Feb 112008
Joel Osteen on 60 Minutes via Yahoo News. Here are the video permalinks:
He’s the most popular preacher in America, with his services attended by thousands and seen by more than 7 million viewers around the world on television each week. But just eight years ago, Joel Osteen was virtually unknown, a college dropout working behind the scenes producing his father’s television ministry. Watch the video.
The Gospel according to Joel Osteen
- Unrealistic? Is Osteen a preacher or another Dr. Phil? » View Video
- A Worship Facility: A podium, not a pulpit! » View Video
- His Service: Part rock concert, part spectacular » View Video
- Making It Right: Using the edit room to smooth out a sermon » View Video
The man and his message
- Prosperity Gospel » Watch Clip
- Misleading & Shallow? » Watch Clip
- No Mention Of God? » Watch Clip
- Religious Roots » Watch Clip
Behind the scenes
- A Punctual Preacher: Osteen is always on time >> Watch Clip
The worship facility, formerly the Houston Rockets home arena has a very cool light show in the ceiling.
my professor dr. michael horton was interviewed for that piece. the interviewer went to him first before going to osteen. turns out, he crypted all his questions from my professor. the most inspiring thing is that the producer of the piece was very interested in Christianity and more specifically what dr. horton had to say. the follow up is that he got invited to be flown out to NY to further the conversation and according to dr. horton she was close to becoming a Christian.
in regards to osteen himself, i agree with dr. horton on the substance of the message. my question though has to deal with, “has anyone approached osteen on his error?” i mean, he could be a very sincere person who has been misled by the only gospel he’s heard all his life… meaning the health and wealth prosperity gospel. it’s totally crazy to me, but yet this is his world view and what he’s known all his life…
i hope someone reaches him with the gospel message and the importance of preaching that message and teach him how to use Scripture instead of opening it up like a fortune cookie.
wow. i don’t know what happened, but i tried to leave a reply and it disappeared. oh well.
anyways, i was trying to say dr. horton is a professor of mine and that the cbs people interviewed him before osteen. they crypted all of their questions from my professor. the producer was really interested in Christianity through a whole day’s worth of taping (of which they only used like 30 seconds). it’s amazing, but dr. horton got invited out to NY for dinner to further the conversation. hopefully the Lord will bring her to Him through the gospel soon.
in regards to osteen, i wonder if anyone actually tried to teach him properly in preaching. i mean, all he knows is this health wealth prosperity gospel. that’s his world view, his reality, and so of course he’ll preach it that way… the bible is a fortune cookie in the way he preaches, so i agree with dr. horton all the way on his take… but it’d be awesome if osteen would be willing to go to seminary and get trained to preach the gospel instead of preaching investment and return through the church.
it was sad though to see the interviewer had no remorse for osteen. he gave him hard questions and gave him an even harder time when he wasn’t satisfied with his answers. i mean, the guy cried… anyways… perhaps the whole story is not told in the interview, but at least its sad to see how many people defend the guy who are not Christians. i mean, the gospel itself says that Jesus is the only way to God. if that was what he preached, i doubt that they would be so quick to defend because the gospel “offends”.
It seems to me that Osteen is the perfect embodiment of Christianity in the West, -except he doesn’t mention Jesus enough. In a sense he is what most Churches on Sunday hope for; attendance, production, engagement, positive contribution to the civic realm. Each of those videos you posted seems to present an aspect of church life that people are falling over themselves to implement somewhere. He’s relevant, he’s seeker sensitive, etc. Give Osteen credit for not claiming to be equipped to teach hermeneutics! Most churches should be so lucky….:)
In short, he has drawn deeply from the wells of American notions of christened success. He is our fruit. Of course nobody owns that- we each think we are far more dedicated to the gospel than that “sell out ” and then go to churches where we fret about attendance, push for “crusades”, pressing our young people to be diligent and successful. While I do not care for Osteen’s message, I find the evangelical disdain for him hypocritical and of greater concern for we forget ourselves as we point.
though i don’t disagree with the criticism of the Christianity of the West, i do think we need to keep an eye on people who do not preach the gospel. that is the life message of the church. sure, i think that people want attendance, production, engagement, and positive contributions to the civic realm… however, as a “pastor” there is much more than the here and now. it is also about the “not yet” aspect of the Kingdom of God. i don’t think there’s anything hypocritical about being critical of a brother in the faith (if he is one at all).
truth be told, we are open to criticize those in our camps because the Bible tells us that Christians must be judged upon Christian standards. as a matter of fact, non-Christians can judge Christians based on Christian standards.
sure, we can say that he is what american Christians want… but i think that just because they want something, doesn’t mean that it’s right. that’s why i say that we must follow the Father’s instruction set forth before us in the canon of Scripture. ultimately, when we read the Scriptures as well we see that this is the same message that has turned so many people off in this world. the gospel is cutting. it’s not pretty. and it certainly is not a crowd pleasing spectacle… and this is the gospel Christians are supposed to hold dear to their hearts till death. i mean, the apostle paul as a church planter would be considered a failure in today’s conception of success. people forget that paul suffered, was stoned, beaten, and driven out because he held no punches when it came to the gospel… which was his only message to believers and sufficient for their lives.
and sure, he’s admitted to not being equipped to do hermeneutics… but as a pastor, shouldn’t he at least try? he is supposed to hold the “ordained” office of elder. he has responsibilities towards teaching the Word of God above other people.
if he is a brother in Christ i think that it’s not only proper, but pertinent that he be confronted with this responsibility so that he has an opportunity to positively affect change for the Kingdom of God and also stay that higher judgment upon himself when he faces our Lord. conversely, i think we will be held to that same standard as to why we didn’t “love” our brother to tell him that he should be preaching the gospel that our church fathers as well as our heavenly Father has put before us time and again. it’s not hypocrisy then if we do it in love… it’s just love.
amazing how many people i’ve met who say “I like Joel Osteen” even though they don’t like to have any _other_ contact with church, religion, the Bible, etc. Personally, I’ve read about him, and read bits out of some of his books, but I feel I need to go to his church to really understand what the attraction is (I’m curious).