he's real), Ken Copeland and Benny Hinn all fail the transparency test of Ministry Watch. An associate of Jakes, Bishop Eddie Long allegedly picks up a US$3 million salary package while one of his “charities” gave away $3 million at the same time.

Jakes and Bush

The similarity between the relationship of Jakes with Bush, and Howard and the gospel entrepreneurs is interesting.

The president led the groundbreaking ceremony of Jakes’ million dollar “business incubator”. Howard opens Phil Pringle's church.

Bush under attack over his handling of the response to hurricane Katrina turned to Jakes to get him out of trouble. As black American leaders vented their anger with the Bush administration, Jakes was co-opted, toured Louisiana with the president, and delivered the sermon on the national day of prayer for the victims. Getting ready for an election, Howard launches his campaigns in the heart of the Pentecostal movement and the gospel entrepreneurs.

In response to criticism, Jakes said he made a number of recommendations to Bush, particularly on the housing issue. Bush later “awarded no-bid construction contracts to Halliburton”.

Australia

Jakes is not the first and he will not be the last of the gospel entrepreneurs to hit Australia. Joyce Meyer, (Enjoying Everyday Life), Creflo Dollar, Garner Ted Armstrong and James Robinson (Life Today) appear on daily and weekly Australian commercial television, all soliciting cash without being registered, as required by Victorian law. Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn (This is your day) have just registered. Meanwhile Hinn is under investigation by the US Inland Revenue Service.

Hillsong is the focus of parliamentary and press scrutiny with regard to cash following complaints by an Aboriginal community organisation. Currently the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is reportedly targeting the commercial operations of churches, including, “the more entrepreneurial evangelical churches” (The Australian October 28, 2005). And within mainline denominations and the Australian Taxation Office there is continuing concern on how gospel entrepreneurs “package” everything from their salary packages to minimising taxation on their commercial activities.

The ethical, moral and legal issues of how cash is handled are significant and there needs to be a greater accountability and transparency. However it is the broader right-wing political agenda of the gospel entrepreneurs which is unnoticed and ignored. It is the gospel entrepreneurs, whether imported or Australian bred, which through a wide ranging network of individuals, organisations and para-churches which provide an active underpinning of the political agenda for both Howard and Bush.