Leading Them Astray

I'll preface this blog post by saying that several of my readers will probably not like this. Understand that this is how I feel about this subject. I believe that scriptural evidence backs up my belief. If you take a different position than mine, that's your prerogative. I'll gladly talk about this with anyone.

That said, Joel Osteen is defrauding millions of people and leading them astray.



Just watch the video. (Please note, I do not necessarily support Wretched.tv. I'm using the video mostly for the interaction of Osteen and Oprah. In fact, you can pause the video after their segment, if you like. Though the host does go on to reveal what Romans 5:17 actually says.)

They quote Romans 5:17 as a statement that God sees us as kings and queens who are supposed to reign. They use the term reign in the sense of us having power over the things around us. That's all well and good (even though it's not) until you realize that it is not necessarily the will of God that everyone be rich and famous. In fact, Jesus more often than not told those with wealth to give away all that they had, to deny their connections to this Earth, and follow after Him.

But according to Osteen, and the preachers of the prosperity gospel, we're supposed to be wallowing in worldly goods and materialism as part of God's blessing. They twist the words of the Bible to fit their theology. They claim that Jesus was rich on this Earth, as that was the only way He could travel about and carry out His ministry. You know who else is free to just wander about? Homeless people. If Jesus was rich, why did He say "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."(Luke 9:58)

Here's the problem with the idea of prosperity gospel teaching...what if you don't get rich? Does that mean that God didn't bless you? No. In fact, the Bible is pretty clear that a Christian life is not an easy one. It's clear that we won't always have great wealth. It makes it abundantly clear to followers of God's word that, if we lay up our treasures in Heaven, then that's where our heart will be. If we lay up our treasure on Earth, as the prosperity gospel teaches, then our hope lies in Earth. And through Peter's writing we're taught that the Earth is set aside to an eventual destruction with a "fervent heat," to make way for a new Heaven and a new Earth.

But Osteen and the other prosperity preachers have brought a message about declaring their desires, a "name it, claim it" faith, which is ridiculous when propped up against the gospel as presented in the Bible. They uphold the prayer of Jabez as a symbol to Christians that we should all have great wealth, but they seem to avoid the precursor scripture that claims Jabez to be a righteous man. If those with wealth, as Jesus so plainly put it, will hardly enter into Heaven (a point of calling out desire to hang on to worldly gain, which will separate us from God), then how can that person be righteous. Wealth and righteousness are often, not always, but often, at enmity with each other.

These preachers claim that they're telling us what God's will in our lives is, but the scriptures tell us that it is God's will that "none should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)." How do you teach someone about the necessity of repentance when you're so busy telling them that all God wants to do is shower them with worldly gain?

But that's the Osteen style, I guess. One of his most popular books is titled "Your Best Life Now." If you have any understanding of scripture, then you know that there is no way at all that our life on this Earth can be considered our "best life," seeing as better things are awaiting us in Heaven. If this is your "best life now," then you must be bound for Hell.

According to a 60 Minutes interview, the idea that God is seeking to bless believers with Health, Wealth, and Happiness is the "centerpiece" to every Osteen sermon. He claims that his is a "message of hope." Yet Paul, in delivering instructions to Timothy, stated that he should "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine" (2 Timothy 4:2). Of the three key points Paul lists, two of them are "reprove" and "rebuke." Why? Because even as saved Christians we are still living in a world of sin that we have to constantly be aware of. Even after salvation we can be turned away by the lusts of the world. Just look at the list of all those who abandoned Paul. Most striking in that list is Demas, who turned away "having loved this present world (2 Timothy 4:10).

Osteen has been on Oprah's television show multiple times. He even once found himself in a discussion in which Oprah questioned him on how to get to God. Osteen stated that Jesus was the "way to the one God" but that there were many ways to Jesus. Jesus stated "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). That sounds a lot like only one way.

He claims that people already know what they're doing wrong, so he doesn't have to preach the message of repentance. I guess he missed that part about "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?" (Romans 10:14-15) And that pesky verse in Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Now, some Christians have a hard time standing up against false ministries. They seem to have been convinced, mainly by the world, that a Christian is supposed to be meek, and quiet, and just let the world run over them. But we're told rather explicitly by scripture to stand up against teachings like these.

Romans 16:17 states "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

2 John 10-11 states "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." We're not supposed to take part with those that abandon the true gospel. We're not even supposed to wish them well, or bid God to bless them, because the word they bring is false.

Paul warns on many occasions that we should look out for people bringing another gospel, or another Christ. Osteen approves of people of claim other ways to God than the one laid out in the Bible. We're supposed to love these people, and desire to see them come to repentance. That does not mean we have to love their doctrines or ideas on theology. The world has tried to convince people that just because you disagree with someone's philosophy means you hate that person. That's not the case.

The gospel is the good news of God. That good news isn't that God is going to fatten your bank account. It isn't that God is going to bless you with a million dollars if you give your favorite TV preacher a thousand dollars. No, the good news of God is that Jesus Christ, God in the form of a man, came to this Earth and walked a more than perfect life in order to fulfill the Law. He gave His life on a cross in order to make atonement for us. He arose from the grave and ascended to Heaven, where He now sits on the right hand of God, making intercession for a lost people seeking salvation.

If you have more money than your neighbor then thank God for it, but also understand that if God blesses you with more, then He expects more out of you. Each person born again into the family of God has a work to do. It's hard to tell people about the job God has for them when you're so busy begging them for money and tricking them by standing in a fountain and pouring "holy water" over your wallet to make them think God will bless that.

Again, if you don't like this, I'm glad to talk to you. These are my beliefs based on my interpretation of the scripture, brought about through praying and meditating on the word of God.