Without going through trials, said the reformer Martin Luther, "...man can neither know scripture and faith, nor can he fear and love God."

In that light, former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay must be experiencing his hard lesson in humility for a reason.

As our cover and accompanying interview convey, we think the public lynching of Lay is uncalled for.

But this apparently sincere Christian businessman failed somewhere. Can we learn anything from Lay's mistakes?

Well, how about "Pride goeth before a fall"?

Lay fell from the 50th floor of the Enron Tower, where his office reportedly included a black designer toilet. He had boasted that Enron was "the Microsoft of the energy world." He lived on the 33rd floor of the Huntingdon building in the mansion-studded elite neighborhood of River Oaks. He and his wife had an entire floor and a house nearby for their servants.

We'll leave the description of Enron's corporate hubris for others to describe. But, bottom line, when you're the boss, corporate pride becomes your own.

Want another lesson? How about simply "Be ye kind one to another"?

Lay pumped millions into philanthropic and civic projects, but when it came to the Enron stock he had encouraged his employees to invest in, he sold off all his own first before informing them that its value was plummeting.

Another lesson – accountability is essential.

An interviewer once asked Lay what kind of people he sought to surround himself with at Enron. "I look for people who apply their intelligence. I look for proven leadership abilities, the capability to analyze and make informed decisions. I like people who know how to think." But these were the same people who apparently fooled Lay and his board of directors into thinking all was well.

It was a lower-tier employee – Sherron Watkins – who showed she had honesty as well as intelligence by blowing the whistle on the cooked books. And she is also apparently a sincere Christian, a member of a Presbyterian church in Houston.

A leader has to depend on people whose honesty prevents them from caving in and ignoring serious problems because they're afraid of rocking the boat or taking flak for disagreeing with the boss. Deal-making is not the only area where courage and risk-taking must be encouraged.

If upper management at Enron was not bothered by Kenneth Lay's absent oversight, and could fire dissenting colleagues under them when challenged, accountability was nonexistent.

An extreme example of how NOT to be accountable came to light when televangelist Benny Hinn appeared on the TBN telethon in April. "Boards of directors just get in the way of the Lord," Benny told pastors in the audience. "Do like Jan and Paul do. Just you and your wife should be the board of directors."

Word-Faith ministries like these take their cue from the hard-charging world of corporate capitalism. What starts out as being accountable only to stockholders rather than the public leads to being accountable to no one but yourself. That gives televangelists free reign to victimize society's most vulnerable people.

But the most disturbing thing revealed in our interview with Kenneth Lay is how he defines success.

Unfortunately, many in the Christian world will find nothing out of the ordinary with this.

"The Bible is very clear that we each need to be the best we can be to realize our God-given potential," Lay said. People of faith "know they've got a much higher force looking over them. They've got Somebody guiding them, directing them, really wanting them to succeed, and even showing them and telling them how to succeed."

In the early 1970s (stop me if you've heard this one) I was asked to be a guest on the syndicated TV program of the Full Gospel Business Men hosted by its founder, Demos Shakarian. The purpose of the program was to show how Christians could be successful in business and at the same time be a witness for their faith.

Shakarian built up my background and qualifications and brought me onstage to wild applause from the audience.

As I reached the center of the stage, he slapped me on the back and asked, "What has God done for you today, brother Ole?" I paused for a moment and answered, "He's messed up my life today just as He has every other day since I've known Him."

There was stunned silence as the cameras rolled. I continued, "He's not interested in my life. He's interested in revealing the life of His Son in me."

The producers didn't want to air that segment. But the director said he would quit if it didn't, so it was broadcast. The segment produced a flurry of positive mail that proved people were hungry to hear a gospel that confirmed the futility they were experiencing and gave some value and meaning to their suffering.

The swagger of corporate capitalism must have made it difficult for Lay to pick up his cross. He could learn from King Solomon. It was one of history's richest men who said "all is vanity."

The Talmud explains that only the richest of men can say that with conviction: "If one had declared 'Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities: all is vanity' and had never owned two shekels, his statement is null."

All is vanity. Surely Lay is experiencing the dawning realization of that truth.

And he's right. God has been guiding him. And now God has messed up his life and is leading him through a vale of tears. But there is peace in that valley, and we pray that Kenneth Lay will find it.