Pimp Jesus' Ride!

I first saw the slick Bishop Eddie Long on the annual "State of Black ..." on C-Span this past winter. It was being broadcast from his mega-church. Oddly, one of the highlights of the day was watching a number of left-wing ministers read him the riot act for being roped up in George (who wouldn't meet with the Congressional Black Caucus) Bush's cattle call of black ministers (undoubtedly to barter their support against same sex marriage for a few faith based initiative dollars). He sucked it up but had the cameras not been there, he may not have allowed someone to tell him off in his own "house."

Anyhow, it seems that the fruits of his ministry render him quite the harvest and that is raising quite a few eyebrows.

"Several nonprofit experts and watchdog group leaders questioned how the $1.4 million home and the Bentley contributed to the charity's stated purpose.

They cited IRS rules warning that a nonprofit religious group could lose its tax-exempt status if it provides excess economic benefits to an insider.

'An organization can be a tax-exempt entity or a for-profit entity, but not both,' said Rod Pitzer, a tax expert with Wall Watchers, a North Carolina-based watchdog group that monitors the finances of large Christian organizations.

Nonprofit experts and others who viewed the charity's records at the Journal-Constitution's request said that it did not appear to have an independent board.

'With a wife approving her husband's salary, it appears that this board's stamp is really just a rubber stamp,' said Grassley, the Iowa senator.
[...]
Long said he represented a 'paradigm shift' in the black church. He said he won't be like other pastors who died broke while giving everything to congregations that 'wanted them to live in poverty and preach to them about prosperity.'

Any problem people may have with his charity, Long said, was rooted in some people's expectations that pastors should be poor.

'I would love to sit with you and walk with you through the Bible to show that Jesus wasn't poor,' he said.

His congregation is inspired by seeing its pastor do well, Long said.

'I'm not going to apologize for anything. ... '

I was going to suggest that every generation needs a Rev. Ike but I see that Rev. Ike isn't dead so Eddie Long's "riches" are hardly a paradigm shift. For some reason, I just never considered going to church to be inspired by my pastor to "do well" materially/financially. Seeing his $1.4 million home and Bentley would hardly nourish my soul or make me want to attain the same.

Sadly, Bishop Long sounds a lot like our President with "I'm not going to apologize for anything." Perhaps he doesn't have to. He has a willing congregation who doesn't seem to mind his ostentatious display of wealth acquired through his ministry. Prosperity preachers aren't new and will probably never become old. My problem is that they bring Jesus into it. It matters not if Jesus was poor and I'd love to see the scriptural references he is using to justify his excess. I'm reasonably assured that Jesus wasn't styling and profiling on a "pimped out" camel or donkey and that he didn't have a different gold threaded "robe" for every day of the week.