Posted on 04/13/2008 7:25:00 PM PDT by Terriergal
Joel Osteen will be in Greensboro for a book signing and worship event Friday.
By Nancy McLaughlin
Staff Writer
When people cynically point out that Joel Osteen is no Billy Graham, television's most popular preacher today says yeah, they're right — with no disrespect intended toward the outgoing evangelist.
"I feel this is what I'm called to do — I know it's not the only way," Osteen said of the comparison and the criticism of his ministry, which some people refer to as "Christianity lite." Osteen, who spoke by telephone from his Houston home, will hold a worship event and book signing in Greensboro on Friday.
The public's fascination with Osteen's message of hope and prosperity has translated into more than 5 million copies sold of his first book, nearly 10 million viewers of his weekly TV show broadcast in the United States (it's also beamed to 100 nations) and the hundreds of thousands of $15 tickets snapped up to worship events held mostly in big cities. He has been called the "Most Influential Christian in America" by Church Report magazine, an industry publication for Christian leadership.
His most recent book, "Become a Better You," which offers such nuggets as "stop reliving negative moments" and "one's past is not as nearly as important as one's future," has lingered on bestseller lists for months.
Blog critics call him "misguided." Others say his theology dilutes and dumbs down Christianity, taking the focus away from God to man.
Osteen's church, housed in a converted NBA arena devoid of religious symbols on the stage, draws 50,000 people each week. Although he has been criticized for not having a cross on the stage, he said he is merely following the tradition of his mission-minded father, whose dream was to spread the Gospel to as many countries as possible and who simply kept a map on his pulpit.
"He started with a map, then it turned into a globe, and so we just continued it," Osteen said of succeeding his father in 1999 and the imagery, which can be otherwise found throughout the building.
Osteen greets the nearly 1,000 visitors each week personally, taking several hours after each service. News show "60 Minutes" reports that Lakewood collects $43 million though tithes and offerings and $30 million or so in the mail. Osteen doesn't take a salary; however, he reportedly received a $13 million advance for his most recent book and lives in a home now worth $2 million. Osteen bought the home, before succeeding his father, by earning enough money from buying and fixing up old homes.
Nearly half the people who show up as visitors and probably as many who tune in each week indicate they don't go to church or haven't been in a long time.
"It's, 'I watch this guy and he makes sense,' and they all of a sudden realize I'm teaching from the Bible, and I may not be quoting 100 scriptures but I'm making one biblical principle relevant," Osteen said. "If I can just get them to love their enemies or to forgive a wrong, that's what it's all about."
As of Friday, nearly 16,000 tickets had been sold for his appearance at the Greensboro Coliseum, the only one in the state this year. The attendance should make it one of the largest religious events at the coliseum in recent years. He has previously sold out Madison Square Garden.
Graham, one of a few Christian leaders to experience such popularity in his own right, spent a lifetime preaching suffering, salvation and sin. Osteen, who considers Graham a mentor, chooses to focus on helping others be better spouses, parents, even co-workers — all while reaping blessings from God.
His "prosperity gospel" promises a lot of the material things for which people are yearning, said L. Gregory Jones, a theology professor and dean of divinity at Duke University, and there are biblical and scriptural texts supporting it.
"It's a part of the gospel, but it's not the whole gospel," Jones said. "You don't hear him talking about suffering, crisis or when prosperity doesn't come. It's a pretty hollow gospel if you are in the childhood leukemia ward and your child is dying."
When his pastor-father died, Osteen made the move from behind-the-scenes marketing to the pulpit of what would become the largest church in the United States.
With telegenic good looks and a toothy smile, Osteen, 45, who co-pastors with his wife, Victoria, has the uncanny ability to connect with people. He shares personal stories about real-life struggles, including his self-esteem problems growing up.
"I feel like I'm called to teach people how to live the abundant life and that deals with attitudes and forgiveness and not being selfish and helping others," Osteen said. In "Become a Better You," he writes, "You are a child of God. So you have the greatest power in the universe inside you. You can break any addiction and stronghold."
"What's worked for us is that we've tried to make the Gospel and the Good News relevant, and we've tried to give them something that will make their lives better," Osteen said by phone. "I don't think we can just focus on doctrine, but 'how to love,' 'how to forgive someone who hurts them.' Sometimes you have to keep it that simple."
Michael Usey pastors the socially conscious College Park Baptist Church where "being my brother's keeper" is a huge part of the congregation's identity.
"I would like to know where the cross is in his theology," Usey said. "I'm guessing he thinks Jesus died in part to give us abundant life, but at what point are his followers called to suffer? I think Joel is quite good with getting people to live their lives to the fullest; I'm just not sure where he thinks taking a stand on important issues, like Martin Luther King, comes into play."
Jesus was clear when he said to his followers to "take up their crosses" and follow him, Usey and others said.
At a recent service in Pittsburgh, Osteen said, more than 13,000 showed up — and nearly half of them stood up and accepted Christ.
"What (taking up the cross) means to me is every day you have to die to yourself, meaning there are attitudes you have to put down," Osteen said. "There are times you want to be selfish, and you have to put that away. If you want to go your own way and you instead say, 'God, I'm going to live this way under you.'
"The scriptures say it is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance," Osteen said.
Dwayne Hawkins, the pastor of Greensboro's New Beginnings Church, whose ministry focuses on strengthening people "broken" by life, has heard the criticism about Osteen but is a supporter.
Hawkins once lived in Houston and has attended services at Lakewood, which he calls an amazing experience — a mix of ethnicities worshipping in the same "electric" space.
"Joel gave his personal testimony that he was not the smartest kid in his family," Hawkins said. "He was just kind of the misfit. But God can use anybody. That's what he did with David and his brothers. David was the smallest, the shortest of his brothers, but God exalted him (to be King) because of his heart."
The scriptures are replete with apostles with different assignments that produced the same result of connecting people to God, Hawkins said.
Even Jesus was an example of that, he said.
"Jesus healed blind people many different ways," Hawkins said. "One with the 'laying on of hands.' One by the person's faith. Another by spitting on the ground, rolling the dirt into clay and placing it on a man's eyes. When the man washed it off, he could see. They all had the same ailment, but he used three different methods for the same result. This is the way of ministry."
At the beginning of each of Osteen's broadcasts and services, the preacher holds up a Bible and leads a chant — "This is my Bible and I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I do what it says I can do."
At the end of each service, Osteen admonishes people who might know him only through their TV sets to find themselves a "Bible-believing church."
"I'm throwing a wide net," Osteen said of his aim. "I'm trying to get them to start thinking about God, but I know to really grow they need to get in a Bible-believing church."
Contact Nancy H. McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com
Yes, at least Billy preached the gospel when he preached!
But even Billy spoke like an inclusivist in interviews about his beliefs and was naive enough to feel sorry for Bill Clinton the predator. Osteen doesn't even seem to rise to THAT level of discernment.
At the end of each service, Osteen admonishes people who might know him only through their TV sets to find themselves a "Bible-believing church."
That would be one that completely REJECTS the nonsense of Osteen.
Is that really what it's all about?
To call Olsteen Christian-Lite is being kind. You get more depth in the worst Sunday school class.
Billy is an inclusivist- but in spite of his upbringing and education.
Osteen is a biblically illiterate self-help motivational speaker with a big smile. To call him anything theological would be to completely mischaracterize his “ministry” (unless the word is apostate, but I’m not sure you can even call him that since I’m not sure he ever ‘got it’ to begin with)
I like my Dad’s take.
NOBODY OWES YOU A LIVING.
Just about covers everything for me. That is why I will never be a liberal. And I save a bunch of money on self help books.
I guess my friend was mis-informed. I guess Osteen does consider himself a Christian. Of course, Osteen's opinion and my opinion on the subject may differ just a tad.
He may well carry Christ in his heart and be a Christian. But preaching the Gospel is not one of his gifts.
One of the best - sobering - reviews of Osteen’s teaching: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.85
You phrase it well. It is not for me to judge whether someone else is a Christian. All I can say is that I’d choose a church where a different sort of message was preached. Just my personal preference.
Not certain of that any more. Too often instead of doctrine, the churches are doing Diaprax. It is truly an evil system, and it ain't the church that Jesus Christ built.
Thanks for the link on Diaprax. It put into words what I was seeing for the last 15 years but couldn’t put into words.
I go to a small country church here in Southern Delaware. The pastor is not afraid to preach the Gospel. As I sat listening this morning, I thanked God I was in a church that preached the whole Word of God.
Seems like that is becoming rarer and rarer these days.
You're welcome.
Diaprax is also known as the Delphi Technique, a tool created by the Rand Corporation for evaluation and prioritizing factual information. It works fine in the factual domain, but it is abusive when used in the affective domain, as is being done today.
Although Delphi/Diaprax was revealed by religious institutions (Dean Gotcher), it's primary manifestations are secular.
This article by John Loeffler is a good illustration of how diaprax is used in the world around us to force acceptance of a pre-determined conclusion, and make it appear as if it was your idea.
The system is truly evil.
EXAMPLE:
"God said it, i believe it, and that settles it."
Notice the error? Whether you believe it or not, God said it, and that settles it. This is a subtle way of enforcing the idea that your relationship to a proposition ("i believe it") determines the truth or effect of a proposition, as if one could dialog to consensus with God.
“But preaching the Gospel is not one of his gifts.”
I agree with you that he is not preaching the true Gospel, but I would like to know how he remembers his entire message and is able to “preach” it? I see no teleprompters or other visual aids or even any auditorymeans for him to use. Given his supposed busy schedule, how much time does he use to prepare for his “sermon”?
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