'One Punk Under God': Homily From the Preachers' Son

It's hard out there for a punk -- especially a tattooed, lip-pierced one who's also a Christian minister.

Even tougher if your last name is Bakker.

But on Sundance Channel's new "One Punk Under God," Jay Bakker, son of disgraced televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner, preaches on.

Given his clerical, sometimes comical, pedigree, Bakker the Younger would seem to be a promising reality-show subject. But the mopey minister is angst-ridden as he tries to balance family and faith, so "One Punk" plods where it should provoke.

The six-episode series catches the bearded Bakker (who uncannily resembles comedian David Cross) during a transitory time, as he ponders the direction of his seven-year marriage and his seven-year alternative ministry, Revolution Church, which meets in a smoky Atlanta bar.

Oh, and he's got some major Daddy issues to boot.

Bakker, 30, was a preteen when his parents' Praise the Lord (PTL) ministry collapsed amid his father's extramarital affair and attempted coverup and the accounting fraud for which he was imprisoned for nearly five years. The Bakkers became symbols of the hypocrisy of money-worshiping televangelists, and Tammy Faye's heavy makeup made her an easy target for comedians.

Never once, though, do we hear a disparaging word from the young minister about his family, and he says at one point: "My parents were the real deal" when it came to preaching.

During a radio-show interview on tonight's episode, Bakker defends his dad's PTL dealings, saying that the only thing his father did wrong was to "have sex with someone he shouldn't have had sex with." He later says: "It's not fun trying to raise money for your church when you're a Bakker."

"With some groups, we're too Christian. With the Christian groups, we're not Christian enough," says Bakker, who rebelled as a teenager by leaving the church and turning to drugs and alcohol (a back story that unfortunately is little explored here).

Bakker is also concerned about the condition of his frail-looking mother, who is battling cancer; we first see her in the second episode. (The production company behind "One Punk" is World of Wonder, which also produced the fairly sympathetic documentary "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" in 2000.)

We don't see Dad until late in the third episode, after Jay leaves him several pleading phone messages hoping to meet up. (The two hadn't spoken for two years, according to the show.)

The most revelatory moments are in the fourth episode, when Jim Bakker praises his son for appealing to nontraditional Christians. "If I did what [Jay] did, nobody would support me," he says. "I know that. . . . [Jay] is what I should be but cannot be."

Jay's wife, Amanda, also sports many tattoos but, unlike him, doesn't wear her faith on her sleeve and even questions his path. "I would overall like to see him quit the ministry to do something else," she says. "The idea of proselytizing is an odd one to me."

More such candid moments, and less brooding by Bakker, could help bring viewers to "One Punk's" pulpit.

One Punk Under God (30 minutes) premieres tonight at 9 on the Sundance Channel.