My Confession



You see this guy? This guy is the opposite of me.

He is white..... I am brown

He is rich .... I am poor

He is the pastor of the biggest church in North America.... I am the pastor of the smallest church in North America.

He is a best selling author.... I write this blog.

And here is my confession - I LIKE JOEL OSTEEN. Augh... the secret is out!!!

I know, I know - I am supossed to be the emergent, missional guy with the funny church that meets in a coffee shop. I'm supossed to like other hipster pastors with cool t-shirts and funky glasses like Rob Bell or Erwin McManus.

The truth is, I like Osteen. And the reason is this - he is the most motivating, positive guy I have ever heard. He is probably the worst preacher I have ever heard - he uses motivating biblical verses and stories to proof text his own particular brand of motivational speaking. He even admitted as much on a recent 60 minutes program. He actually said that his calling is to make people feel better and not explain the Bible to them.

So, I'm not sure if you can call him a pastor then. Listen to him - I challenge you to listen to an entire sermon and not feel better after.

His sermons are like pep talks to get what you want out of life. There is no talk about sacrifice or discipleship. If you listened ONLY to his sermons, and no one else for a year, you probably still would never know that Jesus Christ was the atoning sacrifice for your sins.

So, if a pastor preaches sermons that consistently neglect the primary message of redemption, can he still be considered an authentic biblical preacher?

His messages make me feel good. Is that bad?

Comments

Derek Vreeland said…
I concur.

I don't necessarily like Osteen, but I concur with your sentiment.

Joel's messages are good for what they are. THey give people hope. They make people feel good. Is there anything wrong with giving people hope? Certainly not. So it is not bad that you like him. A little weird, but not bad.

You are right to say that his messages are not the gospel. There is a subtle danger in watch he preaches if we assume this is the gospel. As long as people realize that you cannot only drink from his "well," then they should be alright.

Derek

P.S. I do admire your glasses...they are a pretty funky!
6:19 AM
Jeff Logan said…
Jeff and I were just debating/discussing Joel last night. I agree with you. Jeff is pretty hard on him (he's just jealous cause he wishes he looked like Joel)
12:15 PM
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