Osteen question
A brother wrote saying that he didn’t have the same view of Joel Osteen. Here’s the brief response I just sent:
Hey brother thanks for the email. I’d encourage you to listen/read carefully what he teaches. In just this video clip he says that the non-abundant life includes “struggling in finances” and struggling with “bodily sickness” and other things. This is pretty clearly health/wealth gospel that is something to be very careful about. Struggling in finances and struggling in health are very very common not just human and also oftentimes very Christian struggles. If suffering is the antithesis of Christianity then what about Paul? What about Christ? There is the core of the Gospel that is missing most of all in his teaching. We are sinners spiritually dead without Christ. Christ died taking the punishment of sin upon the cross that was demanded by the holiness and justice of God. By faith in Christ alone we are forgiven for our sins and made alive in Him. “Alive” is spiritual life in Christ in restored relationship to the Father. Christ calls us to take up our crosses daily and follow Him. (This is a call to die to ourselves and our self-centered focus. Osteen is preaching self-centeredness and worldly comfort). Is this the Gospel that Osteen preaches? If you find the true Gospel please do let me know – I’d love to see it and will certainly rethink my perspective on him. But do know that most of evangelicalism is seeing his teaching as at best devoid of the true Gospel and at worst a deception in leading people to health and wealth.
I think that it’s possible for Christians to come to Osteen’s teaching with a true orthodox understanding of the Gospel and the Bible and maybe hear things that he says in a positive way, but it seems there’s a pattern of questionable teaching that should caution us.
Let me know what you find as you dig more!
Michael
Michael, I read your letter this A.M. and watched the Osteen video. I have several friends who are Osteen fans and would also disagree. One of them is on the staff at Lakewood.
I found this post helpful at the Resurgance (Mars Hill, Mark Driscoll site) http://theresurgence.com/Gospel_and_Method_Part_2
Any thoughts?
Thanks – and as always/and family are in our prayers.
Chris Dattilo
Comment by Chris Dattilo — February 24, 2009 @ 9:15 pm
Thanks for the helpful Driscoll post. It helps to point out that there are numerous potential errors and absences in various Gospel presentations/teaching. Outright error could include for example wrong teaching about the nature of Christ’s atonement or about the nature of faith and belief. Incomplete presentation of the Gospel is also problematic and potentially dangerous as well. In Osteen’s case from what I have seen there seem to be at the very least the error of absence of aspects of the Gospel and at worst erroneous teaching on the nature of salvation and goals of salvation. I’m still open though to being wrong about this all. If anyone finds a full and Biblically accurate presentation of the Gospel by Osteen please do let me know. Even a basic faithful exposition of the Bible seems to be hard to find.
Comment by Michael — February 26, 2009 @ 5:34 pm
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Comment by Kriss — May 25, 2009 @ 9:46 pm