Victoria Osteen and Her Joy-Robbing Brand of Cheap Christianity

Christian Post ^ | September 2, 2014 | Matt Moore

[Gamecock]

There was a time earlier on in my Christian life where I was quite the zealous little theology cop. I would blast Joel Osteen and the likes of him with their biblically deficient statements about God on my blog, twitter, Facebook — any outlet I could find. I thought it was my job to stand firm and "defend God's truth," calling out every bit of erroneous teaching I came across. I'm not that person anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely think that there is a place for exposing false teaching (and to be clear, I think that most of what I've heard of Joel Osteen's teaching is false). But I think it needs to be done out of a love for Christ and a desire for people to know Him in truth, not out of a egocentric desire to just be "right."

So, before I go into Victoria Osteen's comments, I want to say that my intention is not to put her on blast or to publicly declare her a blasphemous bimbo. There's enough of that on the Internet already. My intention is to discuss the cheap view of God that fuels the kind of comments she made in that video.

"I just want to encourage every one of us to realize that when we obey God, we're not doing it for God — I mean, that's one way to look at it — we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy. That the thing that gives Him the greatest joy.

So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy. Amen?"

Here's the link to short video clip.

There is an element of truth to her statements about God desiring us to be happy and Him taking pleasure in our happiness. The Lord does not want His people be a mopey, despairing, steel-faced, jaw-clenched, stick-up-butt bunch of folks. Throughout the entirety of the Bible you see The Lord repeatedly commanding people to take delight in The Lord. David said that at the right hand of God are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11)! Jesus said that He came and spoke truth to us that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be made full (John 15:11). When Paul wrote letters to the early Church, he did so for their progress and joy in the faith (Philippians 1:25). The concept of joy and the command to pursue it plagues the bible. You can't read it without realizing that the one true God is a happy God that desires his people to be happy as well.

So it's true — overwhelmingly true — that God wants us to be happy. But, the problem is that people like Victoria take this truth and slant it, ever so subtly, away from the God-centered-happiness that the Bible prescribes and toward a me-centered-happiness that the Bible condemns. God's greatest pleasure is not in our happiness (although He does desire that), but in His own glory. He wants His glory to be the fuel that our joy-appetites feed on. He wants His presence to be the longing of our souls. God wants us to be happy in Him.

"As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" – Pslam 42:1-2

We were designed to be joy hungry creatures that fervently feast upon the glory of God. We were intended to be people that draw fresh life, day after day, from all the ways that God graciously manifests Himself to us. We were created to be people that are full out, head over heels obsessed with God. We were to seek Him constantly, pray to Him without ceasing, meditate on Him endlessly and do everything we do to see and experience more of His glory. And we were to enjoy living our lives this way.

But let's all be honest with ourselves, we naturally hate the idea of living our lives this way. Because sin has deformed our hearts. Before the fall, man had a heart that was outwardly directed toward God, but when sin entered in, our hearts folded inwardly and gazed upon ourselves. From the moment Adam's teeth sunk into the fruit of self-autonomy, the heart of mankind has sought happiness in and through himself, other people and everything around him. Anywhere but in God.

And I'm not just talking about meth addicts or porn addicts or prostitutes or crooked businessmen. Lots of people seek happiness apart from God but throw His name all over it. Using God for His this-side-of-glory gifts (aka the American Dream) without any real love for Him or desire to know Him doesn't count as seeking happiness in God. He takes no pleasure in that. But this is what I fear is happening in an incredibly large number of American Churches. This is what I fear is happening in the Osteen Church, based on the many things I have heard both Joel and Victoria say over the years. I won't pronounce judgment on them before the time (1 Corinthians 4:5), but I will say with certainty that taking the immutable, unstoppable and infinitely holy God of the Bible and reducing Him down to a three-wish celestial butler who is only here to make us happy — without us really having to surrender to, worship, adore or enjoy Him — is absolute heresy. There is a massive difference between enjoying God for who He is and "enjoying God" for what temporary or material blessings He can give you.

But this heresy is the 'gospel' of today's western spirituality. We refuse to worship a God who is opposed in any way to how we wish to live our lives. "God" is just this generic divine being who is here to affirm and bless whatever we feel like He should. We get to decide what we feel like is right or worthy of our worship, and then we yank the Holy One down off His throne and demand Him to bow at our feet and bless us our god-forsaken pursuits of purpose and joy.

A great example of this is this emergence of the idea that someone can be a "gay Christian"; a person who claims to worship Jesus Christ but refuses to actually worship Him by surrendering all that they are — like their fallen sexual impulses — to His authority and Lordship. But this kind of mentality goes far and beyond the same-sex attracted population. You'll find it among the dishonest business owners hustling for financial success, the twenty-something guidos pining after that GTL life, the straight guys manipulating girl after girl while trying to build up their 'I got some of that' trophy case — you'll find all walks and kinds of people living for godless pursuits, but still want a lil-bit-a Jesus on Sundays.

The cheap 'gospel' of western spirituality says that the path to happiness is accepting and loving yourself as you are, and believing that God wants to affirm you in whatever way that you choose to live out your life. But the real truth, the biblical truth, is that true joy is found not in self-acceptance, but self-denial. Not the insane, pleasure less I'm-gonna-beat-myself-with-a-stick-every-time-I-have-a-bad-thought kind self-denial, but the denial of sinful, me-centered thrills and spills for the sake of experiencing a better, pure, God-centered joy.

The reality is that if we're seeking happiness outside of God Himself, we're short changing ourselves. We're being cheap happiness chasers — living our lives for fleeting, momentary pleasures that can't satisfy our God-given capacities for God-centered joy. The void in our souls where true, God-centered joy was made to dwell is far too deep and wide for anything or anyone in this world to fill it. We will never be satisfied living our lives for ourselves. You will not be able to find contentment. We will always thirst for more. We were made to live for so much more than ourselves.

The Bible points us to a life of obsession with the beauty and glory of God because it's only when we lose ourselves in Him that we will ever actually find ourselves and, in turn, grasp true joy. Coming to God through the reconciling work of Jesus and feasting, day after day, upon all that He is for us — that will satisfy our souls. That will quench our thirst.

The call of the true gospel is not to be all that we can be and throw a little Jesus on it — it's to be reconciled to God through the work of Jesus Christ and to enjoy Him forever! God is the most valuable being in the universe. He's not boring or stiff or tame. He's outrageously interesting and the greatness of all that He is can (and will) be chased after for eternity. The best that He can give us is Himself, and that's exactly what He does in the gospel. If we want true satisfaction and lasting joy, we will not find it in going to church to "worship God for us" or in "doing good for ourselves." We won't find it in deciding for ourselves who and what we are. We will only find it in and through the Person of Jesus Christ.

True joy is wrapped up in knowing and savoring the Person of God. It can be found nowhere else.

I don't write this as someone who's got it all figured out. I love Jesus and have tasted of His goodness, but I still struggle to go to Him when my soul is dry. I still tend to so easily bend toward seeking out comfort for my heart in the cheap pleasures and pursuits of the world. But my hope is that this incredibly patient and merciful Source of all true joy will keep breathing fresh waves of mercy over my heart, re-shaping and re-creating me to be increasingly inclined to find all that I need and desire in the greatness of who He is.

[boycott]

My disclaimer is that I am not an expert on everything but sometimes I forget that.

If Joel can help lead even one person to Jesus, I am all in favor of that.

[PapaNew]

There us no room for sorrow or mourning. That is Osteens law. Don’t have any sorrow.

That twists Joel meaning, message, and ministry.

He's trying to cheer up joyless Christians. He never says "don't have any sorrow." He constantly talks about time for grieving and that we all have trials and issues to deal with. But he's saying as a lifestyle, we as Christians can choose to be happy and joyful in the midst of our troubles.

Hey, guess what? That's what the Bible says too. (Acts 16:25, 24:10, 26:2; Heb 12:2; James 1:2,12; 1 Peter 1:6-8).

I don't think there's a mean bone in Joel's body.

[Gamecock]

Osteen is not a Christian minister.

He is a motivational speaker. And that is being charitable.

[PapaNew]

Amen.

Scripture encourages us, Joel encourages us, and you encourage us.

Why are there so many against this stuff? There are so many Christians that need to be set free.

[PapaNew]

Again, Gamecock, your flat assertions & conclusions with no support or evidence proves nothing.

Those that blindly follow such unproven conclusions are, as Jesus said, in danger of falling into the ditch.

Go back and learn what the ministry of encouragement is. It is a valid and important ministry in the Body of Christ. God, not you, decides what kind of gift, anointing, and ministry someone has. Your contempt for and discount of Joel’s encouragement ministry doesn’t invalidate it

[Gamecock]

Watching Osteen is proof enough.

His insipid nonsense is garbage.

Send his books to the Saints in Iraq and see what response you would get.

I have worshipped in churches throughout Africa, to include Liberia. His message would be taken as heresy there. They know more about real Christian faith there than Osteen ever will.

His so called ministry is for itching ears.

[PapaNew]

Africa, to include Liberia. His message would be taken as heresy there.

Really? You sure about that?

Are you aware that his brother, Dr. Paul Osteen, at the expense of the church, spends at least three months in Africa helping and doing much needed surgery for so many needy Africans? They LOVE Paul and Joel.

[boatbums]

I would rather have joy than happiness. I think this says it all:

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. (Psalm 30:4-12)

[Gamecock]

You been to Africa?

[Gamecock]

Joy is so different than than happiness.

[PapaNew]

Gamecock, what does my ever being in Africa have to do with your supporting your vicious attacks on Joel Osteen?

You have attempted to assassinate the character of an anointed man of God and all you have to support your outrageous assertions and conclusions is your assertions about what others say. But what others say is not authoritative. What scripture says is.

All scripture [not Hank Hanegraaff and the doctrines and opinions of man] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16).

Your attacks and accusations on Joel Osteen are hollow as you have demonstrated no ability to support them reasonably with scriptural evidence.

I feel like you, Gamecock, have a place in your heart that may be able to break free from this stuff. I hope so. But I feel I should warn you to stop attacking God's anointed (1 Chron 16:22; Psalm 105:15).

As I have said, if you have a legitimate beef with a minister of God that is Biblically based and supportable, that's another thing, as long as your motive is to help that minster or others from harm. But here, you have viciously attacked an anointed man of God with NO reasonable scriptural support or evidence and your motive doesn't appear to be that of healing but that of spite and contempt. That comes under the heading of allegiance with the accuser of the brethren himself.

[Gamecock]

I didn’t think so.

He may be a Christian but he is no minister of the Gospel.

[PapaNew]

When you’re able to put together an actual reasoned and scripturally supportable argument let me know. Until then, again, I would caution you about attacking other Christians, especially God’s anointed ministers in particular. (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm 105:15).

Bye.

[longhorn too]

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They’re wrong, aren’t they?

“OSTEEN: Well, I don’t know if I believe they’re wrong.

Now do you understand why some of us are very skeptical of Osteen’s teachings.

[Gamecock]

HE. DENIED. JESUS.

That is enough.

[Gamecock]

[PapaNew]

Gamecock, I’ve repeated my self several times and must not be getting through.

Do you understand what it means to have a cohesive and comprehensible argument? It’s more than just a flat assertion or even an assertion coupled with a conclusion. You must provide REASONS and EVIDENCE FOR YOUR REASONS to support your assertion and conclusion. In this case, you need to couple evidence of Joel’s words or actions with specific scriptural evidence that forbids such words or actions.

Until you do that, your just blowing smoke but it’s toxic and harmful smoke to those who may unwarily be influenced.

[metmom]

You need more lessons in how to encourage people.

You’ve done nothing but shred those who speak out against what they see as the false gospel Osteen preaches.

Mote.... beam.....

[metmom]

Luke 12:16-21 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

[metmom]

Gamecock, what does my ever being in Africa have to do with your supporting your vicious attacks on Joel Osteen?

That would be a *No*.