I don't assume - as some do - that all TV preachers are in it for the money, but a lot of them have made BIG bucks, living in incredibly expensive homes. Plus, as celebrities, they are subject to all the temptations of fame, adulation, and life on the road. I think it's unfortunate that for many people - pro and con - televangelists ARE Christianity.
You raise a good point. It saddens me to know that so many people will only see the televangelists. You know, years ago we were studying the passage in the Bible where Jesus gets angry at the moneychangers in the Temple. A lot of people think the reason Jesus became angry was because they were doing something that desecrated the holiness of the Temple but that is not the point at all. The moneychangers and other vendors occupied an outside courtyard area; they were not within the actual walls of the Temple. Only the Jews were allowed in the Temple but anyone could come within the walls of the courtyard. So, in fact, what was happening was that the pagans could only glimpse this area and would get the wrong idea of what the Temple was truly about - God's house and that it was to be a House of Prayer. I see today's televangelists much the same way. So many people see only them and they are sortof stuck in the courtyard, if you will, never to see what God truly is about. It's a shame and a sham! They are today's version of the moneychangers only they keep ALL the money.