Creflo (wants a) Dollar or two

After much pushback, Georgia televangelist reverses request for private jet

Atlanta-based televangelist Creflo Dollar wants a few bucks to add to his name. $60 million, to be exact.

After continued controversy, the moneyed minister walked back his request for “200,000 people committed to sow $300 or more” into his private jet request, according to CNN.

crash — After much controversy, Georgia pastor’s $60 million plane did not take off. Google Images

Crash — After much controversy, Georgia pastor’s $60 million plane did not take off. Google Images

“The word of God is the gateway to the world of wealth,” Dollar said in a CNN video.

This is a misrepresentation of Scripture, encouraging people to donate money simply so they can then receive more money from God. Gaining money should never be an incentive to donate, but Dollar has used an age-old human weakness of greed to gain a mega-church with a large following.

Dollar’s foray into acquiring a personal aircraft was not the first time he has lavishly spent money, as he reportedly has a $2.3 million house outside Atlanta.

According to CNN, Dollar and his wife also sold their Manhattan condominium for $3.75 million. Due to the fact that the money he receives from parishioners is tax-exempt and his church does not need to give information on how the money is spent, no one knows how much money he actually has.

While Dollar has personally denied using money from offerings for his own use and says he has purchased homes and cars for people in his congregation, he has still come under fire for his spending. Dollar, along with six other prominent televangelists, was subject to investigation by the Senate Committee on Finance in 2007, launching a probe into how these prosperous pastors used their money, according to CBS News.

Ultimately, the Senate investigation was inconclusive in its effort to ensure or discredit the legitimacy of these ministries’ nonprofit statuses. Regardless of what the government finds, it is biblical truth by which these ministers should conduct themselves.

This is a time for believers in the global church to remember to never give total, unwavering allegiance to any one man or woman. Rather, they must take all teaching, not only that of pastors of mega-churches but small churches or any position of Christian leadership, and determine whether it lines up with Scripture. Prayer, daily Bible reading and discretion are all needed to be sure false teaching does not distort the truth of the gospel.

Humility — a trait Dollar has not portrayed in his spending — is also a trait Christians should seek after.

“I am not sure which is crazier — that Dollar insisted on being treated like the king of a small country or that his church-owned (public relations) firm didn’t realize this inane fundraising plan would backfire,” Charisma News columnist Lee Grady wrote.

I think it is time Dollar took a couple zeros off the end of his last name and started using more of the congregation’s tithes and offerings for legitimate evangelism and ministry. As far as I am concerned, he can fly commercial with everyone else.

DEPIERO is an opinion writer.

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