Is Joel Osteen Fascinating?
Tonight on The Barbara Walters Special ” Most Fascinating People of 2006″ The man with the most annoying smile in the world was #8. There is much more that annoys me about Joel Osteen than his grin. His teaching is just awful, yet week in and week out millions of people tune in to hear how “God” wants them to live their best life now. And the program put the key issue very well:
He is rich, famous, handsome, and adored by millions of fans on television each week, but he’s not an actor. He’s an evangelical pastor from Houston named Joel Osteen. They call him “the smiling preacher,” and Osteen has a lot to smile about. He’s the head of the largest church in America, the author of a best-selling book, and the religious leader for a following of faithful, often frenzied fans.
He’s achieved all that with an approach critics call “Christianity lite” — no sin, no suffering, no sacrifice, replacing fire and brimstone with a motivational message.
Barbara Walters asked Osteen why that message strikes such a chord with people. “My message is that God is a good God,” said Osteen. “And if we all … have the right attitude, he’ll take us places that we’ve never dreamed of.”
I don’t call it “Christianity Lite,” I call it a false gospel. It promotes man and turns God into our divine butler. Osteen has had no formal theological training and proclaims himself as a Bible Teacher to millions. I doubt that anyone would appreciate it if I showed up at a botanical convention and gave the keynote speech as a veritable horticultural ignoramus. Yet, his fans don’t seem to care.
I am a bit concerned with his wealth, but I am far more concerned with the message that is ensnaring hundreds of thousands of people in lies. God doesn’t want us to have our “Best Life Now.” For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ()
Technorati Tags: Joel Osteen, Barbara Walters, Smiling Preacher, false teacher, Best Life Now
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Amen Amen. Logan, thanks for the comment on my site and the link to this. Glad another blogger out there is saying the same thing about Osteen.
http://www.buzzardblog.typepad.com
“… but he is so popular - God must be blessing his ministry.” That’s the response that I get from friends and relatives when discussing Joel Osteen. Whether or not he does this with the intent to massage his ego or fill his bank account it is, as you clearly articulated, theologically irresponsible to make this message the foundation of a church/movement/world view.
A book that I love, by Juan Carlos Ortiz called “Disciple: A Handbook for New Believers” really addresses this type of “additional gospel” thinking.
Thank you for your blogging - I have added it to my list of feeds.
Seth in Colorado
I know how you feel Seth, my mother-in-law is a Osteen fan and she just doesn’t understand that the message that he is preaching is not Christianity, it is false and harmful. She’s a successful business-woman and she figures, “he mentions Jesus, so I’ve got my religion, and he says that it’s okay to be rich and never have to suffer, great I’ve got what I want.”
It’s just sad. I pray that she will wake up one day to see that Jesus wasn’t always smiling and didn’t drive fancy cars or worship in a renovated basketball arena. Joel Osteen’s God is Joel Osteen, and his blasphemy just nauseates me.
I agree with your analysis of the program. I was shocked to realize that he was listed as a “fascinating” person. While Osteen does seem light on the important things such as sin, salvation and repentance, I question something you wrote in your last comment string. I understand the cynical tone you took, but do you actually believe there is something wrong with the location God provided for their church?
Not at all SWR. I believe that a church can meet anywhere, from a house to a garage to a football stadium. I was just commenting on his extravagant lifestyle. I believe that for Osteen Lakewood Church is an extension of his own ego. The important thing is not the context but the content.
That is one thing that The Emerging Church has gotten wrong. They are providing a great atmosphere for worship but then they have changed their message to fit the atmosphere. No matter your opinion of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll I think they have this balance down perfectly. Their atmosphere is hip and artsy to match their members, but their message is solid and conservatively biblical.
When you mention the emerging church movement, are you referring to the new movement such as Cowboy Church or Biker Church? Aren’t there Cowboy churches in your areas?
Yes, there are Cowboy churches (and Biker churches) in my area, but that is not what I’m referring to. I’m referring to the newest fad in churches today, they claim to be returning to a simpler, more orthodox, or “vintage” faith.
Many of them have modified their worship service to include more meditation, they use candles in the service and many beautiful works of art are displayed to draw people into worship on several different levels. I have nothing wrong with any of that. But the simpler faith they claim is a modified Calvinism which denies any type of confrontational evangelism in favor of more relational forms. And they don’t preach God’s word they have a conversation.
In short, in seeking to get back to the foundation of our faith they have lost the belief in objective truth and have opened to all sorts of syncretism, like using prayer labyrinths popularized by Zen Buddhism, and using “Contemplative Prayer” to receive new revelation from God.
They look hip and attract a lot of young people but the gospel they preach is not that of biblical Christianity.
Hey, Logan, this is Jeff from BCF. Olsteen went to Oral Roberts University for a semester. That counts for something, don’t it?