Upcoming Events
Joel Osteen
Jan 8, 12:45 PM
Last Sunday, January 6, I was privileged to attend worship at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. This was my second visit to that church. I had the opportunity on both occasions to meet briefly with the Lakewood pastor, Joel Osteen, who, I am told, is the most listened-to person on the planet right now. His telecasts, broadcasts, and podcasts are unequalled in terms of the numbers of people who watch and/or listen. His books are everywhere.
I have heard quite a bit of criticism about Joel Osteen, mostly from the academic and Christian community. Some of the criticism has been vehement and mean. Frankly, I don’t understand it. One professor at Asbury Seminary talked of hating him, that he was fraudulent, shallow, and would not be around for very long because he did not bring anything of worth to people. The Christian community has primarily focused its opposition to Joel’s ministry because he does not mention repentance, the Cross, social justice, or the sacrificial cost of discipleship.
On both occasions of attending Lakewood, I found the services inspiring and uplifting. Yes, they are very well produced. Should they apologize for that? There was a clear acknowledgement of Christ in the worship and an intentional focus on hope. I loved the fact that there were people from all walks of life and most all ethnic groups. You certainly do not often see that in most churches. The people greeted us with kindness and warmth. No, there was not much talk of the cost of discipleship. I suppose if I wanted to, I could find fault. But I could find fault with every single Christian ministry on earth. Frankly, I am weary of fault-finding amidst the fellowship of the faith. We don’t need to worry about an outside enemy destroying us – we seem to be able to do that to each other.
There is no way for one person to judge the heart of another. So I do not claim in any way to have any significant insight into the heart and motives of Joel Osteen. For all I know, he may be found to be fraudulent or immoral. I hope not. My impression is that he is a sensitive and caring pastor who simply wants the best for people. His heart appears to be disposed toward God’s blessing of hope for people to have a better life. I found him to be somewhat shy and not at all full of himself. I do not hear Joel saying that all who have faith will drive big cars and have lots of money. I am impressed that at the point in the service where the pastors and elders pray for the needs of individuals, Joel goes to the altar and does his part with all the other prayer ministers.
I write this for several reasons, not the least of which was something that happened during the service I attended. He was sharing in his message at a point where he was quoting in Psalms where God is a defender of those who are under attack. He broke down in tears. This was not Pentecostal emotionalism. These were the tears of a man whose heart was breaking. It was several minutes before he could collect himself and continue. He never said what was wrong. My heart broke for him. Who knows what he has to contend with. Who knows if he even wants to be in the position in which he finds himself. I only know that when I told him later that I would pray for him, I sensed deep appreciation in his eyes and voice.
The self-proclaimed defenders of proper theology seem to be worried sick that Christianity will be offered to people too easily. I suppose that is an important consideration. I have worried about that myself on occasion. After all, Jesus did focus a lot of His teaching on the hardships and the challenge of discipleship. Where I come out on all of this is simply to focus on my own proclamation and to let God judge the others. I am sick of Christians judging other Christians. Jesus certainly said a lot about that too.