Joel Osteen: Modern Christianity Without Christ

Like so many other critics I have profound difficulty with the deceptive teachings of prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen. I fully agree with Dr. Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn in his evaluation of Osteen's new book "Become A Better You" for which Osteen got a multi-million dollar book contract. Horton's assessment:

"Make no mistake about it, behind all of the smiles, there is a thorough-going religion of works-righteousness: "God's plan for each of our lives is that we continually rise to new levels. But how high we go in life, and how much of God's favor and blessings we experience, will be directly related to how well we follow His directions." God "is waiting for your obedience so He can release more of His favor and blessings in your life...My question to you is: How high do you want to rise? Do you want to continue to increase? Do you want to see more of God's blessings and favor? If so, the higher we go, the more disciplined we must be; the quicker we must obey." "You don't get the grace unless you step out. You have to make the first move. God will see that step of faith and He'll give you supernatural strength to help you overcome any obstacles standing in the way of doing the right thing...Remember: How high you go in life will be directly related to how obedient your are."

How absolutely in contrast to what the Bible teaches about repentance, faith, grace and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Even TIME Magazine called him a prosperity preaching wolf.

Most unnerving for Osteen's critics is the suspicion that they are fighting not just one idiosyncratic misreading of the gospel but something more daunting: the latest lurch in Protestantism's ongoing descent into full-blown American materialism.

To be sure, the Bible does promise victory and hope, but not in the way Osteen proclaims it.

Let's take a look at what Isaiah, the true prophet of God, has to say.

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." - Isa 25:6-9 ESV

The prophet presents us with an astounding vision, a vision that grew out of an era of devastation and destruction. The glory days of King David and his son Solomon were gone, gone, gone. Step by step the worship of idols, greed, pride, jealousy and hate divided the great kingdom of Israel into minor, warring northern and southern states. Weakened by internal strife, the chosen people became a wide open prize for Babylon, the rising world power to the northeast. Because of Israel's widespread apostasy and disobedience, the LORD had withdrawn His loving hand of protection. Towards the end of the seventh century before Christ, both kingdoms ceased to exist. Those who survived the destruction of their homes and villages and the mass murder of their families were dragged off into slavery by the rapacious Babylonians.  The prophet Jeremiah pronounced God's judgment upon them:

This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. - Jer 25:11-12 ESV

A glimmer of hope out there in the future, but for generation after generation they had to face the loss of everything. Psalm 137 describes it well.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? - Psa 137:1-4 ESV

How could both Jeremiah and Isaiah offer hope to these helpless slaves? Was it because they had suddenly started doing the right thing? Was it because they now made a decision to become disciplined and ready to follow God's directions? Was it because they realized they were as far down as they could ever be and so finally decided to go higher? Was the promise of feasting on rich food and fine wine their's if only they had the internal guts to reach for it? Would tears and hate become a thing of the past if only they claimed the victory? Was God only waiting for their obedience so that He could release His favor and blessings into their lives?

How absolutely, totally and radically stupid a thing to say and to teach! In my next post I want to help you to understand that repentance, remorse and contrition for disobedience follow from and flow out of God's grace. God's grace, mercy and blessings are not, cannot and will not ever be a result of our decisions. We can make no bargains with Him. As the blessed Apostle John says,

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. -       1John 4:18-19 ESV

But more on this next time.