In the nation’s capital there is a sickening outbreak of the worst examples of greed, theft and ludicrous, wasteful spending flowing from the White House to the school houses. Although shame has taken a holiday, you won’t find the nation’s mega-church pastors pounding their pulpits in damnation over these unethical practices.
    Sermons about “the love of money being the root of all evil,’’ or the folly of chasing material gain or even how Christians should do for others before they do for themselves are just not hot topics anymore.
    Could it be that maybe some of the nation’s leading evangelists are so caught up in the self-aggrandizing wealth rat race themselves that dust is covering the Scriptures that call preachers to preach against greed and abusers of the poor and needy.
    Recently, U.S. Senate investigators are probing why some of the nation’s most visible evangelists like Joyce Meyer have reportedly paid $23,000 for a toilet with a marble top, and if Pastor Paula White used church funds for facelifts and to buy Bishop T.D. Jakes a Bentley. The jet-setting Pastors Creflo Dollar and Bishop Eddie Long are also under scrutiny, as well as Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland.
    I have a personal interest in all of this. I have made financial contributions to Joyce Meyer, Pastor White, Bishop Jakes (who is not under investigation) and Paula White. I watch their broadcasts and have worshipped with Dollar, Meyer and Hinn. So I am not throwing rocks at ministers I disdain. I am just troubled.
    Even if no laws have been broken by these allegations of outrageous spending, I worry about the precedents and the state of their get rich thinking that are infecting so many others. I wonder what in the world does Myer need with a marble commode and are my little funds part of what’s being flushed down the drain?
    While I accept my own sagging face, I wonder have my funds been used to spruce up Ms. White’s tight and happy countenance. What was on Paula White’s mind when she bought Jakes, a man that she calls her “spiritual father” a Bentley? Why not a scholarship for a hundred students in his name? And as churchgoers follow with awe and admiration the over-the-top celebrity ministers, there is a growing belief that “bling bling” materialism is more important than servanthood and salvation, both of which require sacrifice.
    What really bothers me more is that the greedy deeds of some preachers may be buying silence against abuse of the needy because the “pot can’t call the skillet black,” as my grandmother used to say.
    Consider the recent parade of super-thieves in the District.
    •In recent weeks, Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus, who worked at the District’s Office of Tax and Revenue, reportedly raided the city’s treasury to stock up on luxury items including fancy cars, homes, furs, precious jewelry, designer handbags and clothing. Ms. Walters alone spent more than $1.4 million at Neiman Marcus, according to the Washington Post. Their take of about $30 million is called the largest theft ever uncovered in the district. Law enforcement officials turned up a $160,000 Bentley in the garage of Ms. Walters’  brother and designer purses and shoes bearing the labels of Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes at Walters’  home, law enforcement officials said. Authorities also found records tying Ms. Walters to the purchase of a $26,000 handbag.
    •Student activity funds, where children raise money for events like attending chess matches, through bake and candy sales, are often plundered by adults who have used the money for everything from buying Palm Pilots and DVDs to boxes of lobster. Although this practice has become normalized and few are ever punished, recently a woman did plead guilty to stealing $30,000 from a chess club set up for emotionally disturbed elementary students. Can you imagine what signals are being sent to students from adult educators about the value of hard work and ethical behavior?
    •Dr. Brenda Belton, who ran a D.C., charter school, is also an example of how educators leverage their power to bless themselves at the expense of the needy. Dr. Belton was convicted of the illegal use of more than $800,000 of school funds and a raid on her home showed the standard greedy collection of furs, 20 new purses and 60 large trash bags of new clothes. The stolen money could have paid for the hiring of 17 teachers or the purchase of 17,000 textbooks.
    Now if you think preachers are fired up about this, think again.
    At Dr. Belton’s trial, ministers pleaded for leniency, citing her credentials as an educator. One minister from the Unity Center of Truth said, “It’s a waste of time putting Dr. Belton in jail. She would do more good if she were allowed to use her skills to help the children with their education.”
    Unfortunately Dr. Belton’s skills have hurt more than they have helped students and is another sinister message being sent to the young in the district.
    These examples of million-dollar rip-offs might seem like small potatoes in the nation’s capital where President Bush spends millions daily fighting an oil war in Iraq and doling out lucrative no-bid contracts to his rich friends. The bigger crime is that day after day these sins go unchallenged by preachers and pastors who are supposed to be moral leaders.
    While the poor and needy are being plundered from the right and the left, from blacks and whites, too many preachers have little to say, which is understandably difficult. If your lifestyle includes driving up to your gated community in a Bentley and sitting on your $26,000 throne, maybe people stuffing loot in a $26,000 purse is not a problem.
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    Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds is a NNPA News Service Religion Columnist.

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Article researched and compiled by James Thompson