Although I mentioned that I saw part of Joel Osteen's sermon yesterday, I must confess that I am not in the habit of watching/listening to Joel. My observations and criticisms of his teaching are largely based on his book Become a Better You. And to a lesser degree on the comments I have heard from him in his interviews.
Even the titles of Joel Osteen's books Your Best Life Now and Become a Better You are offensive to any self-denying, cross-bearing disciple of Jesus. Both are built on a foundation of human potential, self-actualization and self-improvement.
And that is the main problem with Joel Osteen's message of hope and positive thinking. It has a false foundation, or perhaps I should say, there is no foundation at all. In the entire book Become a Better You, there is missing any exhortation that to accomplish any of these "better" things, you must be born again and governed by the Holy Spirit. In fact, it seems very significant (perhaps symbolic) that it is not "in" the book, but in the epilogue (last page) that Joel Osteen tells the reader that a relationship with Jesus Christ is important -- almost like an afterthought.
So what is Joel Osteen's foundation? In the very first paragraph, we read Joel Osteen's premise for self-improvement and self-actualization: "God puts something deep down inside us that evokes a desire to be more like Him [God]." You will not find that in the Bible. In fact, it is NOT God who evokes in man a desire to be like God. It is the devil himself whose first lure to Adam and Eve was this: if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will be like God.
Please note: having the image of God and being like God are NOT the same. A passage of Scripture in Isaiah which describes the fall of Lucifer (Satan) tells us his fall from heaven is found in the words: “I will make myself like the Most High [God].” Satan promises “you will be like God.” The meaning of like God is: independence, autonomy, and self-reliance. It may be hard for the followers of Joel Osteen to wrap their minds around this, but self-determination and self-sufficiency are ‘things’ God never intended. Adam, our prototype, was God-dependent, God-governed, and God-reliant. By choosing to be like God, Adam was choosing to be his own god, in effect, rejecting God’s rule over his life—something never intended by God.
Joel Osteen’s self-centered teaching is as old the Garden of Eden. And this foundation will not hold up when the storms of life take place. The faith of many will be ship-wrecked. Joel Osteen is not preparing you for the hard times that are certain to come upon you. His is a house built on the sand.
Wow, I just went through and read all your posts - I will be adding your blog to my Google Reader. I am always just shocked and amazed at the way Osteen draws people in. I know some who attribute everything in their lives to the teachings of Osteen - giving him credit for all they have because they just "believe what he says and trust that they can be a better person". I often have said that Osteen preaches "The Secret" wrapped up in a package labeled "Christian" with a very empty box with the word "Bible" written on the front of it. I hope that makes sense, it makes sense to me. Yes, I see what you are saying - it is what he is NOT saying that really makes the biggest impact. I was in shock at the portion of the Larry King interview I saw - it was like he didn't dare actually talk about faith. It was all about "hearts" and "not judging"...at one point King asked him abuot Scripture not being in his book and he said something to the effect (not the actual quote) of not needing it - he said he already reached the church audience...my jaw about hit the floor!
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Happy New Year!