I commented on this a while back, but now that we are mired deeper in our worldwide economic dilemma I have returned to an article on the ministry of Joel Osteen, “God Wants Me to Be Rich,” from the August issue of Conde Nast Portfolio. Can everyone say, “prosperity gospel revisited?”
They are really packing them in at Lakewood Church in Houston. Over 40,000 regular attendees swoon over the words of their “Reverend Feelgood” and why not? Most of those regular congregants face high gas prices, swollen credit card balances, possible mortgage issues, and job insecurity. We deserve to hear a great message of hope, to hear what we deserve, to hear an encouraging word on our situation.
But a closer look may reveal that Americans still look to Scripture for answers, especially to those large questions about their finances. This is good—God wants us to look to Him for answers, for help, for trust, for mercy. These represent those attributes of our Heavenly Father that make us run to Him over and over again through life.
Can one man soothe the suffering? Does Osteen bring anything new to the plate that helps us understand the care of our Lord in these troubled times? We might want to examine closely the words of all of our spiritual leaders as we move through this part of history together. Do they invoke Scripture as support for their position? Do they defer to the masses over tricky doctrinal issues that deserve closer attention? Are they avoiding the issues in order to remain popular?
One thing for sure—many of our spiritual leaders today have perfected their “branding.” Osteen made his brand the “inspiration brand.” I am waiting to hear from someone who says he has been “branded by God.”
The next generation deserves better and we must encourage them to embrace a biblical perspective on the economy and their personal financial situation. It seems easy to talk about what we deserve; it is harder to talk about what we should give up for the sake of the Kingdom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Yet, over 50% of our church budget is devoted to administration. These preachers have it made. Budget cuts are made everywhere but at the top. The church kind of looks like GM, AIG, GE, etc. We will not deal with the wealthy pastorate until the last thing. If you will look at Scripture, you will notice that the apostles and early church leaders were not wealthy. Wehave gone the way of Babalyon.
Post a Comment