Joel Osteen’s TGIF Gospel

Joel Osteen was on the Piers Morgan show last week, plugging his most recent book, “Every Day a Friday, How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week.” Once again, Joel Osteen is offering his own brand of highly therapeutic prosperity theology, with its focus on individual happiness and self-fulfillment.

In the gospel according to Joel, God wants His children to experience every day as if it were a Friday, meaning, every day should feel like the day before a good weekend. (Evidently, there are no ‘weekend warriors’ in Joel’s paradigm.) But Paul tells us (2 Tim 2) that a Christian is like a soldier, a farmer, or an athlete—denoting a “no-day-off” lifestyle, disavowing Joel’s “Have a nice weekend” gospel!

Every false teaching displaces sound doctrine for human experience. While I won’t say Joel Osteen is a false teacher, I will say that his message mirrors the therapeutic and psychological “feel good” philosophy that has invaded Evangelicalism in recent years. Self-development & self-improvement themes permeate evangelical teaching, justified by such words as ‘contemporary’ and ‘relevant.’ Whatever happened to “deny your self and pick up your cross?"

“Since Christ suffered, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer too... Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus… for if we endure hardship, we will reign with him.” (2 Tim. 2:3, 12; 1 Peter 4:1) Can you imagine Paul saying, “Thank God it’s Friday!?”