(The following is an edited email correspondence.)

Would you and do you normally defend the financial dealings of those famous healing evangelists, such as Benny Hinn and the likes?

I am guessing that you probably don't…

To answer the question, I will need to make a distinction:

(1) 
They are often portrayed as crooks, as deliberately deceiving people, and that their ministries are just big money-making machines. This might be true regarding some ministries, but I cannot be sure if it is true regarding any given ministry. So if we are discussing these ministries from this angle, then I can neither agree with the accusations nor defend the ministries against them. I do not have the relevant information.

I was present when a big scandal broke out in a church in Hong Kong. I had some access to the leaders in that church, and had been vehemently challenging them behind the scenes (except for the time when I finally walked out under the gaze of 1200 people as a sign of protest) regarding their false doctrines for a long time before the television and newspapers started to run reports about the church. However, the things reported in the news were not the real problems, and some of them were outright fabrications. Most of the criticisms were inaccurate and unfair.

Do not trust the news when they report on church scandals, even if you disapprove of the church or ministry in question for legitimate reasons.

(2) 
We can also talk about the way these ministries use money. When it comes to this, I strongly disapprove of many big ministries like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland. Even if we disregard their greatest problems for the moment, which concern false doctrines, they are too extravagant and wasteful, and their ministries are not cost-effective. The personal spending of the ministers are also out of control. (Again, we must not form our opinion about their personal spending based on what is reported on the news. Here I am referring to their own descriptions of how they spend their money, since they would often boast about it.)

Also, many of them publically, intentionally, and officially show favoritism to their ministry "partners" according to the amount of money that they give to these ministries. For example, ministry "partners" (especially those who give more) are given preferred seats in their gatherings. Those who give the most are permitted to sit with the ministers at partner dinners. This is exactly the kind of favoritism that James condemns in his letter (James 2:1–9; see also Luke 14:12–14), and it is precisely the kind of "honor" and preferential treatment that Jesus says we must not seek (Matthew 23:5–6; Luke 14:7–11).

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