I blame Joel Osteen and “The Profit-Driven Church”.
Joel Osteen comes from a long line of religious hucksters. He is not unique or alone in his guilt.
In the mid-20th Century, it was the likes of Oral Roberts and others.
I’m not surprised by the findings. I’ve been criticized by some fellow Christians because I attended a Church of Christ congregation for several years. Told they are too legalistic, etc. What I found to be true is this denomination emphasizes on Scripture. We didn’t attend church to be entertained to make us “feel” good. We attended to honor Jesus Christ. I am also confounded by the # of Christians who are not students of Scripture. They have been going to Church for decades, but have no real knowledge of the Gospel. I admit, that we are all sinners and reminded that Jesus paid the price of sin for us. I often feel that I’m not worthy to worship this great God, but that’s Satan whispering in my ear. But shouldn’t we as God’s children yearn to know more about our Father which he conveniently put into 66 books called the Bible?
Joel Osteen and others like him couldn’t thrive if there weren’t millions of people with itching ears who won’t stand for sound teaching. Men like Osteen are tools of judgment in our sovereign God’s hands. He uses men like Osteen to give people exactly what their depraved hearts want. Osteen is a symptom, not a cause.