Posted on 08/29/2011 1:20:55 PM PDT by markomalley
Joel Osteen rarely talks politics, even when pushed during TV interviews to condemn gay marriage, get angry about sin or take a stand on current issues, he shows restraint and focuses on the positive.
Osteen’s preaching and writing instructs Christians to open themselves to trust in God and his blessings. From this perspective, politics can be more divisive than uplifting.
(snip)
Unlike other megachurch pastors, Osteen does not address specific policy issues (abortion, prayer in schools, gay marriage, religious freedom, moral decline) or concern himself with politics in general. Lakewood even holds some hesitancy over evangelicals’ ties to the Religious Right.
“If it means you believe in the Bible and Jesus and the Trinity and living out your faith, we are evangelical,” said Osteen. “But we’re not big on labels” because they can have political ties too.
It’s not a deliberate effort to avoid the term “evangelical,” explained church spokesman Don Ilof, but Lakewood’s leaders remember when rising evangelicals had major political influence—like Rev. Jerry Falwell—and the current agenda of the Religious Right is not their focus.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.chron.com ...
Osteen is a coward.
Sounds like dhimmi's to me
Look.... I am NOT a big fan of Osteen and other such Megachurches. I feel they are too much into rock and roll type of pseudo spirtuality (just my opinion)
Having said that, I will give props to Osteen for not bringing politics in.
Religion and politics don’t mix. I am against abortion. So are most Republicans. Does that automatically mean all religious people are republicans? NO!
For some religious people “thou shall not murder” means opposition to the death penalty ( I do not agree, but some do). IN that case, their party is Democrats
If you are a church, JUST preach the word of God. Let your parishioners learn about God and His word and they then can figure out which party they want to support
That is my 2 cents
we like joel.
I got your back on those statements FRiend.
If churches stayed out of politics you would still be paying tribute to a state church. Thank God for those Christsians who stood up and fought against those at the risk of their own lives. (especially Baptists in places like Virginia)
He’s neither.
Abortion is not a political issue. It is a morality issue.
Homosexual "marriage" is not a political issue. It is a morality issue.
Moral decline is not a political issue. It is a moral issue.
There is no excuse for anybody to support the above. Regardless of party.
You want to not endorse a candidate? OK, no problems.
You want to not address either way a specific piece of legislation or regulation? OK, no problems.
However, using the rationale of not being political to avoid those moral issues is not apolitical...it is just milquetoast.
many people are jealous of the success of the osteen family.
Religion and politics DO mix when the politicians attempt to enact legislation that violates moral principles. When they pass laws that result in aborting babies, allowing gays to "marry," abolishing all civil references to God, arrest children for saying a blessing over their lunch, banish religious people from 9/11 ceremonies, give deference to mosques near ground zero etc etc etc. Religion and politics intersect and can never be kept in separate compartments.
When Christians first refused to call Caesar "LORD" when paying their tribute taxes, religion and politics mixed. They were arrested, persecuted and even killed. And it has not changed since then. Politicians try to use religion to get elected. Religious people try to look out for their interests when deciding for whom they will vote.
Osteen avoids obvious issues like abortion, gay "marriage," etc because he does not wish to alienate anyone who would come to his church... One person in this thread called him a "coward" for that. I call him "pragmatic." He is maximizing revenues while attempting to offend as few as possible. Makes good marketing sense. But it dilutes the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Roger that.
Osteen as an Evangelical makes an great motivational speaker.
Osteen as a motivational speaker makes a horrible Evangelical.
My office calls him “prosperity driven”. We like him as a motivational speaker, but we’ll put our religious faith elsewhere.
My good friend, you are confusing Christians with the Church.
As I said in my post, let individual Christians decide where their political sympathies lie. It is not the job of the Church to do so
That leads to corruption and the head honcho of a church can be influenced to endorse a political leader who may do things contrary to Christian teachings.
OTOH, if a church teaches the word of God and shows how God does not want abortion, then a Christian can make a decision on which candidate matches his/her point of view.
This is exactly what you are seeing today in the Tea Party. Politicians are now being questioned on a variety of touch points (Gay Marriage, Abortion, Stem Cells, Adultery, Divorce, Evolution) and once all these data points are in, Christians can make a decision based on where they think God wants them to be.
For a lot of Christians Evolution is not incompatible with Christianity if you add Intelligent Design. In that case, they would go with a candidate who believes in ID Evolution.
For other Christians (to use this example) earth was created some 5000 years ago. They would go with a candidate that supports pure creation
Look at post number 14. I address a lot of these points
That’s fine by me. Christ wasn’t political either.
When Rome persecutes you and your beliefs though, you will know how to act.
I think churches should be free to take on political issues.
Abortion is not a political issue IMO, neither is gay marriage (legal fiction)
On economics, foreign policy, and most regulatory issues, the Church should butt out. But on moral issues, it is the duty of the Church get involved. If we are silent, who speaks for morality? If we are silent and another competing religious ideology is vocal, then what do we say when they start the persecutions?
Bingo! The Osteens are the "I'm okay, you're okay" version of mushy theology. They won't take a stance on important issues that may offend a parishioner (and dare I say his/her tithing ability).
There - I said it. Let the flaming begin!
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