Picking on Joel Osteen

Posted on October 18, 2007 by me

Why is everyone picking on Joel Osteen? Now, I have a reputation of being rather hard to please (I don’t know where that comes from, by the way. I like a lot of things. I guess it’s just that when I don’t like something, I’m pretty upfront about it.), but I have to admit, I like Joel Osteen. And, I can’t figure out why so many Christian bloggers and leaders dislike him so much.

I started catching Mr. Osteen on TV about 3 years ago, as I’d be flipping channels late in the evening. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a program from start to finish, and I can’t even tell you what channel or when he’s on. But, whenever I catch him I am compelled to watch, if only for a few minutes. I just happen to like him.

After catching him a few times, I realized that for one thing, he’s an excellent speaker. He speaks slowly and deliberately, taking time to address various sections of the 30,000 people in the stadium (when I first started watching, his church wasn’t nearly that big). He is also very honest, making himself the brunt of his jokes, and generally lifting up his wife in the process (that’s actually unusual – most pastors I’ve seen tend to use their families as object lessons, displaying their faults for the church to see, and I hate that). And, he’s positive; he either makes me feel better than I had a few minutes earlier, or he’s convinced me that I’ve got to change my attitude (which makes me feel better, too). So what’s not to like? My wife didn’t care for him at first, until one particular message caught her attention. She still doesn’t agree with everything she hears from him (not that we listen to him more than a few minutes every once in a while by accident), but she now understands why I like him.

Over the past few months I’ve read a few blog posts which take issue with Osteen; however, as I’ve read through them, I haven’t found much there. Michael Spencer, the internet monk, who I usually like, is pretty blunt: “Again, as I’ve said before, every evangelical leader needs to personally and by name repudiate and separate from Osteen….” Ben Witherington, whom I also like, has also come out against Osteen.

I’ve spent some time searching the web to find out more specifically why people don’t like Osteen, but I haven’t found anything that to me warrants all the vitriol. Granted, he teaches positive thinking. Granted, he doesn’t preach Billy Graham-type messages. But, does he have to? Perhaps he doesn’t think Sunday mornings are the place for evangelistic messages. There are plenty of people who agree with him. Even still, last year alone apparently 18,000 people came forward after the invitations he gives at the end of each sermon. Who’s to say that these people aren’t taught the “proper” gospel after the cameras are turned off? Has anyone actually investigated the church to see what they do with new converts? Does anyone really know what Osteen’s theology is? Are people in Lakewood Bible Church confused about who it is who has saved them? Not that I’ve been able to read. Perhaps he is a heretic; if so, please show me.

Personally, I think people have heard enough “works” based messages, if that’s what these people mean by their complaints that Osteen isn’t “preaching the cross” (which I tend to think it is). Those who believe in a works-based gospel (which according to Paul, is no gospel at all) don’t really believe in the cross. Osteen is not telling folks they can think their way into Heaven (or out of Hell). what Osteen tells people is to change the way they think and act; that their lives will improve as they stop being negative, and stop being jerks. People spend thousands on shrinks to tell them the same things, what’s wrong with hearing it for free?

As much as some may not want to believe this, the Bible is full of Good News. It gives us thousands of years of examples of how to live, and how not to live. Take a look at what Jesus taught- forgive others, love your neighbors, etc. Have you ever seen anyone criticize Jesus for failing to preach “the Gospel” to the Rich Young Ruler? What about when he refused to judge the woman caught in adultery. He merely gave her some good advice, and sent her on her way. Any criticism here?

Again, I’m not saying that Joel Osteen is a great theologian, or that he’s not got some issues. However, I fail to see enough error to justify him being criticized so strongly. if someone thinks that Osteen is failing in some way by not loading folks down with heavy guilt trips, I suggest that they go ahead and gather 30,000 people and tell them themselves. But then, there are plenty of people doing that already.

Posted in Theological Musings | 5 Comments

A song for those who used to go to church

Posted on October 18, 2007 by me

This was not the topic I had planned for today, but sometimes priorities and opportunities are what they are. So, please check out To All the Sheep Who’ve Left the Fold. It’s worth the listen. Trust me.

Posted in Church | 1 Comment

Atheists put less value on love …

Posted on October 17, 2007 by me

Or so says the headline at the National Post (don’t blame me, I didn’t write the headline). The article begins:

A new Canadian survey has found that believers are more likely than atheists to place a higher value on love, patience and friendship, in findings the researcher says could be a warning that Canadians need a religious basis to retain civility in society.

For some time atheists have been saying that they can be just as good and moral as anyone – and according to folks like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, even better. However, prominent Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge has published the findings of a survey of 1600 Canadians about twelve different social values to see if this is actually true. According to a similar article on Digital Journal:

In each case, theist ranked these values (honesty, kindness, family life, being loved, friendship, courtesy, concern for others, forgiveness, politeness, friendliness, patience and generosity) more highly then proclaimed atheists.

Bibby’s conclusions (taken from his own paper) are:

  • People get their values from groups.
  • And people who believe in God are far more likely than atheists to be part of groups that work hard to instill values about being good to other people, and having good relationships.
  • That’s not to say that God-believers always translate their values into action.
  • But they at least are inclined to hold the values.
  • Atheists, on the other hand, do not have as many explicit support groups that are committed to intentionally promoting positive interpersonal life.

Both articles include comments from atheist Justin Trottier, executive director of the Centre for Inquiry Ontario, who says the problem is in defining what is meant by values: ““To me, scientific thinking is a value. Critical thinking is a value. Open inquiry is my biggest value. If he made those values – the way atheists would – he would have gotten different responses.” A very perceptive response, which also makes the point that apparently without religion, things like honesty, kindness, forgiveness, patience and generosity cease to be considered values. But, who needs those when we have open inquiry.

What I find really intriguing is the suggestion that the non-religious folks are “borrowing moral capital” from a generally religious society. That is, society values goodness and so on due to its religious heritage, and so these values are still to some extent held in common by most people, atheists included. If we ever were to take away that Theistic moral witness, arguably society would go to hell in a handbasket over time.

However, the current disparity between values held by Theists versus atheists is quite notable, especially when it comes down to forgiveness, which ranked as 84% for the Theists (a bit low, actually – concerning in itself) and only 52% for atheists. Apparently, atheism means never having to say you’re sorry. And, forget feeding the poor; only 37% of atheists believed generosity was a value. Oh well, perhaps critical thinking will solve the problem before the Theists all die off.

But, what can we really tell from this survey? Basically, it would seem that Canadians as a whole are an honest bunch, but are generally stingy and impatient. This survey is, of course, limited to Canadians, so I’m not drawing any conclusions whatsoever about American Theists and atheists. I’m sure we’d all fare much better.

Posted in Faith, Science & Doubt, Random Thoughts | 3 Comments

By the way, about those problems with Darwinism…

Posted on October 15, 2007 by me

Darwinists have been known to say that adaptationism is the best idea anybody has ever had. It would be a good joke if the best idea that anybody has ever had turned out not to be true.

From Jerry Fodor’s article in the London Review of Books, Why Pigs Don’t Have Wings.

And yes, he doesn’t believe in God, either. That’s precisely my point. I won’t comment any further, just suggest you go read the article yourself. But, one final teaser quote:

Induction over the history of science suggests that the best theories we have today will prove more or less untrue at the latest by tomorrow afternoon. In science, as elsewhere, ‘hedge your bets’ is generally good advice.

Posted in Faith, Science & Doubt | 3 Comments