Faith-Based Fraud

A leader of Ministry Watch examines how cases of abuse and financial corruption have hurt the church-and how to bring back integrity. We live in a secular, skeptical, and cynical age. Many Americans have lost faith in institutions-including the church. Although the vast majority of Christian leaders serve faithfully, examples of financial fraud, greed, sexual and emotional abuse, and other systemic problems are almost everyday occurrences. And a watching world has a right to ask even those who are faithful ministers of the Gospel: If you knew this was happening, why didn't you say something? Whether or not honest and above-board Christian leadership like it, in the eyes of the world, our silence makes us complicit. That's why this vital book takes a clear-eyed look at scandals in the church-from Jim and Tammy Bakker's PTL Network to Mark Driscoll, Todd Bentley, David Jeremiah, and Bill Hybels. It is an answer to those who say that the silence of Christian leadership is approval. And although this book is sometimes tough on the church and its leaders, its purpose is not to tear down the evangelical church, but to restore it to its rightful place of influence in the culture and in the lives of people who desperately need its message of grace and truth. Explains why shining sunlight on churches and ministries in America is important. -Paul Glader, Director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute, The King's College