Earlier this week, on October 5, 2026, famed televangelist James Orsen (Jim) Bakker passed to his rest at his most recent home near Blue Eye, Missouri, in the company of his second wife, Lori Beth Graham Bakker. He was 86.

Founder of the first-ever Christian satellite network [1], Bakker is best remembered for the headline-grabbing sex-and-money scandal that brought down his ministry in 1987. Known as the PTL network, it originally stood for Praise the Lord or People That Love [##2|Larry Martz and Ginny Carroll, Ministry of Greed: The Inside Story of the Televangelists and Their Holy Wars (New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988), p. 6.##]. After the fall, on account of the hush money paid to a female sex partner and the lavish lifestyle the Bakkers were living, many altered the ministry’s acronym to stand for Pay the Lady or Pass the Loot [##3|Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, p. 6.##].

Few who lived during those years can forget the scandal and how it dominated the news for months. When Jim and his first wife, Tammy Faye, appeared together on the ABC News show “Nightline,” the program received the highest ratings in its history [Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, pp. 191-192.##4], more than such events as the U.S. bombing of Libya, the Iran-contra scandal during the second term of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and the first space shuttle disaster [##5|Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, p. 192.##].

The multi-million-dollar fund-raising that characterized the Bakkers’ ministry funded not only the Christian theme part in South Carolina known as Heritage USA, but also salaries for Jim and Tammy that from 1981 to 1987 had exceeded nine million dollars [##6|Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, p. 63.##]. And the fifteen-minute tryst between Jim Bakker and a church secretary from Long Island, New York—which resulted in Bakker’s resignation and the eventual collapse of the ministry—was just the tip of the iceberg so far as sexual immorality on Bakker’s part was concerned. Multiple homosexual encounters were also documented [##7|Charles E. Shepard, Forgiven: The Rise and Fall of Jim Bakker and the PTL Ministry (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989), pp. 167,175-176,188,189,222-225,244,323-234,549,536,537,539-540,551,553,559.##], including one involving Bakker and a number of his staff members at the same time, in a sauna belonging to the ministry [##8|John Wigger, PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 163-164.##].

Some who remember those days will recall the humorous Jim and Tammy lookalikes on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” imitating the Bakkers’ tearful claims to repentance and continued pleas for financial help. Considering the shame brought by the scandal to the Christian world and its witness, many church members had a hard time finding such skits funny. But for myself, I couldn’t help thinking how in the Bible, even a prophet about to be translated found the eccentricities of a false religion amusing enough to joke about (I Kings 18:27).

A Monstrous Irony

It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, when a high-profile clergyman would fall because of such conduct. But when Christian ministries try to mimic the ways of the world, with show-business trappings, profligate spending, larger-than-life personalities, and little or no accountability, scandal of the sort that brought down the Bakkers is easily facilitated.

Moving to the Seventh-day Adventist scene, perhaps the most monstrous irony was that just as Christendom was experiencing unbelievable embarrassment before the world because of the Bakker scandal and other vignettes from the Pentecostal community—such as Jimmy Swaggart falling into similar transgression [##9|Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, p. 225.##] and Oral Roberts announcing to the world that unless he received eight million dollars, God would “call him home” through death [##10|Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, pp. 48-49.##]—certain notable figures in First World Adventism were urging their ministerial colleagues and others to go to Pentecostalism and megachurch Christianity to learn how to make our own congregations grow.

An article in a leading denominational publication helped to introduce this notion to our people, right at the time the Christian community—and the larger world—were reeling from the aforementioned scandals. Among other things, the authors in question lamented that Adventist financing kept megachurches from developing within our fellowship:

Could we establish such centers of influence? Not under the present system of financing. At present, a Seventh-day Adventist church finds it almost impossible to grow into a megachurch. The reason is that as the church grows, the conference reaps all the tithe increase, and the local church is left floundering to raise independent funds for continued evangelism and the increased local budget needs [11].

For starters, the very idea of a “megachurch” stands at odds with the inspired counsel God has given the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In the words of Ellen White

When Seventh-day Adventists move into cities where there is already a large church of believers, they are out of place, and their spirituality becomes weaker and weaker [##12|Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 82.##].

Work is to be carried forward in many lines. New territory is to be annexed. But no Jerusalem centers are to be made. If such centers are made, there will be a scattering of the people out of them, by the Lord God of heaven [##13|——Counsels on Health, pp. 299-300.##].

If nothing else, one finds it shocking that an article recommending outright defiance of prophetic counsel would find its way into the church’s flagship publication. The article in question continued with further doubtful wisdom:

Many of our churches have become staid, traditional, and lifeless. . . . Traditionalism and rigid conservatism are killing our Anglo churches. We need to learn to worship [14].

Sadly, without more specificity, such terms as “staid,” “traditional,” “lifeless,” and “rigid conservatism” can be applied to worship services characterized by the straightforward preaching of the Bible-based teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as set forth in Scripture and the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. It isn’t our task to make church exciting and entertaining, but rather, to make it faithful and consistent with the written counsel of God (Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11). Anyone under the illusion that contemporary music, theatrical drama, theological ambiguity, and laxity in lifestyle and worship standards are needed to draw the young to the Lord, need only visit a GYC (Generation of Youth for Christ) conference and witness how Adventism’s distinctive message and old-fashioned hymns are still able to inspire the rising generations.

It was from reasoning like that of the afore-quoted article that the rationale for the infamous “celebration” worship style was birthed in modern Adventism, much of it borrowed from neo-Pentecostalism and the “seeker-sensitive” church movement. As with the Bakkers and their “Tonight Show” format, such services were characterized by contemporary Christian music [##15|G.A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of Doing Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), pp. 21-22,84-86.##], theatrical drama [##16|Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services, pp. 89-99.##], and a notably lax attitude toward doctrinal and moral faithfulness [##17|Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services, pp. 272-287.##].

Tragically, the senior pastors of the two most conspicuous “celebration” churches in North American Adventism would replicate Jim Bakker’s example by falling into adultery and being defrocked as a result. A similar scandal would topple the ministry of Bill Hybels, senior pastor of the sprawling Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois [18], to which so many Adventists would seek for church growth guidance during the waning years of the last century and beyond.

Among those Adventist pastors drawn to the Celebration movement who were not felled by sexual sin, the lure of congregationalism and keeping the tithe local was often irresistible. That went far, understandably, toward dampening the zeal of church administrators for this particular “growth” agenda. You don’t hear much anymore about Adventist pastoral conferences promoting such ecclesiastical experimentation, likely for the above reasons and perhaps others.

Conclusion: Making Merchandise of God’s Grace

When the Bakker scandal broke, I found relevant the following Ellen White statement which describes a vision Jesus had when He was about to cleanse the temple in Jerusalem:

With searching glance, Christ takes in the scene before Him as He stands upon the steps of the temple court. With prophetic eye He looks into futurity, and sees not only years, but centuries and ages. He sees how priests and rulers will turn the needy from their right, and forbid that the gospel shall be preached to the poor. He sees how the love of God will be concealed from sinners, and men will make merchandise of His grace. As He beholds the scene, indignation, authority, and power are expressed in His countenance [##19|White, The Desire of Ages, p. 157.##].

Reading this statement, it’s not hard to think of that glitzy Heritage USA complex which headquartered the Bakkers’ empire, in particular the “bargain price” partnerships being hawked by Jim and Tammy as the phones rang and the checks poured in. It was even reported by one on-the-scene observer that little old ladies and pensioners were eating cat food in order to send money to the PTL Club! [##20|Austin Miles, Don’t Call Me Brother: A Ringmaster’s Escape from the Pentecostal Church (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1989), p. 273.##]. Viewing such a travesty with prophetic vision, as did our Lord, would understandably arouse righteous wrath.

Following a term in prison for mail and write fraud, Jim Bakker did repudiate his earlier adherence to the so-called “prosperity gospel” [21], but in time reverted to his penchant for sensationalism by starting a new television ministry, in which he again made merchandise of God’s grace by promoting, among other things, survivalist gear intended to preserve Christians during the final events of history [22].

The Bible promises that in times of trouble God will give His angels charge over His saints. In perhaps the most powerful of such passages, the psalmist declares:

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation,

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone (Psalm 91:9-12).

Ellen White, under divine inspiration, has offered a particular warning against God’s people making provision for their temporal wants during the coming time of trouble:

The Lord has shown me repeatedly that it is contrary to the Bible to make any provision for our temporal wants in the time of trouble. I saw that if the saints had food laid up by them or in the field in the time of trouble, when sword, famine, and pestilence are in the land, it would be taken from them by violent hands and strangers would reap their fields. Then will be the time for us to trust wholly in God, and He will sustain us [##23|White, Early Writings, p. 56.##].

Jim Bakker can’t be blamed for not knowing the counsel of Ellen White, of course, but as Seventh-day Adventists ponder the lessons and shortcomings of his ministry, we can be grateful for the instruction and guardrails God has given His end-time people through the writings of our prophet.

Experience-driven, emotion-saturated spirituality were the forces that powered Jim Bakker’s ministry, whether at PTL or thereafter. The written counsel of God played a very limited role. Seventh-day Adventists who are tempted to permit personal experience, feelings, and what seem to be compelling circumstances to drive their faith and witness, would be wise to reflect on the lessons of Jim Bakker’s fall.

REFERENCES

1. Tim Funk, “Jim Bakker, ‘Praise the Lord’ evangelist brought down by scandal, dies at 86,” Charlotte Observer, Oct. 6, 2026 https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article239283543.html

2. Larry Martz and Ginny Carroll, Ministry of Greed: The Inside Story of the Televangelists and Their Holy Wars (New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988), p. 6.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid, pp. 191-192.

5. Ibid, p. 192.

6. Ibid, p. 63.

7. Charles E. Shepard, Forgiven: The Rise and Fall of Jim Bakker and the PTL Ministry (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989), pp. 167,175-176,188,189,222-225,244,323-324,441,549,536,537,539-540,551,553,559.

8. John Wigger, PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 163-164.

9. Martz and Carroll, Ministry of Greed, p. 225.

10. Ibid, pp. 48-49.

11. John Carter and Warren Judd, “Needed—A Strategy to Reach North America,” Adventist Review, Sept. 15, 1988, p. 15 (emphasis original). https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/RH/RH19880915-V165-37.pdf

12. Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 82.

13. ----Counsels on Health, pp. 299-300.

14. Carter and Judd, “Needed—A Strategy to Reach North America,” Adventist Review, Sept. 15, 1988, p. 15. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/RH/RH19880915-V165-37.pdf

15. G.A. Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of Doing Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), pp. 21-22,84-86.

16. Ibid, pp. 89-99.

17. Ibid, pp. 272-287.

18. “Bill Hybels,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Hybels

19. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 157.

20. Austin Miles, Don’t Call Me Brother: A Ringmaster’s Escape from the Pentecostal Church (New York: Prometheus Books, 1989), p. 273.

21. Funk, “Jim Bakker, ‘Praise the Lord’ evangelist brought down by scandal, dies at 86,” Charlotte Observer, Oct. 6, 2026 https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article239283543.html

22. Ibid.

23. White, Early Writings, p. 56.