Last night Joel Osteen was interviewed on 60 minutes. I only saw two minutes of the Osteen segment, but that’s all I needed to see. You can see the video or transcript on the CBS News website.
The part I saw was when host Byron Pitts raised the subject of Osteen’s latest book, To Become a Better You, which gets released today (Oct. 15). In the book, Osteen lays out seven principles that he believes will improve our lives. (This book has already improved Osteen’s life. He reportedly got a $13 million advance for the book.) In commenting on the book, Pitt remarked to Osteen: "To become a better you, you must be positive towards yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are. Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that."
Osteen’s response? "That's just my message. There is scripture in there that backs it all up. But I feel like, Byron, I'm called to help people…how do we walk out the Christian life? How do we live it? And these are principles that can help you. I mean, there’s a lot better people qualified to say, 'Here’s a book that going to explain the scriptures to you.' I don’t think that’s my gifting," Osteen says.
Then GET OUT OF THE PULPIT.
How can a preacher set forth "Christian principles" without Christ? The fact is, he can’t. I’m glad that Byron Pitts got Michael Horton’s take on this. (Horton is a professor of theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, California.) Horton rightly observed: "[Osteen’s] core message is God is nice, you’re nice, be nice. It's sort of a, if it were a form of music, I think it would be easy listening. He uses the Bible like a fortune cookie. 'This is what’s gonna happen for you. There’s gonna be a windfall in your life tomorrow.' The Bible's not meant to be read that way."
Horton went on to say that he believes that Osteen tells only half the story of the Bible, focusing on the good news without talking about sin, suffering and redemption.
I agree.
Horton goes even further. He levels the harshest charge of all, calling the Osteen method of teaching heresy. "It is certainly heresy, I believe, to say that God is our resource for getting our best life now," Horton says. "Because?" Pitts asks. "Well, it makes religion about us instead of about God," Horton explains.
Yes, that is precisely the problem. America’s motto has become: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." From that flows the commitment: "As for me and my house, we will serve ourselves."
That’s why tens of thousands are flocking to Lakewood Church and why millions are buying Osteen’s books. As one of our church members put it in an e-mail to me this morning: "It is like god lite or the diet coke of the gospel. All the things you love about God without all of that conviction to weigh you down…."
Well, I had intended to write on something different today – putting forth from Scripture a positive alternative to emotionalism. But perhaps this interview with Osteen was just what I needed to press home the dangers of emotionalism. Wait another day or two, and I will show you from Scripture "a more excellent way."
Again, so well said. Joel reminds me of a preacher that I saw on TV recently. The music going, thousands in the auditorium, chorus singing stanza after stanza while he walked back and forth on the stage yelling "God is going to do this, or God can move mountains, God will deliver you, God can do that...". All of this is true but while he did this for over a 1/2 hour with people throwing up their hands and sobbing while they sang along, I noticed one thing...he never opened or quoted from the bible he had in his hand! Not ONE verse...
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I think you and Mr Gorton hit the nail on the head.....when I first started looking at the Bible, before I was saved, I read Joel Osteen's first book, and even watched a few of his programs....it was nice, didn't scare me away, but it didn't have any substance to it....."God Lite" is right...we've got to take the bad with the good, though...that's life, and it wouldn't be life without God....
ReplyDeleteAmen,Pastor. I never cared for him. He only says what people want to hear, not what we need to hear, live, and know.
ReplyDeleteNancy
This raises, perhaps, even more serious personal questions about Osteen. Does he write from experiences of his own "faith journey" (popular term, not mine)? If so, he shows in his own life little of what a true Believer might expect to encounter. In fact, he may be preaching a gospel of, basically, himself (note his personally explemplified financial success)--showing that Osteen might not even understand or embrace the really Good News.
ReplyDeletePitts hit the nail on the head with comments such as "this is like Hollywood" and "concert". WOW! Scarry stuff. His entertainment style preaching (if you can call it that) is so dangerous to the new believer, "Health, wealth and happiness". Sounds like health wealth gospel to me (has Joel ever read any of Pauls letters??) You know... I read Joels book but it was called How to win freinds and influence people by Dale Carnegie only there were'nt any passages of scripture in it, allegedly Joels books contains some. God bless the expository preaching of the WORD OF GOD!
ReplyDeleteI watched the interview 2 nights ago and was not too surprised. Everytime I have seen or read an interview with him, he always seems to excuse the fact that he is not biblically trained. I personally know many people that attend his church regularly but do not know Christ as Lord. It is so dangerous to give 60,000 people a motivational talk and lead them to believe that God is going to make them healthy, rich and wise. The Good News can only be found by talking about Jesus Christ. Joel is really missing the mark! Let us continually pray for discernment as Christians. Scripture warns us of preachers who come and tell us what we want to hear.
ReplyDeleteAmanda
There was always "something off" about this Joel Osteen. Praise the Lord he gives us the ability to discern truth from error. That is why it is so important to stay in the Word!
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Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. John 17:17
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We get the truth from the Word of God. I'll keep the Bible as my manual for living.
Thanks for sharing this article with us Pastor AND for telling it like it is...
I completely agree with you saying that he should get out of the pulpit. If he were marketing himself as a motivational speaker, I would not have such a big problem with him (even though I would still have a problem with that). But he is marketing himself as a minister of the gospel! What gospel? Certianly not the one of the Bible!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Horton line from the interview was when he said that Osteen's theology comes down to, "God is nice. You're nice. Be nice."
I'm sure no fan of Joel Osteen's. But let's also be aware that Michael Horton holds to what I (and many others evangelicals) consider a heretical view of the "sacraments", and the reception of Christ in infant baptism. I don't consider his opinions to be those of a scripturally solid evangelical Christian.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that when it comes to the "sacraments," Michael Horton is not "scripturally solid." In a day where many evangelicals make too little of the Lord's Supper and Christian baptism, Horton makes "too much" of them.
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