Religion in America: What makes a televangelist tick?
Has that always been your message?
I think it's evolved, but when you go back to the core of who I am, I've always been positive, even before I was a minister. I play a lot of sports and would always be the one encouraging the guys, "We can beat this team." It's my personality and so, when I took over for my dad, I made a decision that I was going to be who God made me to be. I didn't know if it was going to work, but I thought, I can't get up there and try to preach like my dad. I love my dad , I thought he was great, but like I said, he's 40 years older, he came from a Southern Baptist background, and my personality is real laid back and easygoing, where my dad was a little more fiery.
What is the most important lesson you've learned over the last six years?
The biggest lesson is to stay focused. There are so many distractions, as the book came out and as God blessed us with more favor, more success, there's so many different ways you can go, and I just have to come back and say, "you know, here's the main thing that I know I'm supposed to do—and that's raise my family, take care of my kids, and then I feel like my gift is speaking." Actually, I don't know if that's a lesson, but it's definitely the biggest challenge, to stay focused.
Do you hope that your children will be involved with Lakewood in the future?
I hope so. I know my dad always wanted me to minister—although he never saw it except once—and that's my dream, too. I don't pressure them—my dad never pressured me—but I do like to just encourage them, to say "Look at the opportunity God's given us; look at the legacy granddaddy started," so I believe they will. Little Alexandra loves to sing. Jonathan, I saw on his school paper the other day that he wanted to be a musician and then pastor the church, and I thought "That's great." I think it's in their hearts. And it may not be the ministry or preaching per se—they may make movies or be recording artists or something else—but I know they'll do something.
How do you appeal to young congregants?
I think that sometimes the church has not progressed with the times—I'm not saying all of them—but I think that's why we lost a lot of young people at one time. They didn't want to go because it was grueling, it wasn't relevant, it doesn't relate to my life today, and so I just try to make my message practical. It's interesting, we have parents who'll bring up an eight- or nine-year-old child and they're the ones that got them started watching. People give me a hard time about my message being simple, but that's what I want it to be: I want to keep it simple; I want everybody to understand it. And I believe it's not just me, but a lot of other young people carrying on a new generation of faith. Not that the old one was bad, but we have to change.
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