Jay Bakker, the son of televangelist Jim Bakker, recently recounted an emotional and heartfelt story of when Jimmy Swaggart reached out his hand to his family in a time when no one else in the body of Christ would.
“Wanted to share something with you,” Bakker says in a video posted to social media. “Growing up, my parents had a very complicated relationship with him. [Swaggart] was not a fan of my parents, and they were both part of a very large denomination, the Assemblies of God. When my parents had their falling, he called my dad a ‘cancer in the body of Christ,'” Bakker recounts.
Breaking News. Spirit-Filled Stories. Subscribe to Charisma on YouTube now!
However, Bakker notes that as a teenager, things shifted dramatically.
“When I was about 16-years-old, I was trying to help my dad get his sentence reduced from 45 years to anything shorter than 45 years. And I was asking pastors all over the country, I was calling them to ask to help my dad write letters and get their congregations to write letters to shorten his sentence.
“And what I found out was a lot of these preachers didn’t care about my parents, nor wanted to talk to me,” he continues. “I remember calling Paul and Jan [Crouch] wouldn’t take my phone call. Oral Roberts wouldn’t, Pat Robertson wouldn’t take phone calls, all these people wouldn’t talk to me. These people who were considered my parents’ equals and friends at the time.”
Feeling hopeless, Bakker says Swaggart unexpectedly did what no one else dared to do.
“I remember calling Jimmy Swaggart and it was just like a hail Mary. And all of a sudden, I’m on the phone with Jimmy Swaggart, it was so bizarre. And I told him what we needed, and he goes, ‘Well son, I’ve done all my shows…but I can hear you’re desperate. You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to film something right now asking folks to help your dad and write letters. I’ll put the address on there…and I’m going to put it at the end of all my sermons for the next month.'”
Bakker says that for a 16-year-old who had lost hope in religion, this was a phenomenal win. Noting that Swaggart had gone through his own trials, this was a moment of truly shared grace.
“I know most of you might just think, ‘Oh, there’s two televangelists helping each other.’ Maybe you want to dance on his grave, but I’m tired of dancing on people’s graves. I’m especially tired of seeing Christians dance on each other’s graves. Doesn’t seem very becoming. Doesn’t seem very Christ-like.”
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
In a world where grace is often preached but rarely practiced, Jay Bakker’s story is a piercing reminder of what it truly means to embody the heart of Christ. Jimmy Swaggart’s unexpected act of compassion—reaching out to a broken family when others turned their backs—was more than a gesture; it was a redemptive moment that transcended rivalry and reputation. It showed that even in the ashes of public failure, the Gospel’s call to mercy still speaks. And perhaps in that moment, the body of Christ looked a little more like Jesus.
Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
Jimmy Swaggart was all about the love of Jesus. Jesus and him crucified. Praise the Lord for this testimony.
When we are part of the Family of God through the death of Christ and our acceptance of Him as Lord in and over our lives, we die to ourselves that He might live in and through us. That being the case, we are not to think feel speak or act like our old selves, but we are allow Christ to flow form our hearts minds mouths and heart.
Many of us are the first to speak against a brother or sister when clearly The Word of God tells us we are to pray for the brother or sister who fell least we find ourselves in the same situation. We are to pray while we are strong because the day is coming when we will be weak and as a link to each other we become weak when we tear one another down instead of lifting them and building them up…we think of fear first instead of what The Word says.
Yes, we should help each other, but we also have to look at the motive behind the part we play to help and the part we played that led to the condemnation of our brethren.