“Lord, Lord, did I not…?”

“Depart from me … I never knew you.”

Those are the dreaded words that many will hear on that day of judgment. Many believe that the outward works they perform in this life will somehow lead them into the Kingdom, but many will hear Jesus say, “Depart from me.”

Disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker came face to face with Jesus yesterday as he passed away at 86 years old. I cannot say for sure if he heard those words—but what I can say is that I would not want to be in his shoes.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Jim and Tammy Faye built a televangelism empire called The PTL (Praise the Lord) Club and were among the most recognizable religious figures in America. Just south of Charlotte, NC, in Fort Mill, SC, they built an enormous Christian-themed studio, resort, and water park called Heritage USA, which brought in staggering amounts of money and millions of viewers.

Bakker was one of the first of the classic, modern, “rich and famous” celebrity television preachers.

Then came the fall.

Bakker was caught up in a sex scandal involving a woman named Jessica Hahn. To keep Hahn quiet, Bakker paid her off to the tune of $265 thousand using ministry money, which opened the door to a larger investigation into Bakker’s ministry financial practices.

Investigators uncovered a fraud and conspiracy scheme involving promises to donors of lifetime partnerships and lodging rights at the resort that could not actually be fulfilled. Bakker was ultimately convicted of 24 fraud and conspiracy charges and spent 4-1/2 years in federal prison.

The real story was much bigger than just the sex scandal—almost every televangelism ministry in America involves sex scandals. That’s just par for the course. But Bakker’s downfall exposed what happens in these massive “Christian” business empires when there is no meaningful accountability. Fame, enormous fundraising gimmicks, lavish lifestyles, and bible talk create the modern image of “prosperity” while the core is rotting underneath the glitter.

After he served his prison sentence, Bakker’s comeback involved returning to television rather than disappearing from public ministry. As is typical with these prosperity gospel ministries, his focus shifted toward prophecy, the collapse of society, prepper products, snake oils, and other gimmicks. And during COVID, he faced legal trouble again after making claims that one of his products could treat and cure the disease.

He never really disappeared, he just sold a different product.

Bakker is the archetype of the celebrity televangelism downfall. Bakker was never accountable to a local church or congregation. He was essentially his own pope, king, and god. And it proves that financial success, fame, lavishness, a large audience, and even political connections are not evidence of God’s blessing.

In fact, it could very well be quite the opposite.

Judgment.

At the end of the day, I cannot pretend to know for sure where Bakker is. But his trail of scandals leaves a narrative that I would not want to be a part of. If nothing else, his ministry helped demonstrate the danger of mixing spectacle into biblical faithfulness, and ultimately, it exposed that there wasn’t any faithfulness there.