Did you happen to catch 60 minutes last Sunday night?
They interviewed Joel Osteen. If you haven't seen the video, click here. This will give you a firsthand look at his version of the prosperity gospel that he preaches.
I'd love to hear your comments on this phenomena coming out of Texas, where I guess everything really is bigger.
I'll hold my comments for now if we'd like to get a dialog going. What I will say though, is thank God for Michael Horton.
7 comments:
HUMMM... I get the feeling he is teaching on a fine line or "playing it safe" ... he wont go in to depth about God... Does that make sense?
So much of what we call "religion" is hypocritical and judgmental turning many many folks away from wanting to know who God is. It can be so overwhelming as a non-believer, I honestly can't even imagine.
God is a God of love and forgiveness and truthfully getting people to be receptive to Gods' word and who God is has proven to be a challenge in the world we live in because of sin.
The one thing I do see Joel doing is bringing Gods' light to the table for those who cannot see or who have not wanted to see because of whatever reason. He is opening the door on who God is for many and if you look at it this way, he is giving them to God to do the rest.
We can only trust that God will use this for His good.
Ugggh....I cannot stand this guy.
The saying, "beware of wolves in sheeps clothing" comes to mind when I see this guy.
I'm gonna be blunt and flat out say that this guy preaches a false doctorine....While he may say all the right things about God and trusting Him and all that, Joel preaches a watered down Gospel.
What about when Jesus said, "Deny yourself and follow me."?
While we should be willing to share the Gospel to all and always show love. We must understand that true love never compromises the gospel...yes, God is love, compassionate and kind, but we cannot expect that God is interested in our best interest.
What Joel does is preach a message through rose colored glasses. I don't think he adequately prepares his congregation about journey of being a follower of Christ.
The Bible says, "many are called, but few are chosen." implying that the true Christian walk is not an easy one.
I wonder what missionaries and other martyrs of the Gospel who give up everything would think of Osteen's message.
For me, I just wish he'd preach a whole or complete gospel. Both sides of God are equally important (his wrath/judgment and his grace/mercy) to our understanding of how he works in this world and our lives.
I have no problem with helping people feel better about themselves, but one of the ways that happens is when you recognize your sin before God and accept his grace.
In the Christian life it is always so important that we recognize who God is, who we are and our standing before him.
God doesn't say that when you become a Christian you now have a ticket to a life of prosperity. We need to serve God humbly, grateful for whatever good things he brings into our lives.
Eric Peterson said...
Prosperity? What else do you have to say? He can only talk about this word over and over again. He uses only a few scriptures that fit into what he wants to talk about. 13 million up front to write a book. It sounds alot like Tony Robbins. I have not seen alot of Gospel truth come out of him mouth. Where is the community of believers? It sounds like he is it. The people that come to his church are his audience not his flock. So I have just realized that you have to write a book to post this on this Blog. I would say also that the HUGE building they are in where is the love to help others in their community? I have friends in Houston and they say "Joel is not very popular in their town, because it is all about him." Watching Joel on TV was watching a SNL skit. I kept waiting for the Preacher Lady to come out and do some danceing and a choir to show up. I am curious to see who is going to pick up on this next and will we see Joel on the cover of Time or Newsweek. It is interesting to me that alot of our World Wide Pastors are passing away and if we are going to subjected to the Joel Osteen's or is there going to be a rise of the post-modern churches come to light? I am not sure if I can even tell you what that means (post-modern) except that there is a movement in which there are churches that are making a stand for what is true. As I look around the US and starting to see churches take the truth to heart as far as coumminty and people starting to live by each other who attend church together and put into practice the word as far as living in commuinity with each other. It is happening it is just taking some time. Mr. Osteen only has a community when he steps onto the stage. Again prosperity can not be what he stands on. It is not bibical to live your live in that fashion. Maybe he can donate that money to folks who are as not as fortunte as him. Sorry I got crazy there for a second. I again did not know I was going tohave to write a novel. But maybe if we put all our thoughts together we could get 13 million and actually put a dent in the world. Peace Out
Connie Kaplan said...
I saw the Joel Osteen segment. I had never seen him before, but had heard of him. I think he does answer some calling but he isn't preaching the whole gospel. I was hanging with it until he started crying and then he struck me and my husband as smarmy and disingenuous
I think the biggest issue I have with Joel Osteen, is the whole prosperity twist. Prosperity can be twisted in many ways. Dictionary.com define it this way:
a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, esp. in financial respects; good fortune.
It's the last part how almost everyone in America defines prosperity. IF Joel is referring to being prosperous in the Lord, then I agree 100%. That is called being and living in HIS will. But I agree with the earlier posts that I am very leery of Joel's intent here. I think he knows people want to be prosperous so he uses this to his advantage and not HIS advantage, if you get my drift.
Evan I think you hit the nail right on the head. You have to preach/teach both sides of the gospel, not just one. It is unbalanced otherwise. Water-downed is a decent term to describe it, but I think incomplete is more accurate.
The deal is, Joel is a very likable guy. He says the right things and makes the right gestures. I cannot judge him and his heart and his motives, but I can say that the Lord told us to preach the gospel, not just the happy parts or the convicting parts, or the parts that show judgment; he said the Gospel, which means ALL of it. I think too often many pastors today (not Evan or my pastor thank goodness) preach what they feel their congregation wants to hear, not what they need to hear! I may not like the message my pastor is bringing, but more than likely it is because it is speaking directly to something in my life that I need to pray about. No one likes to look at yourself in the mirror and see the bad and the ugly, it's easier to see the good. And that makes us feel good. But as important as that is, we must also dig deeper.
Well, being from Texas we have had our fair share of interesting preachers on TV. I don't think Joel falls into that group by any means, but I also think he needs to get a balanced message. That's my two cents.
BTW - We are praying for everyone at their in CA that the Lord will keep you safe and out of harms way!
Chris
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