Preaching the Prosperity Gospel

The Prosperity Gospel and the Brewing Scandal at Oral Roberts University

Once again the religious community is on pins and needles. The Roberts are back in the news again with another mandate from God, much like Oral Roberts, the founder of Oral Roberts University, who said if he did not raise $8 million for the university, then he would be "called home." The university President Richard Roberts, the son, has said that God has told him to deny any lurid allegations in a recently filed lawsuit that threatens to cause tremendous damage to this 44-year old institution. Richards is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and a lavish lifestyle at the expense of donors, including numerous home remodeling projects, the use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay. She is not without her share of accusations in this brewing scandal. She has been accused of dropping thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to children of her friends and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cellular phones to underage males. Richards spoke at a chapel service recently and said that God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

This latest scandal to rock the Roberts clan could rock the very core of the ministry which grew from Southern tent revivals to one of the most successful evangelical empires in the country, pulling in tens of millions of contributions yearly. The university reportedly took in nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according to figures from the Internal Revenue Service. This lawsuit was filed by three former professors, who one would believe would have inside information and know exactly what is going on at the ORU. The professors sued ORU and Roberts, alleging that they were wrongly dismissed after reporting the school's involvement in a local political race. The suit has alleged that Roberts asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa mayor. Such involvement would clearly have violated state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. The suit has alleged that up to 50 students worked on the campaign. The professors have said that their dismissals came after they turned over to the board of regents a copy of a report documenting moral and ethical lapses on the part of Roberts and his family. This internal document was prepared by Stephanie Cantese, Roberts' sister-in-law. It was alleged to have been found after an ORU student, repairing Cantese's laptop, discovered the document and later provided a copy to one of the professors.

The document details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct including, the fact that Mrs. Roberts frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at the university's expense;" the university jet was used to take Roberts' daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando and the Bahamas, which was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president;" the university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for the exclusive use by the Roberts' children and their home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years. This is not totally surprising to me and this is the real shame, if these allegations are true, that has clouded modern-day religion for many.

Another religious empire was rocked by salacious accusations of homosexuality a few years ago. Trinity Broadcasting Network, founded by Paul and Jan Crouch, had their share of accusations with the revelation in which Paul Crouch was accused of sexual misconduct with a male employee. Crouch agreed to pay Enoch Lonnie Ford, who he had met at a TBN drug rehabilitation facility in 1991 and who later went to work for the ministry, $425,000 as part of a settlement. Despite the allegations of sexual impropriety, one should take a look at the TBN empire. Crouch has a doctrine called the "prosperity gospel' to underwrite a worldwide broadcasting network and a life of luxury for himself and his wife Jan. It is said that TBN pays Paul Crouch a salary for 2004 was $419,000 and his wife's came in at $361,000. The ministry owns 30 homes around the country and the couple travels around the nation in their $7.2 million jet. Ex-employees have said that the Crouches have expensive tastes and decorate their homes with rare antiques. Herein lies the problem with these ministries, including Joyce Meyer, Juanita Bynum (the self-proclaimed new face of the battered woman), John Hagee, Richard Roberts, Paula White and many others, they are living the high life at the expense of the poor. Financial figures have shown that despite the Crouches' constant appeals for money, TBN, is in fact quite flush with cash. The ministry had net assets of over $723 million as of December 2004.

The Los Angeles Times had conducted an investigation into TBN after the sexual misconduct had surfaced and profiled several low-income viewers who regularly sent money to the ministry. While some have become disillusioned with the ministry after failing to receive financial windfalls, others still support TBN. It is evident that TBN and many other ministries out there are living the lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy on the backs of the poorest and most desperate people in our society. People have lost, and will continue to lose faith in God because they believe that they are not worthy after not receiving their financial blessing after sowing seeds into these ministries faithfully. Asking the faithful to donate is a part of virtually all religions. For example, Muslims pay zakat, Jewish synagogues have membership dues. Conservative Protestants see tithing, which is offering one tenth of one's income back to God and the church, as a biblical mandate. Most churches teach that believers can trust God to take care for their needs. The problem in this equation is the connecting of religious faithfulness, specifically in giving, to material riches that has caused many Christians, including evangelicals, to accuse prosperity teachers of bordering on heresy. Prosperity teachers were largely discredited in the U.S.A. in the late 1980s with a rash of scandals involving religious broadcasters, the booming television ministries of the new prosperity kings including Benny Hinn, who claims that he can heal the sick, Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer, surprisingly have some staying power.

So while we wait for the next shoe to drop in the scandal involving Richard and Lindsay Roberts, we should be mindful of what we seek from religion. Are we blindly believing that if we simply sow a seed we will end up like Creflo Dollar whose Rolls-Royces, private jets, million-dollar Atlanta home and $2.5 million Manhattan apartment furnish his followers with some type of validity of his teachings of the "prosperity gospel?" Or are we supposed to learn to live within our means and work towards the things we can achieve by tapping into our skills and abilities? I have long felt that I would rather give my money to a poor person in the street than send a dime to TBN or Richard Roberts' ministries. These people are saying do what I say, but not what I do.

"For such people do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and through smooth speech and flattering, they deceive the hearts of the innocent." Romans 16:18