Teens
The Day Jimmy Swaggart Stumbled
By Dan Blankenship
© 2006 Dan Blankenship
Imagine a teenager waking up and getting prepared for school every morning in an empty house, both parents having already left for their respective jobs. Now picture this same teenager channel surfing as he devours a bowl of cereal at the kitchen countertop. The pictures on the TV screen land on a charismatic television preacher with a stern, slightly southern voice that grabs the teenager’s attention. The channel surfing stops, and the teenager is almost late for school. This routine is repeated day after day for four years. The television evangelist is the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart; the teenager is me.
I doubt many of my public school classmates followed my morning routine, but I was fascinated by this Assemblies of God preacher who was so intimate with the Bible that it seemed he had the mind of a computer and a heart with God’s hand surrounding it. His sermons and lessons were full of historical, geographical, and philosophical knowledge that surpassed anything I had ever been witness to. I watched and listened to Rev. Swaggart because I wanted to have a better understanding of the God I knew had created me and the world surrounding me.
Years later, after the fall of TV evangelists Jim and Tammy Bakker (that’s another story in and of itself), Jimmy Swaggart would make a tearful apology to his congregation and his Lord for indiscretions with a prostitute. The video tape of his confession and request for forgiveness appeared on news programs worldwide. In 1988, the man I believed walked the walk he preached fell about as hard as a preacher can.
But it was not Jimmy Swaggart’s fall from the top of mountain that shocked me so much. It was the secular public’s reaction to the downfall of a man of God that turned my world upside down. Even some of my closest friends laughed and mocked Swaggart as his confession was replayed on the ten o’clock news.
The day Jimmy Swaggart stumbled was the same day that I first recognized how much anger the world has for the faith I have freely chosen to embrace. The day Jimmy Swaggart stumbled before the world was the day that I realized the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not lie at the feet of any one man, one church, or one congregation. The message of forgiveness, redemption, and renewal is not dependent upon the powerful and the headstrong, but the meek and the seeking.
Even today, as I sit and listened to the minister of my own church preach a great sermon, my faith was strengthened more by the fragile, elderly woman who sat down next to me. She gave me an enormous smile when she came up beside me. I couldn’t help but wonder how much work it must have been for her to make it to the church every Sunday, being sure that there are days that her bones, joints, and muscles tell her to stay home and rest. Yet here was this follower of Christ singing “Amazing Grace” right alongside others who have no spotlight upon them, no television ministry to show off, and no scandal waiting in the wings.
I still believe Jimmy Swaggart has been, is, and always will be a great man of God, relentlessly trying to tell the world about the salvation Jesus has delivered to the undeserving, but I now know that all men can stumble when pride becomes their lanterns in the dark.
I am sending the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart a copy of this column. I want him to know that when his televised confession and request for forgiveness went out among the masses, there was a young man in Griffith, Indiana, who forgave him instantly – me, and there was of course another man who forgave him 2,000 years before the ten o’clock news that evening.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 1803 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Dan Blankenship or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 1803 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.
julia
Thomas