Absence of Truth [editorials section]
by Tim Stafford
Christianity Today, vol. 36, no. 10, p. 18
Sept. 14, 1992

It takes more than poignant stories and a paying public
to meet God's media standards.

From the beginning, Mike Warnke seemed improbable. He came to evangelical fame through bonechilling tales of Satanist conspiracies and his preconversion role as a high priest of evil. With this background he became a Christian comedian?

Warnke found other ways to stretch the imagination. Who could believe a leading evangelical who has married and divorced three times since his conversion proudly promoting his latest book, written with his third ex-wife, on surviving divorce? That is just what Warnke did at the June Christian Booksellers Association convention.

The Christian marketplace has blithely swallowed all this. It remains to be seen whether it can swallow the revelations produced in the June issue of Cornerstone magazine. Its 12-page, small-type, footnoted expos‚ asserts that Warnke make up or grossly exaggerated his Satanist past (see CT, Aug. 17, 1992, p. 50). Worse, Cornerstone reports in numbing detail on repeated adultery and Warnke's high living. Worst, it suggests that a good many Christian leaders and co-workers knew about the real Mike Warnke and did nothing.

Warnke denies it all, and as of this writing, he has not answered any of the very specific evidence cited against him. Publishers of his books continue to distribute them, while Word, Inc., has suspended the sale and promotion of his recordings pending investigation of possible financial improprieties.

Warnke is not the only evangelical celebrity to face such questions of truth and confidence. Other authors and speakers who claimed bizarre or miracle-studded pasts have been scrutinized and found lacking. They form a pattern that raises serious questions for us all.

Question 1, to Christian publishers and music companies: Do you have a responsibility for the truthfulness of what you publish and the integrity of those who produce it? Publishers cannot and need not investigate every detail of a writer's or musician's life. But when allegations arise, they should be examined thoroughly, and, if proven, the products should be withdrawn before public pressure forces the action.

Question 2, to Christian consumers: Will you ever get off your fascination with personalities and personal experience? We criticize the show-biz atmosphere of Christian publishing, television, and music. But our insatiable appetite for poignant stories leads, inevitably, to ever-expanding yarns. When we put more stock in emotion than in truthfulness, we bear some responsibility for the results.

We do not know Warnke, but we know the editors of Cornerstone as prayerful, reliable Christian journalists. We salute them for the evidently careful investigation they have done. Because it is important that our leaders be above reproach, and because our mobile, media-driven society enables leaders to minister far beyond the circles that know them and can hold them accountable, the sad business of investigation is needed. So is a dose of skepticism toward anyone telling stories and taking our money.

Investigation and skepticism are not enough, however. Evangelicalism needs a soul search. We need especially to search in that vast field of independent ministries and businesses that chart their success with computer printouts. Is there a soul in there? Sometimes it seems we skate by with the belief that so long as people like what we offer (go to our conventions, buy our tapes and books, watch our programs, or support our work) we must be all right. We need reminding that it is God we must please, not the paying public.

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original filename: CSR0014A.TXT
"Absence of Truth"
Release A, 4 June 1998

This file was previously released as CT_EDITL.TXT in the WARNKE2.ZIP archive on the JPUSA BBS in October 1992. Heading and footing information revised.

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