"So then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ"
(Romans 10:17)
Over the past few years, after Joel Osteen began to emerge as the pastor of one of America’s largest and fastest growing Evangelical congregations, I have attempted to carefully listen to and evaluate what Mr. Osteen is really teaching.
During this process, I have witnessed the international emergence of a dynamic and personable young man who is obviously a gifted speaker with a tremendous ability to connect with his audiences on an energetic interpersonal level.
The great crowds that are now pouring into his church each Sunday seem to believe that Joel Osteen is providing something much different than the normative Evangelical Churches seen in the Bible- Belt in Southwestern Americana.
While Joel Osteen has gained enormous popularity and astronomical personal wealth in recent years, unfortunately, Mr. Osteen’s theological views are not as doctrinally robust as the overflowing and insatiable avid crowds that relentlessly throng to his Church each Lord’s Day in his native Houston Texas.
It is not that Joel Osteen’s theology is non-existent, on the contrary, Joel Osteen has a very pronounced and well defined Pop Psychology and motivational theological position, that when carefully investigated and weighed against the explicit teachings of God’s infallible Word, Mr. Osteen’s teachings fall far short of what is expected from an ordained preaching pastor who is called to preach the Word without compromise (2 Timothy 4:1-5).
When thoroughly scrutinized by God’s inerrant Word, Joel Osteen has more in common with such titans of the motivational speaking circuit as Anthony Robbins and Suze Orman than the traditional Bible teaching and preaching pastor that many of us Evangelical Christians have grown accustomed to.
However, Mr. Osteen’s lack of adherence to the traditional model of Evangelical pastor-teacher does not necessarily prove the heretical nature of the theological foundation and reservoir from which Joel Osteen largely draws and develops his motivational talks that propel his ministry and sensational following in over 100 different countries.
Because of the great difficulty one faces in sifting through all the pop psychology nonsense Joel Osteen imparts to find the crux of his theological perspective, I am going to temporarily withhold final judgment on Osteen’s theological orthodoxy and spend the next several months pouring over his book and taped messages in order to carefully evaluate his theology.
Yet, after hearing Joel Osteen preach on television on several occasions in the past, I am greatly troubled by the lack of genuine expository Biblical preaching and teaching and lack of true Evangelical Christian theology outlined in his messages. It appears that Mr. Osteen has greatly benefited from the fact that his church is found deeply embedded in the Bible-Belt and often uses the outward form of traditional Southern style Evangelical Christianity, all the while at once jettisoning the very doctrinal content of that Southern Evangelical tradition, in order to preach a self-help motivational type message devoid of the true redemptive elements of Evangelical Protestantism with roots in the Protestant Reformation. To be continued….
(Romans 10:17)
Over the past few years, after Joel Osteen began to emerge as the pastor of one of America’s largest and fastest growing Evangelical congregations, I have attempted to carefully listen to and evaluate what Mr. Osteen is really teaching.
During this process, I have witnessed the international emergence of a dynamic and personable young man who is obviously a gifted speaker with a tremendous ability to connect with his audiences on an energetic interpersonal level.
The great crowds that are now pouring into his church each Sunday seem to believe that Joel Osteen is providing something much different than the normative Evangelical Churches seen in the Bible- Belt in Southwestern Americana.
While Joel Osteen has gained enormous popularity and astronomical personal wealth in recent years, unfortunately, Mr. Osteen’s theological views are not as doctrinally robust as the overflowing and insatiable avid crowds that relentlessly throng to his Church each Lord’s Day in his native Houston Texas.
It is not that Joel Osteen’s theology is non-existent, on the contrary, Joel Osteen has a very pronounced and well defined Pop Psychology and motivational theological position, that when carefully investigated and weighed against the explicit teachings of God’s infallible Word, Mr. Osteen’s teachings fall far short of what is expected from an ordained preaching pastor who is called to preach the Word without compromise (2 Timothy 4:1-5).
When thoroughly scrutinized by God’s inerrant Word, Joel Osteen has more in common with such titans of the motivational speaking circuit as Anthony Robbins and Suze Orman than the traditional Bible teaching and preaching pastor that many of us Evangelical Christians have grown accustomed to.
However, Mr. Osteen’s lack of adherence to the traditional model of Evangelical pastor-teacher does not necessarily prove the heretical nature of the theological foundation and reservoir from which Joel Osteen largely draws and develops his motivational talks that propel his ministry and sensational following in over 100 different countries.
Because of the great difficulty one faces in sifting through all the pop psychology nonsense Joel Osteen imparts to find the crux of his theological perspective, I am going to temporarily withhold final judgment on Osteen’s theological orthodoxy and spend the next several months pouring over his book and taped messages in order to carefully evaluate his theology.
Yet, after hearing Joel Osteen preach on television on several occasions in the past, I am greatly troubled by the lack of genuine expository Biblical preaching and teaching and lack of true Evangelical Christian theology outlined in his messages. It appears that Mr. Osteen has greatly benefited from the fact that his church is found deeply embedded in the Bible-Belt and often uses the outward form of traditional Southern style Evangelical Christianity, all the while at once jettisoning the very doctrinal content of that Southern Evangelical tradition, in order to preach a self-help motivational type message devoid of the true redemptive elements of Evangelical Protestantism with roots in the Protestant Reformation. To be continued….
