By: Dr. Boyce Watkins
The church has over 25,000 members.
According to Celebritynetworth.com, the Bishop Eddie Long is worth $5 million. Honestly, I think that their estimate is probably inaccurate, since most of the world doesn’t know much about the lucrative life of black megapastors. Either way, we know that Bishop Long won’t be taking the bus any time soon.
What’s also true is that the Bishop Eddie Long’s church, the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is financially “blessed.” The church has over 25,000 members, with many of them giving more money than they can afford. The $50 million church includes a computer lab, a nursery, bookstore and library. While many members are affluent, I’m sure some of them are struggling.
When Long was being investigated by the United States Senate in 2005, the pastor made this statement:
"We're not just a church, we're an international corporation, " Long said. "We're not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation.
"You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering."
In the investigation, it was concluded that Long paid himself almost as much in salary as one of his key nonprofits, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries, actually gave out to beneficiaries. He was also reported to have given himself access to a $1.4 million home and a $350,000 Bentley.
If only I’d known that being a pastor was so profitable, I wouldn’t have been such a heathen.
My father is a pastor, but he doesn’t drive a Bentley. I want to believe that he truly accepts God in his life and does his job on Sundays because he believes what he’s saying. I honestly might be suspicious of my dad if he felt comfortable driving in a Bentley being paid for by people in his church, some of whom are having trouble paying their own bills. I might feel that perhaps he was drunk with power, self-worship and the need to believe that somehow his being a spiritual leader entitles him to live dramatically better than the folks he represents.
Is having a Bentley part of God’s plan? What would Jesus do? Given that Jesus is the king of kings and all that good stuff, one would expect that he would deserve the nicest private jet and the biggest mansion, and also be able to boast about a long list of relationships with world leaders like Tony Blair and George W. Bush. Or, perhaps he might be a humble servant of the people, who would rather feed a hungry man than to buy himself a bigger swimming pool.
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