"America's Most Popular Preacher"

i don't know what i'm about to say...or how i'm really going to begin but...my heart feels like it's going to explode with an outpouring that i hope is articulated in a manner well-received, by my brothers and sisters in Christ. i have no expectation whatsoever for any unbelievers to take this very well, however.

i've approached this topic before -- and it didn't go over very well -- so since then i decided to keep some of my more controversial thoughts to myself.

until.
...this week's People Magazine.

full knowing how i would respond, my husband jokingly left the magazine open to THE ARTICLE at hand, on the stair case, so i'd run into it as i returned to the house. he simply refused to even read it. period.

that was yesterday.
i feel my anger has subsided somewhat, toward the contents, and after pulling together whatever coherent thoughts i have on this, and after brushing up on WHY i feel so strongly - it's only fair to vomit it all out for my readers. :)

besides -- what better reason to have a discussion! ...welcomed by none other than People Magazine. if it's in the public arena -- it's fair game -- i assume.

oh dear...this is gonna be a doozy-long blog....this is coming all the way up from my toes...

PEOPLE MAGAZINE
December 17, 2007
Page 94

Title: "Joel Osteen: Counts His Blessings"
Sub-title: "He lives in a mansion, travels by private jet, and with his latest bestseller, has already earned $13 million. How does America's Most Popular Pastor keep it real?"

(italics inserted by me...which should more or less give an oversight of today's blog -- so close out of this screen right now if this topic isn't for you. you know who you are :))

I read the article while squinting through my fingers.
It was painful.
I can start by telling you why it's NOT painful.
It's not painful that he's wealthy.
It's not painful to me that he's wildly successful.
It's not painful for me that he's got a beautiful family.
It's not even necessarily painful for me that he only flies in private jets.

It's excruciating for me because he is "shepherding" a flock of 47,000 people with alot of good intentions that will only prove empty in the end.
It's heartbreaking for me because Mr. Osteen is going to stand before Jesus Christ one day and give an account to Him on why the 'narrow path' wasn't interesting enough for him. Mr. Osteen needed a path wide enough for nearly 50K people to be pleased with. we know where that leads.

I mean, you can read the article yourself -- many of you are People Mag fanatics with me -- and pull his deceit right from the pages.

here are a few of the worst tidbits:

"He is pastor of Lakewood Church, with attendance at 47K (twice as big as his nearest competitor); ...author of two bestselling books (his first, 2006, outsold Billy Graham's latest); the headliner of touring motivational-meets-worship shows that sell out venues like NYC's Madison Square Garden."

....twice as big as his nearest competitor? outsold Billy Graham? motivational-meets-worship show?

"At one of his many booksignings, a retired teacher, the first in line, calls out from behind her big sunglasses, "Thank you for making religion a pleasure...""

...thank Mr. Osteen?! ...religion...a simple pleasure!?...

"That notion -- the positive, feel-good aspects of Christianity -- is the core of Osteen's appeal."

...how sad that People either deducted that from Osteen's message OR that Osteen would verbalize that himself....

"Osteen describes his calling as this: to give hope. "Most people are beaten down by life already, he says in his soothing southern accent. "They don't come to hear me say, 'You know what? You're all sinners.....I'd rather say, 'You know what? God's on your side.' "

double cringe.

"....spent less than a year at Oral Roberts University - before dropping out."

...so what exactly is he teaching them? you don't let surgeon's without a medical license operate on you. you don't allow a lawyer without a degree represent you.....don't get me wrong, being Holy-Spirit led is necessary for ALL teachers of the gospel....but i question how fully equipped you can be, to lead thousands of people, in the WORD without some formal education IN IT.

As a Christian, Osteen believes sin lives in every man and woman. He just doesn't like to dwell on it. "There is an awful lot of doom and gloom and uncertainty in the world...So if you have someone out there saying, 'Look on the bright side, God wants things to go well,' that's attractive."

...attractive to who? and when? ....doesn't like to dwell on it!?

"He was paid $13 million for his latest book. He lives in a 5000 sq ft house...Staff help Victoria (his wife) with the cooking, cleaning and driving and the kids (all two of them) all have private tutors. Does it bother him to see people less fortunate? "I don't know if it bothers me, but my whole heart...is to help people and empower them to rise higher...I do think God wants us all to be blessed."

we will come back to this statement later....

"His lesson to his kids is this: Love God, Love Yourself, Love Others - in that order. 'I feel like you have to feel good about what God has made you - your looks, so on. You can't show compassion if you don't love yourself. Everything else falls into place.' "

.....your LOOKS? that's his first example?! ...can't show compassion if you don't LOVE YOURSELF? ....omg.

"And a lesson in living with fame, he adds, 'When you're in the public eye, it's a different story...You become a target."

...so you're a target because of your fame...not your message? hmm..interesting....

"The nation's largest church offers more than a prayer: a Disney-styled daycare center; worship areas for people spread over 4 floors, a cafe, a video arcade; a state-of-the-art recording studio; and a suite where Osteen's services, captured by eight cameras, are edited..."

....did the Bride of Christ and DISNEY just get put in the same sentence? nuff said.

i'll stop there.
if you're Osteen fans, please just hear me out.
this is hard for me.
really hard.
because the unbelievers closest to me, thrive on this man.
they won't come to church with me.
....because they prefer the "nicer" message they find from this man on TV.
besides, "i'd rather watch it on TV...it's just like going to church...less effort."
and what should i say to them?
how should i respond?
can the good in his message outweigh the bad?
can salvation be a process that starts with loving ourselves and can redemption do a work in our hearts by us empowering ourselves and trying to "Become a Better You," and by striving for "Your Best Life Now."

i wonder how Jesus, bleeding from Calvary for my transgressions and those of this entire world, responds when He hears His mission being boiled down to something so simplistic and....malleable.

and this is exactly why i feel so strongly, and i'll try to stick with my main grievances above:

1) "He is pastor of Lakewood Church, with attendance at 47K (twice as big as his nearest competitor); ...author of two bestselling books (his first, 2006, outsold Billy Graham's latest); the headliner of touring motivational-meets-worship shows that sell out venues like NYC's Madison Square Garden."

gosh. attendance of 47,000 people. let's start there. i'm not certain what your definition of church is...but the Bible says the church is not a spiritual service provider, it's a people - a new covanent, blood-bought people of God. That's why Paul said, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." The universal 'church' are a people group who have been purchased by the blood of the eternal Son, King of kings and Lord of lords. Entering into a local community church setting should involve entering into a "spiritual family."

let's say johnny was adopted by the SMITH family. he would take on the smith name. he would sleep with the other smith children. the smith parents would teach, admonish, encourage, spend time with and help grow all of their children. mr and mrs smith are responsible for their children. and the children are certainly responsible to their elders.

my question is: how does mr. osteen oversee the spiritual guidance of 47,000 people? does he know his sheep by name? does he understand the depth of his eternal responsibility for the people who claim him as their shepherd?
if not -- wouldn't that make for a rather dysfunctional family?
the adopted children come and go as they please, never answering to any authority above them, no accountability or constant fellowship.

all of scripture refers to "one another" just as, love, service, encouragement...and should be encapsulated in the healthy church family. this is uncomfortable and counter-cultural -- but Biblical nonetheless.

no, church membership, per se, was never overtly mentioned in the New Testament - but, the churches in the NT apparently kept lists (such as of all their widows - I Tim 5) and a number of passages in the NT suggest that churches did delineate their members. they definitely KNEW who belonged to their assembly and who did not.

2) motivational-meets-worship shows that sell out NYC theaters:

definition of MOTIVATE: stimulate...provoke to move.
definition of worship: to feel an adoring reverence.

stimulate...and feeling....
he's selling out theaters by catering to the emotional needs of a desperate world, while withholding the truth about their spiritual death and offering SCRIPTURE.
(why on earth do you think his books outsell Billy Grahams? the truth is often times no fun to hear.)
we'll hit on this later.

3) "thank you for making religion a pleasure."

"...you're welcome...anytime..."

!!??

is that what osteen is offerring? a pleasurable religion?
and they're thanking him for it. thanking him - a fallen human being - for twisting the salvation message enough, so that it's ...a pleasure? whoa.

a Christian is somebody who has reached the end of themselves and his OWN MORAL RESOURCES. he recognizes that he, in defiance of God's revealed law, has given his life over to worshiping and loving things other than GOD -- things like career, family, the stuff money can buy, the opinions of others, the honor of his family and community, even his own goods. a true Christian who died RIGHT NOW would stand before God and say, "You shouldn't let me in, I owe a debt I cannot repay, but because of YOUR great promise and mercy, I depend ONLY on the blood of Christ shed as my substitutionary death, moving your wrath away from me."

a non-Christian who died right now would stand before God and say, "but i was good enough, i'm a good person. i loved myself and everybody around me. i was motivated by all the feel good blessings God wants to give me and by emotional worship services...and told God loves me despite my sin...."

do you understand the responsibility osteen has to speak DIVINE TRUTH to these lost souls? they are desperately searching for ETERNAL DIRECTION and being filled up with all the logic this earthly world can provide and appealing to their senses of pride and positivity in their fallen state.

4) "Osteen describes his calling as this: to give hope. "Most people are beaten down by life already, he says in his soothing southern accent. "They don't come to hear me say, 'You know what? You're all sinners.....I'd rather say, 'You know what? God's on your side.' "

God is NOT on your side BECAUSE OF YOUR SIN. how can you disconnect them? the difference between Christians and non-Christians is NOT that non-Christians sin and Christians don't...but it's their RESPONSE TO SIN. the side we take in the battle. a healthy church strives to take God's side in the war against sin. the Bride of Christ must conform continually to the example set in God's Word. Jesus took sin so seriously and the fact that some pastors want to brush it under the rug to spare the emotionally exhausted is terrifying.

Blessed are those who HEAR the word of God...and OBEY IT....(they have to HEAR IT, though)
Paul taught the Corinthians the MESSAGE of the CROSS in the power of God unto SALVATION....he later told the same church to NOT "distort the word of God, but to set forth the truth plainly for their eternal benefit." 2 Cor 2.
not for their temporal emotional stability ...or personal motivation...but as though their eternal destiny is weighing in the balance.

a CORRECT view of conversion will show up in a church's willingness to view and handle known sin seriously. accountability, encouragement, and occasional rebuke are ordinary, not extraordinary.

churches that increasingly reflect the character of God as it's revealed in his Word, are not always the easiest places to be. expectations may be high, talk of sin may be feel overdone to many, fellowship may feel somewhat intrusive -- but the point is to increasingly reflect GOD'S character.

5) "His lesson to his kids is this: Love God, Love Yourself, Love Others - in that order. 'I feel like you have to feel good about what God has made you - your looks, so on. You can't show compassion if you don't love yourself. Everything else falls into place.' "

wow.
i thought the lesson read like this:
Matt 22:34
All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments: love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

osteen wants us to love ourselves right before we love others. as if law #2 was forgotten and he needed to put it in there between law #1 and law #3.

as christians, we are to ESTEEM OURSELVES as last among men. washing other people's feet. service to others, sacrificing ourselves. i think it's this thread in his thinking that REALLY throws off his entire ministry.
the me factor.
what is going on here? i don't think the church was ever meant to become moralistic and me-centered, with the gospel recast as little more than spiritual "self-help." how will we ever distinguish the culture of the church from the secular culture around it -- when we follow THE WORLD'S theology to put OURSELVES before others? how will LOVING OURSELVES ever result in us loving others well? it devastates God's plan and turns His desire completely upsidedown.

6) finally...and i'll stop here because i need to cook dinner:
As a Christian, Osteen believes sin lives in every man and woman. He just doesn't like to dwell on it. "There is an awful lot of doom and gloom and uncertainty in the world...So if you have someone out there saying, 'Look on the bright side, God wants things to go well,' that's attractive."

doesn't...wanna...dwell on it. wow.
get this.
God is a Judge.
The Judge will become our Father ONLY if we repent and believe.

sometimes it's really tempting to present some of salvation's benefits AS the gospel itself. these benefits tend to be things that non-believers naturally want. joy, peace, happiness, fulfillment, self-esteem, love. presenting them AS THE GOSPEL is presenting partial truth. and as J.I. Packer says, "half truth masquerading as whole truth becomes complete untruth."

fundamentally, we don't need a pep rally. we don't need JUST joy...or peace...or PURPOSE. we need GOD HIMSELF. we need FORGIVENESS above all else. we need spiritual rebirth. if you present the gospel as anything else -- you end up with half-converts, meaningless church stats -- only serving to make world evangelism all the more difficult.

Mr. Osteen:
The gospel is NOT news that we're ok.
it's not news that God is love.
it's not news that Jesus wants to be our friend.
it's not news that he has a wonderful plan or purpose for our BEST LIFE NOW.
the gospel IS the good news that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrificial substitute for sinners and rose again, making a way for us to be reconciled to God.
that's it.

you know -- unless i'm way off here -- Mr Osteen is not fully drinking from the comprehensive Word of God. Nor is he washing his congregation - The Bride - with the cleansing (and sometimes painful) Word of God.

i read this article and it only confirms the lack of deep conviction of guilt. no notation of danger in human helplessness. where is the contrition? confession? supplication for mercy?

but we have arcades.
and we have cafes.
and we have 47,000 attendees.

and it's for those forty seven thousand souls that i ache.
we all will face Christ one day.
all of Christendom is headed somewhere.
but we are not all equal in our graves.
we have an account we will all give.
it's not Mr Osteen i feel anguish for....

....it's for the forty seven thousand sheep who are following a misguided shepherd.

"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God." 1 Peter 2:12

Peter adds:
"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise you??! (Matt 5:16)

no.
"...and praise your Father in heaven."

when the world applauses a preacher and places him on a pedestal -- praising him for making religion a pleasure....you simply have to wonder....

"Wide are the gates...."

"If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
John 15:19

.....i wonder if America's Most Popular Preacher ever thinks about that....

**********************************
(all thanks to yesterday's sermon and references/thoughts pulled from "What is a Healthy Church?")