Why We Must Stop Judging People - Part 6
In the 1980’s, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker raised enough money through their PTL ministry to build a 500-room hotel and waterpark complex that they named Heritage USA. This was intended to be a Christian-themed vacation park.
But in 1987, Jim Bakker became embroiled in scandal because of a sexual encounter with a young church secretary. Later, he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to federal prison.
Judgment, Malice, and Wrath from the Church
In prison, Jim Bakker lived every day with the shame of his sins. He had hurt many people through his actions. He had brought disgrace on the ministry of Christ. And the Church would not let him forget it.
Rick Joyner said that Bakker “was probably the most despised person on earth at the time. You can’t believe the hate mail he got from Christians. He didn’t get any from the heathen. You cannot believe what Christians wrote to him when he was in prison—the things they said they hoped would happen to him there.”
Jim Bakker had lost everything. He was in the lowest pit of hopelessness. In prison, no one visited him except his lawyer and a few family members. He went for long periods of time just wanting to die and to have it all end. In prayer, he asked the Lord to kill him. He was filled with regret over what he had done, and there seemed to be no way out. There seemed to be no way to make things right again. The Church was certainly not offering him any hope of redemption.
Forgiveness, Acceptance, and the Path to Restoration
In one radio broadcast, Jim listened in prison as a reporter announced that Billy Graham was one of the most respected people in the world. Jim couldn’t help but to see the contrast between Billy Graham and himself. Billy Graham was one of the most respected people in the world, and he was one of the most despised.
The day after hearing that report on the news, Jim was cleaning toilets in the prison and praying for the Lord to take his life. His work was interrupted when a guard announced that he had a visitor. With no time to clean up, he went to meet his visitor just as he was. Jim figured that it was probably only his lawyer again anyway.
When Jim walked out into the visiting area, there stood Billy Graham. Reverend Graham wrapped his arms around Jim, greeted him with a big, warm hug, and told Jim that he loved him.
Billy Graham spent all day with Jim, encouraging him and giving him new hope there within the walls of the prison. One of the most respected men in the world took an entire day to encourage one of the most despised men in the world. The man who was maybe the greatest Christian leader in America at that time took upon himself the form of a servant and reached down to help this despised and disgraced minister who was in the lowest pit of despair.
And it didn’t stop there. The Graham family invested themselves in restoring Jim to fellowship. On the day that Jim Bakker was released from prison, Franklin Graham (Billy’s son) and Ruth Bell Graham (Billy’s wife) were there to meet him. They picked him up and took him to their home, accepting him unconditionally into their own family.
On his first Sunday out of prison, the Graham family took Jim to church with them and unashamedly honored him by insisting that he sit with them near the front of the church. In this one act, the Graham family sent a clear message to the rest of the Church that Jim Bakker was accepted by the Graham family unconditionally.
The Grahams found a rental home for Jim and paid the lease themselves until Jim was able to get back on his feet financially.
Months before all of this happened, Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries had a dream.
In this dream, one of Rick’s children had fallen into a sewage ditch and could not get up.
As Rick tells it, “a large crowd gathered around my child and started scorning ‘em, laughing at ‘em, and my child just kept struggling to get up and could not get up. It was the most terrible thing I may have experienced in a dream or awake.”
“You know, you just can’t imagine the anguish of a father to see this happening to their child. And in my dream, this man came and helped my child up, got ‘em cleaned up and on their way.”
“And I’m in that dream thinking, ‘I will give everything I own to this person. There’s nothing I would not do for this person.’
“Then I heard the audible voice of the Lord say, ‘Jim Bakker is my kid. Will you help him up?’
“And that was right after he went to prison when he was languishing in the most terrible conditions you can imagine.”
Rick Joyner reached out to help Jim Bakker. He immediately started writing to Jim and sending books to encourage him. Rick communicated regularly with Jim until he was released from prison. After Jim was released, Rick also provided a place for Jim to live and welcomed him into his fellowship without reservations.
Rewards of Restoring a Fallen Brother
The life of Billy Graham was accompanied by great favor as he was honored everywhere he went. When we stop to wonder why this minister seemed to be honored and respected above many other worthy ministers of the Gospel, maybe it was because, even when he was exalted to positions of honor within the Church, he humbled himself, took upon himself the form of a servant, and reached out to the lowest of the low, and helped the rejected and the despised to be restored and accepted back into full fellowship unconditionally.
In the years after Jim Bakker lost his PTL ministry, Heritage USA was put up for sale. This massive hotel and vacation park that had cost more than 50 million dollars to build was sold to Morningstar Ministries for 1.6 million.
Later, the Lord spoke to Rick Joyner and asked him a question.
“Do you know why you got that place so cheap? It was because of what you did for Jim. My kid couldn’t get up and you helped him.”
Rick Joyner shares this story in a powerful message saying, “If you want to get the favor of God, help one of his kids that nobody else wants to help… . What would happen if we start treating each other with the respect and the value that God put on that person? How much did He value that person? He gave His own son for them. The greatest cost there could ever be.”
You can listen to Rick tell the whole story on YouTube in a video entitled, “Rick Joyner: The Story Of Jim Bakker And Billy Graham.”
Jim Bakker’s entire life seemed to collapse with the weight of his sins and the resulting consequences. But even in the pit in which he found himself, the Lord had not forgotten Jim Bakker, even if everyone else had. All of his sins, along with the shame and the punishments, could not separate Jim Bakker from the love of God. God still loved him, even if no one else did.
It is the same for you and for me. Even at our very worst. God still loves us. Nothing and no one can separate us from His love for us.
“I am absolutely sure that not even death or life can separate us from God’s love. Not even angels or demons, the present or the future, or any powers can separate us. Not even the highest places or the lowest, or anything else in all creation can separate us. Nothing at all can ever separate us from God’s love.”—Romans 8:38-39 (NIRV)
Even if everyone else in our lives abandons us, Jesus will never leave us. He will never forsake us.
He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”—Hebrews 13:5 (AMP)
References:
Bakker, J. (2018). Jim Bakker Remembers Billy Graham. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABrUFqrLez8
Effron, L., Paparella, A., & Taudte, J. (n.d.). The scandals that brought down the Bakkers, once among US’s most famous televangelists. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/scandals-brought-bakkers-uss-famous-televangelists/story?id=60389342
Joyner, R. (2015). Rick Joyner: The Story Of Jim Bakker And Billy Graham. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmODwm7KSvs
