*Note: I don't like to post on controversial subjects, but this is something that's been itching at me for a while. A few weeks ago, we were spending time with my husband's family, and his mother mentioned that she was reading "Your Best Life Now" by Mr. Osteen. "Oh, have you read his book?" she asked me. I said no, and that I most likely would not. "Oh, don't you like him?" she pressed. (Mind you, I try to avoid these conversations with my mother-in-law, as I rather enjoy the fact that I get along with her fairly well, and I don't really care to offend her.)
"Well, no, in fact,
I don't like him."
"Why not? He seems very nice and he's got a really positive message."
"Well, he's not teaching a complete Gospel and he rarely uses Scripture properly, to start."
I really didn't want to get into the conversation at all, and luckily, we were interrupted by Grandma before I had to go into much more detail.
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Tonight, my husband was channel surfing, which is actually not that
easy when you don't have cable. He landed on Joel Osteen's Sunday
evening broadcast, as he's done several times before. I sat down and
watched it with him, and
cringed every time that I heard Joel say
"abundance" and "free", among other things. Then at the end of the show, Joel invited any unsaved people to pray with him. It went about like this: "Lord, I want to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and to make you Lord of my life. Amen." No mention of asking for forgiveness for our sins. No mention of WHY we need a savior. Just that we want to luuuv Jesus. Throughout his show, he twists Scripture to support his prosperity message. He takes verses that speak of our eternal life in Heaven and takes them out of context to make it sound like we are supposed to be showered in supernatural blessings in this lifetime, and that all God wants to do all day is to give us our greatest desires.
Joel Osteen is dangerous to the true Gospel. Millions of people watch his show, and thousands attend his church to hear his positive message.
But Joel's positive message isn't in the Bible! Joel is teaching that God is going to make us happy and healthy and wealthy, if we just believe that He will. The Bible does NOT teach that. In fact, the Bible tells us that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven. We read in the Gospels about how Jesus' disciples left everything they'd had to follow him. They were the original believers, and Jesus sure didn't make them rich!
Joel has repeatedly avoided talking about sin, Hell, judgment, and even the fact that Jesus is the only way to Heaven! In fact, on Larry King Live, Joel actually dodged the question "Is Jesus the only way?" by answering
"Well....I can't really say...." SERIOUSLY??
This is a man that many people are relying on for the entirety of their Gospel message. They are being fed a cotton candy Gospel. All the fluff, none of the substance. If we don't know about sin, how can we know how much we NEED a savior? Without sin, without the absolute depravity of man, there is no need for Jesus to die for us. Our good works are nothing but dirty rags to God.
We NEED Jesus for our sins to be forgiven, and if I had to guess, I'd say that a lot of Joel's congregation has no idea *why* Jesus died for us.
This video (clicky the linky) really sums up how much Joel Osteen skews the Bible message. It's only 3 1/2 minutes and worth the watch. I don't want this post to come across as being alarmist, but this guy needs to be exposed for what he really is. A smiling motivational speaker that makes people feel good, definitely NOT someone meant to be a pastor of the largest church in the world.
Comments (11)
Oh my goodness, he really said that on Larry King Live?!
I used to watch him. Actually, I've only watched a handful of his sermons. But I realized a few months ago that he really wasn't saying much. I hadn't gotten the idea from my mother or the news or anything. I just sat there and was like
So I totally agree with you. It's just so sad that many people follow him. He needs to be stopped. Just like Oprah. 
wow! I really didn't like him because when ever I heard him speak all I heard was that everyone can be rich or wahtever..... I know my grandparents watch him sometimes, maybe I'll have them watch this.
I have heard him before on one of those satellite channels I receive(Daystar?). knew he was wrong, but I had no idea he was THAT obvious! I could never get past 2 or 3 minutes of him. He and Oprah are quite a pair that fit into the last days events.
It's quite sad to think of the accountability and responsibility he has in his position and what is going to happen to him as a result of this.
I absolutely despise that guy. I've seen one or two of his shows and they're all about how god is a magic vending machine for whatever you want... just give him a little money and pray and you'll get (literally) upgraded to first class in life.
He once told a story, it went something like this.
Him and his wife when they were just starting out didn't have much money. But they saw this house that was their dream house, but they had only half of the asking price. So someone convinced them to go up and just offer the guy what they had, so they did. The guy thought about it and said he was sorry, but he couldn't let the house go for that little, and they moved on. A few months later they got a call from the guy, he said he'd gotten a few offers for more than what they were offering, but he wanted to help them out so the house was theirs for half the asking price.
The moral of the story?
"Six months later we sold that house for more than his original asking price!"
The audience cheered. I would've booed and gone up on the stage and said what are you evil or something. They conned this guy. They used an astonishing act of kindness from a stranger to make a quick bundle. It's a disgusting story.
@Biblerapture@xanga - At some point here, I'll probably go into Oprah's "church" as well, as I believe that she is also a danger to new and/or weak Christians. However, Joel Osteen seems to me to be a more pressing matter, as he is actually the pastor of the largest church in the U.S., if not worldwide.
@agnophilo@xanga - That story horrifies me. People are using Jesus' name to weasel their way into prosperity, and then claim that it's a "blessing". Last night, he was talking about how God wants to "supersize" your blessings. I turned to my husband and remarked, "So now God is a supernatural McDonald's?" It's all just such a load of crap, and so many people just don't see it.
@pinksunfiredragon - It's a multi-billion dollar industry, telling foolish or distraught people what they want to hear.
@agnophilo@xanga - I agree with you completely. It's just so frustrating on my end of things, seeing how it really is and how these people are not only being misled, but being financially used. All I really know to do about it is to speak my thoughts and hope it gets through to someone.
@pinksunfiredragon - At least you're a christian, they might listen to you. I'm an atheist, so my remarks are usually dismissed automatically.
Something... something... something... dark side...
He's kind of a nerdish Darth Vader. Or maybe I'm thinking of Dark Helmet from Spaceballs. But that little video clip is a bit disconcerting.
wow.
idk what to say...i'm speechless...