60 Minutes on Life Coach Joel Osteen
This is a fitting and necessary article on the heels of 60 Minutes interview with Pastor Joel Osteen that aired last evening. You can watch the entire broadcast in its entirety at CBS.com. Joel comes off as a very endearing and likeable man. In this interview he considers himself more of a life-coach or motivational speaker than a pastor. But what is unique and at the same time disturbing, is that he is doing this under the title of pastor within the context of local church ministry. The Scriptures define the primary duty of any pastor is not motivation or being a life-coach, but to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2).To read Lakewood's simple statement of faith is to read a statement common to most evangelical churches, especially within the SBC. There is nothing unorthodox about the faith or the gospel as they outline them there. They call people to repent of their sins, to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, they recognize the inerrancy and authority of God's Word, affirm the Trinity, etc.But once you move beyond that statement there are noticeable red flags. The emphasis in Joel's ministry, according to his own words, is more of a focus on the self in serving God as opposed to serving God alone. He makes faith more about us than about the worship of the One Triune God. IOW, the best life now is not simply knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and worshipping Him daily (Phil. 3:6-11), but rather having a better job, a bigger home, more money, etc.Hope is a centerpiece, key word in Joel's ministry vocabulary. It is a great word and a biblical one too. I have written about this great hope we have in Christ before here. But he uses it primarily in the temporal and not in the eternal sense. Many of us greatly desire that he was expressing this hope in its biblical context and not through a capitalistic one. One passage that clearly defines and illustrates this so powerfully is 1 Peter 1:4-7 where the Apostle says,

1Pet. 1:3-9 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

Notice that this hope has nothing to do with our environment, personal success or comfort, things that we possess, or our station in life; but it has everything to do with the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter calls it a living hope, obtained through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the surety of that hope in our inheritance is unshakable: it is imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, reserved in heaven, and protected by the power of God. Now that's hope beloved!My prayer and exhortation to Joel would be to unfold your church's statement of faith into the daily the practice of your ministry, preaching, events, and writing. Make Christ glorious and the central focus of all things so much so that He eclipses any desire for the things of this world. To find your greatest worth and joy in proclaiming and living in His glory, His holiness; His gospel; His exaltation; and His worship.
IOW: It's not about us; it's all about Him. Amen?So... is Joel preaching a false gospel? Not according to their church's statement of faith. But it is fair to say that the message he is offering believers in their walk with the Lord is not one that is entirely Christless; but one that is virtually cross-less and not in line with biblical Christianity. He is dangerously close to drifting away into "a faith" that doesn't require the gospel as being essential at all. As Michael Horton called it, "a candy-coated gospel." Pastor Joel is clearly representing a temporal hope and material promise of possessions, prominence, and promotion that is not rooted in the gospel or in God's Word. To follow Jesus in Paul's day meant the loss of all things not the increase of all things. Consider these sobering words:

"To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now." -1 Cor. 4:11-13

God is not our celestial Monty Hall, beloved, giving us door number one, door number two or door number three. He is not a divine genie that we rub to get our deepest wishes and desires. He is not someone we approach to obtain things… It is not even about me realizing or even reaching my full potentiality. It is about "denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him." It begins with our submission to the call of the gospel and to serve Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. It is about spending time in His Word and living uprightly in obedience to that truth before Him and our neighbor.May we all be able to say with Paul this day, "as having nothing yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:10b) because Jesus Christ is our all in all - even if we have very little in the bank or by way of material possessions. Beloved, we need to find their deepest contentment in Him and not in the comfort of this world.With this in mind, here is this timely article by J.C. Ryle on the theme "are you born again?" What is the evidence of truly knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior? This is a must read and I heartily commend it to you.May I encourage you to pray for Joel Osteen that his eyes would be opened to the contentment that is found in Christ alone.In His Matchless Grace,StevePhil. 3:6-11