Jerry Didn't Fall Well

 Thirteenth Friday After Pentecost

Friday is "Anything Can Happen Day" on the blog. It was Wednesday on the Mickey Mouse Club. First, let me give a couple of brief responses to comments. Jerry, I still haven't read the lyrics to Along Comes Mary, but I have no regrets. I loved that simpler love song, "Cherish," and another song from their greatest hits album, "No Fair At All." I've sometimes wondered how groups that have one or two hit songs can have a greatest hits album.

Jennifer, no it's not too simple. I think you put it beautifully. The Pharisees were all about rules; Jesus was not. Next week I'll talk about Jesus' radical departure from all the prayer practices of his time.

Thanks too to the one of you who sent me a personal email. As always, I would love to hear from more of you and to hear more from you whom I already hear from (sorry for that syntax).

I have often wondered about evangelical empire builders who pass their empire on to their sons. Some of them remind me of Samuel's no good sons in the early part of 1 Samuel (chapter 3 or 4 I think). Evangelical empires can be a church, a university, or an organization. 

 TV evangelist Oral Roberts built a university that bears his name. I once spent four days there at the bequest of one of the trustees of Tennessee Wesleyan. He thought I could learn how to run a "good" college chaplaincy program their chaplaincy staff. It was ORU boom time then (1980). They were in the midst of building a huge medical center: a 50 story hospital building, a 30 story research building, and a 20 story administrative building. Two of the buildings were complete and the third was under construction, when I was there. Oral and his partners, mostly small contributors, went into tremendous debt for this construction. Fifteen years later all three of the buildings had been closed. It was a financial disaster. When Oral died, he passed his empire on the his son Richard. He had been prepping Richard for years. Richard was a better singer than preacher. He was definitely not an administrator. ORU is still there, but the TV evangelism is almost gone.

Robert Schuller developed an enormous following with his radio and TV program, "Hour of Power." It was essentially a Prosperity Gospel message. As the wealth grew, Schuller contracted the renowned architect Philip Johnson, builder of the great glass skyscrapers in Manhattan, to build Schuller a church. It was to be called The Crystal Cathedral. Its in Garden Grove California. You've probably seen pictures of it. Although Schuller misused the word cathedral, it was indeed an impressive building. It now lies vacant. Schuller passed his empire on to his oldest son, Robert Jr. in 2006. Schuller senior died in 2010. Robert Jr. lived and spent lavishly. Soon there were lawsuits and extreme infighting among Robert Jr., his four brothers and sisters, and the Crystal Cathedral trustees. In 2015 the Crystal Cathedral declared bankruptcy. It has been a vacant building ever since.

Jerry Falwell, Sr. developed a huge TV empire in the '70's and 80's, "The Old Time Gospel Hour," He then built Liberty University. He, of course, became president of the university.  Liberty has fared far better financially than ORU and has made a genuine, though misguided, effort to be a quality university. For a time their debating team was among the nation's top three. Still its hard to teach Geology when you believe the earth is only 6,000 years old. When Jerry died, his empire and his university presidency were passed on to--guess who--Jerry Falwell, Jr. I won't retell the sordid details of his fall from his university's grace this week. It's all over the news. Like Robert Sculler, Jr. and Richard Roberts, Falwell Jr. lived a luxurious lifestyle, not only luxurious but also lewd. 

There have been evangelical son successes to father's empires, Joel Osteen and Franklin Graham. My negative statements about all of these evangelical emperors have sometimes evoked the retort, "But they are leading people to Christ." Perhaps they are, but they aren't leading them nearly far enough.

Faithfully,

Christian