Humility is often a common theme among several branches of Christianity and other religions, but it seems like one preacher didn’t get the memo.
Jesse Duplantis, a Louisiana-based prosperity gospel preacher, is asking his followers to help him buy a $54 million Falcon 7X jet.
Benny Hinn’s Nephew Rips Prosperity Gospel and Explains Why He Left Lavish Lifestyle Behind
Duplantis made the appeal for funds on his weekly video blog “This Week With Jesse,” saying he’s “believing God for” the private jet.
“You know I’ve owned three different jets in my life and used them and used them and just burning them up for the Lord,” Duplantis said.
Advancing in life is always God's plan for you!
— Jesse Duplantis (@jesse_duplantis) May 26, 2018
Duplantis said that, while “some people believe that preachers shouldn’t have jets,” he believes “preachers ought to go on every available voice, every available outlet, to get this gospel preached to the world.”
Not only does Duplantis claim he needs the jet so he can travel nonstop, he adds that God had merely asked him to believe in him to obtain it, not to pay for it.
“Jesse, I didn’t ask you to pay for it,” Duplantis said God told him. “I asked you to believe for it.”
Pope Francis, who often travels around the globe to spread the word of the Lord, famously flies commercial, with no more luxuries other than a row of business class seats to himself. He also declined the use of a luxury car for his pope-mobile, instead choosing to ride around in economical cars – currently, a Chevrolet Bolt EV that was made in Michigan, according to a report by Green Car Reports. Also unlike his predecessors, Francis tends to go without installing bulletproof glass in his pope-mobiles.
A Church that loves the poor is always tuned to the God Channel. It never loses the Gospel signal.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) May 23, 2018
Duplantis’ request comes months after televangelist Kenneth Copeland bought a new Gulfstream V jet worth, supposedly to complete “the Lord’s work.”
It is unclear how much Copeland paid for the jet, which first hit the market in 1998 for $36 million.
In January, after the jet was acquired, Copeland said in a prayer, “Father we thank you so and I’m asking you now sir, according to your word, bless our partners beyond measure.”
Jesus totally, completely defeated the devil. There was nothing left undone! The thing that hinders people from receiving is not being convinced that it's God's will for them to be healed. Study The WORD and settle it in your mind. God wants you #healed and whole! pic.twitter.com/xOv9a79AYV
— Kenneth Copeland (@CopelandNetwork) May 28, 2018
Copeland said that in 2002, Jesus told him that he was “sending you new partners who are very strong financially and they will obey me.”
Gospel televangelist Creflo Dollar also received public criticism when he asked donors to contribute for a new $65 million jet in 2015.
Remember, if it costs you your peace it’s TOO expensive!
— Creflo Dollar (@Creflo_Dollar) May 23, 2018
At the time, the World Changers Church International, which is funded by Dollar, said, “Our pastors share the gospel of Jesus more than 300 times per year — in churches, arenas, venues, convention centers, stadiums and other facilities across the entire planet — and are committed to aggressive travel schedules that cannot be fulfilled via any means other than private aircraft.”
Dollar eventually shut down the campaign for the new jet, but he bought it anyway later that year, calling it a necessary expense.
(H/T: The Christian Post)