" “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15, ESV)
In this blog I am going to point out why a famous pastor is preaching a false gospel. This is not the first time I have done this. I have a friend of mine with whom I have had some interesting arguments about whether or not I should be “judgmental” like this. I think that I should.
First of all, despite most people’s misunderstandings, the Bible never tells us not to judge whether something is right or wrong. “Don’t be so judgmental. The Bible says ‘don’t judge’”, some people say. Standing in the place of God, and having a condemning attitude is wrong. But, we are to be wise, not foolish. We are to determine, discern and judge whether what someone’s says is true or false.
I am just as much a sinner as Joel Osteen. I do not think that I am truth or am superior to anyone else. I do know that I have a biblical responsibility to point out error and heresy in order to protect the people that the Lord has entrusted to me.
Therefore, here is a blog on the most public, famous heretic of our day: Joel Osteen.
Joel Osteen is the pastor of Lakewood Mega-Mega Church. They have about 42,000 people in church per weekend and millions more that watch on television. Last weekend he was interviewed on 60 Minutes by Byron Pitts.
To his credit, Osteen is a very sincere, genuine, kind-hearted, likable guy. I think he is sincere in his ministry and does some good. But, he preaches a false gospel. He is not leading people to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is dangerous.
Here are some quotes from a 60 minutes interview(transcript here) he did last Sunday and an interview he did with Larry King in 2005 (transcript here).
Quote #1
"My message is a message of hope that God is a good God, and that no matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been, God has a great plan for our lives. And when we walk in his ways they can take us places we’ve never dreamed of," Osteen explains.
It should never be about “my message”. I am not preaching MY message. It is the message of God that He has written in the pages of Holy Scripture. This is a huge problem in many of the modern day pulpits. That have pre-empted the Word of God with their own message. The word of man is flawed and empty. The Word of God is living and active. It has true power to change lives for the kingdom of God. This is why I preach expositionally. This method allows the text to dictate the focus and order of the sermon. This is to attempt to kept the text central, not the preacher.
Quote #2
"Osteen preaches his own version of what is known as the "prosperity gospel" -- that God is a loving, forgiving God who will reward believers with health, wealth and happiness. It's the centerpiece of every sermon."
This is a correct identification by the producers of the show. Osteen is only presenting a half truth and it is dangerous. God is loving and forgiving. But it is not about me being healthy, wealthy and happy. It is about me being saved from my sin, saved from hell, saved from the punishment my sin deserves. That is the gospel, and should be the centerpiece of every sermon.
This is a correct identification by the producers of the show. Osteen is only presenting a half truth and it is dangerous. God is loving and forgiving. But it is not about me being healthy, wealthy and happy. It is about me being saved from my sin, saved from hell, saved from the punishment my sin deserves. That is the gospel, and should be the centerpiece of every sermon.
Quote #3
"You said 'I like to see myself as a life coach, a motivator to help them experience the life of God that God has for them. People don’t like to be beat down and told 'You’ve done wrong.' What do you mean?" Pitts asks. "Well, I think that most people already know what they’re doing wrong. And for me to get in here and just beat ‘em down and talk down to ‘em, I just don’t think that inspires anybody to rise higher. But I want to motivate. I wanna motivate every person to leave here to be a better father, a better husband, to break addictions to come up higher in their walk with the Lord," Osteen says. "I mean is that being a pastor or is that being Dr. Phil or Oprah?" Pitts asks.
Great observation by Pitts. Osteen is not being a biblical pastor, he is being a secular motivator wrapped in religious garb. The truth of the gospel is not about helping people rise higher, it is about Jesus Christ suffering for sin, rising from the dead, so we could be afforded the opportunity to made right with God.
Quote #4
Why doesn't it look more like a church? Pitts asked. Osteen stammered and paused with no good answer until the co-pastor, which is his wife, chimed in.
This was a great moment in the story. Their church doesn’t look anything like a church. I do not think that a church has to be filled with religious icons and have architecture like an ancient monastery. But, I do think that a church should look like a church. It should at least be different and distinguishable from the secular world around it.
Osteen was caught off guard by this observation and comment by Pitts. He had no reason why his church didn’t look like a church.
Quote #5
"To become a better you, you must be positive towards yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are. Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that," Pitts remarks. "That's just my message, said Osteen."
Wow!!! No commentary from me needed on that one.
Quote #6
"You said 'I like to see myself as a life coach, a motivator to help them experience the life of God that God has for them. People don’t like to be beat down and told 'You’ve done wrong.' What do you mean?" Pitts asks. "Well, I think that most people already know what they’re doing wrong. And for me to get in here and just beat ‘em down and talk down to ‘em, I just don’t think that inspires anybody to rise higher. But I want to motivate. I wanna motivate every person to leave here to be a better father, a better husband, to break addictions to come up higher in their walk with the Lord," Osteen says. "I mean is that being a pastor or is that being Dr. Phil or Oprah?" Pitts asks.
Great observation by Pitts. Osteen is not being a biblical pastor, he is being a secular motivator wrapped in religious garb. The truth of the gospel is not about helping people rise higher, it is about Jesus Christ suffering for sin, rising from the dead, so we could be afforded the opportunity to made right with God.
Quote #4
Why doesn't it look more like a church? Pitts asked. Osteen stammered and paused with no good answer until the co-pastor, which is his wife, chimed in.
This was a great moment in the story. Their church doesn’t look anything like a church. I do not think that a church has to be filled with religious icons and have architecture like an ancient monastery. But, I do think that a church should look like a church. It should at least be different and distinguishable from the secular world around it.
Osteen was caught off guard by this observation and comment by Pitts. He had no reason why his church didn’t look like a church.
Quote #5
"To become a better you, you must be positive towards yourself, develop better relationships, embrace the place where you are. Not one mention of God in that. Not one mention of Jesus Christ in that," Pitts remarks. "That's just my message, said Osteen."
Wow!!! No commentary from me needed on that one.
Quote #6
On Larry King Live – aired June 20, 2005
KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?
KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?
OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...
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. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.
This is a huge problem. The Bible could not be more clear on this issue. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Those who reject the Jesus of scripture and what it teaches, have rejected the only way to heaven. You cannot love God and reject His Son.
To pretend to be a minister of the gospel and then not preach that gospel is the very definition of a false prophet.
This is a huge problem. The Bible could not be more clear on this issue. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Those who reject the Jesus of scripture and what it teaches, have rejected the only way to heaven. You cannot love God and reject His Son.
To pretend to be a minister of the gospel and then not preach that gospel is the very definition of a false prophet.
Please don’t listen to Joel Osteen. Don’t buy his books, don’t propagate his false message. He is a false prophet.
2 comments:
Yes, I can't believe so many people believe Joel Osteen. How dare he preach about the forgiveness of a loving god and the possibility of multiple paths. Christians need to rise up against him. God is harsh and people should know so. We should reject all those that do not accept Jesus Christ and ultimately destroy all those that get in our way. We need less tolerance and love and more holy wars and condemnation of sinners.
Dear Anonymous,
You sarcasm is very intolerant, unaccepting and condemning of my view.
The real gospel is not always pleasant and fun, but it is Truth. God is loving and forgiving. He cannot be forgiving if we have nothing to be forgiven of. Sin is real. God says that the justice our sin has earned is death and hell. Those are things that many pastors just don't want to talk about. That is spiritually dangerous.
Read the gospel accounts of Jesus' own words. The loving, forgiving Jesus says this, "Unless you repent, you will perish." Luke 13:3
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