A recently unearthed interview has exposed televangelist Kenneth Copeland for his hypocrisy. The pastor, who is worth over $760 Million, has long been mocked for his lavish lifestyle and massive wealth. Copeland is associated with the prosperity gospel, which is the controversial idea that God rewards his closest followers with earthly riches. Specifically, many have questioned the pastor’s fleet of private jets.
“How are you, sir? We’d just like to ask you why you don’t want to fly a commercial. Why have you said you won’t fly commercial? You said that it’s like getting into a top with a bunch of demons?” This question from the reporter referenced an earlier interview where the pastor justified his private jets. She added, ” A lot of people think it’s unbecoming for a preacher to live a life of luxury and to fly around private jets. What’s your response to that? ”
Copeland was obviously flustered but responded, “If I had to fly commercial, I’d have to stop 65% of what I’m doing, that’s really the main thing.” He also clarified that when he mentioned demons, he ” wasn’t referring to the people” in the plane alongside him. She responded by asking him,” How much money did you pay for Tyler Perry’s Gulfstream V jet, for example.”
He fired back,” For example, that’s really none of your business, but…” Before he could finish his thought, the reporter pounced, “Isn’t that the business of your donors?” Copeland deflected. He appeared to respond, started to pray, and then complimented the reporter within a few seconds. When he did start to speak, he changed topics. He said, ” I was scheduled for Lagos, Nigeria. That’s a long way off. So I had a week off, and I prayed about [the jet].”
The pastor described how he needed the luxury jet to fly from Nigeria to Jerusalem and then Peru, all within a few days. He says, “He made that airplane so cheap for me.” After this comment, he returned to defending his ‘demons’ comment. The reporter pressed him, saying, ” You said you didn’t want to get into a tube with a bunch of demons. What did you mean? Let me ask you. You think that people that fly who commercial are demons.”
“No, I do not. And don’t you ever say I did,” Copeland responded. He added that the phrase was a “A biblical thing. It’s a spiritual thing. It doesn’t have anything to do with people.” Later in the interview, she asked him, “For a pastor, you are living a life of luxury. You’ve got great homes, you’ve got great planes. You drive in limos. And … some people would say that is appropriate?”
Copeland said, “That is a misunderstanding [of the]Bible. If you, if you go for the Old Covenant, do you think the
Jewish people believe you should be broke?” This response seemed to baffle the reporter. She asked him, “Are you saying Jewish people appreciate money more than[others?].” The pastor replied, “I’m talking about the Bible, the blessing of Abraham. Abraham was extremely wealthy. That’s it’s not the Jewish blessing, it’s the Abrahamic [blessing]. ”
Watch the Interview here;
He also clarified, “May I add something that my wealth doesn’t come from my office?” He says that his massive fortune comes from the sale of books, DVDs, and his natural gas holdings. The pastor ended his appearance with a prayer for the reporter “Bless Lisa. Thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to offer to continue to pray and I believe her peace will be successful…I love people, and it thrills me to get a chance to have my face on you[r program.”
Featured image from embedded video