Subtle Deception!

Over this past weekend, I devoured Jim Bakker's book entitled, I Was Wrong, (Nelson Publishing, 1996) which he wrote after spending more than five years in federal prison for a fraud conviction! Bakker, as you may remember, was an Assemblies of God minister, the TV preacher who headed the now defunct PTL Club and Heritage USA during the 1980's in Charlotte, NC. He conversed with Presidents, lived like a king, and touched the lives of millions of people. As I read the book, which is long and detailed, I felt great sadness for the man who came to realize that he had spent 15 years of his life preaching a false gospel and that he had allowed himself to be diverted from working with God to working for an idol of his own making. Here's a direct quote from page 464 -

• "...during my years at PTL. I had gotten so busy trying to do something great for God and His people, I totally missed the point. Although I talked a great deal about Jesus- and in my heart truly loved Him- I allowed myself to be drawn away from my first love. Instead of fostering an intimate relationship with Him, I loved the spectacular, the supernatural, the signs and wonders."

Many Christians tend to sensationalize Bakker's sins by looking at his extravagant lifestyle and/or his alleged sexual misconduct- completing missing his greatest sin - idol worship. I wonder if we do that so we can avoid the sting of the Spirit's conviction we might feel if we looked at those things in Bakker's life that touch our experience? Not many of us ever have to wrestle with accepting a $1 million/year salary. Hopefully we are able to choose to walk away from the seduction to sexual sin fairly easily because of the red flags that surround that kind of choice. But idolatry is so much more subtle and a constant temptation for us all!

Bakker's idol was his ministry! Building the 'box,' as he refers to the retreat center and TV program, became more important to him than the contents of the box, which he originally intended be centered on the things of God and the Presence of Jesus. As his personal intimacy with the Lord waned, discernment faded and the guidance of the Spirit was set aside in favor of management and marketing. He notes that guests for the TV show were chosen more for their ability to sway a crowd with some 'gift manifestation,' sing a beautiful song with emotional intensity, or produce an audience than for their spiritual depth or personal holiness. He chose to 'look away' from wide gaps in the spiritual lives of many performers because he needed them to keep the audience and the money coming in. And in the end, he was in prison looking back on a defunct ministry, without any money, his children broken, a divorce from his wife; and a sad refrain - "I was wrong!" The best part of the book was the powerful conclusion that in his darkest hour, God had not abandoned him. God loved Bakker enough to allow a prison experience so that He could re-capture his heart. What mercy, though it is a severe mercy.

The message of the book shook me to the core of my being! I spent much of yesterday pondering the question: Am I walking in intimacy with Jesus? Are there any areas of my life where the 'business' of ministry taken over my heart and mind, destroying my spiritual vision?

The Decalogue begins with“You shall have no other gods before Me. " (Exodus 20:3, NKJV) That does not only prohibit little wood, stone, or golden statutes or foreign deities! That Word means we must never give our spouse, our job, our kids, our reputation, our financial security, even our personal happiness a higher place in our hierarchy of love than God Himself. Easier said, than done, isn't it?

So how can we avoid become idol worshippers?

1. Get quiet, alone with God, on a regular basis where you invite the brilliant Light of the Spirit to shine into every corner of your heart! 15 minutes won't do the job! This needs to be a half-day, at least, with just a Bible, a journal.

2. Keep friends on board in your life who ask hard questions! James Robinson visited Bakker at PTL a couple of years before the collapse and saw the truth. He told his friend, "You're committing fornication with brick and mortar!" He saw that the ministry had become a mistress who had stolen Bakker from his first love. Yet, he would not listen!

3. Refuse to allow any sin to remain. When the Spirit convicts our hearts, we need to respond quickly and completely. Paul writes to Timothy warning him of those "having their conscience seared with a hot iron," (1 Timothy 4.2 KJV). If we continue in sin after the Spirit's convicts, we burn away our sensitivity to Him, becoming dead! It doesn't take a lot of sin to make us almost totally incapable of responding to God's guidance.

4. Don't try to justify yourself. It isn't what you think or feel that will ultimately be the determination of right and wrong. It will be God's call! So, listen now and walk close to Him now. That way, you will not have to say, I was wrong, in brokenness and sorrow.
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Lord I come to You;Let my heart be changed, renewed;
Flowing from the grace that I've found in You!
Lord I've come to know the weaknesses I see, in me;
Will be stripped away,
By the power of Your love!

Hold me close, let Your love surround me.
Bring me near; draw me to Your side!
And as I wait,
I'll rise up like the eagle.
And I will soar with You,
Your Spirit leads me on,
In the power of Your love!

Lord unveil my eyes, Let me see You face to face;
The knowledge of Your love as You live in me!
Lord renew my mind,
as Your will unfolds in my life,
In living every day by the power of Your love!- Geoff Bullock