Ouch Mr. Hart, that Hurt

DG Hart posted his Old Life blog today:

"Reformed Protestants are generally dismissive (or worse) of prosperity gospels. They know, at least intuitively, that suffering is part of the Christian life and that calculating God’s favor on the basis of material well being is not good theology...And yet, when Reformed Protestants pray, or at least when they make prayer requests, our desires generally run along the lines of Joel Osteen. Which sort of upends Benjamin Warfield’s remark that every Christian on his knees is a good Calvinist. His point that when praying every believer is acknowledging the sovereignty of God. But he didn’t ask what believers were praying for and whether it conformed to God’s revealed will. We pray for surgeries, broken ankles, test results, catastrophe survivors, and the unemployed. None of these concerns are of themselves illegitimate. Jesus does tell his disciples not to worry about their physical needs, not because they are unimportant but because if God provides for the lilies of the field then he’s likely to care even more for his children. And yet, that passage in Matthew 6 concludes with the importance of seeking first the kingdom of God and then all these other things will be added"

Oh, that chaps my cheeks - but probably because there's more than a grain of truth in it.

"....by my count only one of the six petitions [of the Lord's prayer] has to do with material needs – “give us this day our daily bread.” The others concern God (his glory, church, and will) and man’s sin (forgiveness, and temptation). By my math that works out to roughly 17 percent of our prayers being devoted to physical needs. And yet, when we listen or read the requests for prayer in most congregations, the percentage tilts almost in the exact opposite direction, with God and sin receiving about 17 percent of our requests."

Why Piper (and I) Abominate the Prosperity Gospel!

There is plenty I disagree with Piper on, but I stand with him in his repudiation of the prosperity gospel. It is a plague on the Christian church and a dangerous one at that. Here's Piper's reasoning as to why he hates it so much:

Osteen's Alternative Gospel

Yesterday I finished up chapter 3 of Horton's book Christless Christianity. The chapter, "Smooth talking and Christless Christianity", is a detailed expose/refutation of Joel Osteen's theology - if you can really call it that. It wasn't what I expected when I picked up the book, but it was a good reminder of how unbiblical, pervasive, and dangerous the 'health & wealth'/'name it and claim it' brand of Christianity is.

It's the 'dangerous' element that struck me with a new weight as I read Horton yesterday. This is true at the corporate level (we celebrate the explosion of the church in the 2/3rds world, yet Horton points out that much of this explosion is of this 'health and wealth' variety where no real gospel is preached at all) and at the individual level. We laugh at Osteen and those who drink in his sweet drivel. The message Osteen preaches leaves people feeling good about themselves and their relationship with God. Osteen is never condemning, always positive, ready to encourage and tell people to live up to their potential as 'children of the Most High God'. While he seems like a nice guy, this message is utterly cruel on several levels.

First, as there is no preaching of sin and God's just condemnation of sinners, there is no sense in which Christ is offered (even needed) as one's mediator and atoning sacrifice. Horton writes, "There is no condemnation in Osteen's message for failing to fulfill God's righteous law. On the other hand, there is no justification. Instead of either message, there is an upbeat moralism that is somewhere in the middle: Do your best, follow the instructions I give you, and God will make your life successful." He continues, "...there is a determination to assimilate the gospel to law, an announcement of victory to a call to be victorious, indicatives to imperatives, Good News to good advice. The bad news may not be as bad as it used to be, but the Good News is just a softer version of the bad news: Do more. But this time, it's easy! and if you fail, don't worry. God just wants you to do your best. He'll take care of the rest." Horton does an excellent job detailing the various ways sin has been trivialized in Osteen's (and other like him) preaching and writing. It has lost it's vertical element (it's not sin against God). It's even lost its horizontal element (it's not against a neighbor). Essentially sin is against self - not living up to potential, robbing oneself of God's best for our lives, etc. In this climate, salvation isn't legal, it's therapaudic. The question is, 'how do I feel better about myself and get more out of life', not 'how can a sinner be right with God'. No one is being urged to repent of sin and throw themselves at the feet of Jesus pleading for mercy before a just judge. There at thousand, tens of thousands, of people who have heard Osteen preach and think they are ok with God because they're doing their best, or at least close to it, most of the time.

Essentially, the Gospel has been turned into a salvation by working (doing your best, obeying the instructions, etc.). This is also incredibly cruel. Horton comments, "to those who are burned out on trying to merit God's favor, Osteen's only answer - though said with a smile - is to do more. 'Believe more for your miracle and God will turn it around.' Is this the kinder, gentler God or a more than slightly sinister tyrant who keeps raising the hoops for us to jump through before he gives us what we want."

Moreover, it's cruel because it teaches people that all their problems are because they don't believe enough - even genetic problems. Horton quotes a sermon by Osteen (hard to believe he wasn't sued by the diabetes foundation): "you need to put your foot down and say, 'Grandmother may have had it [diabetes]. Mother may have had it. But as for me and my house, we're redeemed from diabetes. I'm going to live under the blessing and not the curse...This type of blessing is for believers, not doubters." Osteen's theology is utterly unable to deal with pain and loss in life, simply adding more to it by pointing the finger at the suffering individual telling them it's their fault - they should have more faith and stop being the doubting Thomas.

Finally, it's cruel because it robs people of the ultimately glory we have been promised and offers them instead cheap substitutes that tarnish, rust and get moth eathen. Instead of offering deliverance from God's eternal wrath and everlasting life free from pain, sin and death, Osteen offers salvation from feeling bad about ourselves and unhappiness. Horton quotes CS Lewis, "I haven't always been a Christian. I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle fo Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."

A fair chunk of this chapter is a reproduction of an essay Horton wrote a couple of years ago (Oct. 2007) after being interviewed on 60 minutes about Osteen. Looking ahead at the next chapter I don't see Osteen's name anywhere...but I do see McLaren. I'll keep you posted!

Why I hate the prosperity gospel so much, part 2

I'm writing this post while watching Joel Osteen on TV. No joke. I was bored by the football game so I started flipping. He's going on and on about not being just an average 5, but focusing on where you can be a 10. Blah, blah, bull.

Watching him, however, reminded me about this post series. So here's the first reason I hate the prosperity gospel - it makes he hesitant to preach great gospel truths. This week, Bob and I both preached truth's that I could hear Joel preaching.
I preached, in part, about God's delighting in his children, and that God brings great gifts to his children. I hope I ended somewhere on the oppostite pole of where Joel would end. I talked about God's gift of salvation. Joel would talk about God's gift of a nice life. It almost causes me to balk and not preach on truths like this for fear of being lumped in with ear tickling preachers like Joel.

I know Bob had a similar thought. When he told me his sermon title, "Claiming your Rightful Heritage", he asked, "Or does that sound too much like an Osteen message?". I affirmed it was a good title, but also told him that if I heard him say even once that we have royal blood coarsing through our veins, I'd have to throw a hymnal at him. Tonight, Bob said, "you can't fail". You and I knew what he meant. But I can hear Joel saying the same thing, then adding, "go for it. apply for the promotion. sign the mortgage. You can't fail. You are a child of the most high God".

I hate the fact that in the back of my mind, anytime I talk about our heritage or our power or our destinies or God's love for us, I have the immediate impulse to say, "I don't mean...". At the same time, I refuse to allow the prosperity preachers get a corner on the market of great gospel truths. I won't allow them to own and pervert them. I'll keep loving them, meditating on them, being moved by them, and commending them to others.

Why I hate the prosperity gospel so much, pt 1

First, let me acknowledge that the word hate has already turned some of you off. I get it. It’s because we’ve been taught, even by our churches, that there are good emotions and bad emotions. Anger and hatred are bad emotions. Love and joy are good emotions. Not true. Emotions are right or wrong based on their congruence with a situation. If my wife says to me, “Honey, I love you”, and I feel anger – that would be an improper emotion. If, on the other hand, I walked by someone strangling a puppy and felt joy, that would be an improper, sick emotion (unless it was a Chihuahua, which isn’t really a puppy, it’s a rodent).

So please understand my hatred is, I believe, congruous with the situation – with the damage caused by the prosperity gospel and the threat posed by the prosperity gospel. Moreover, my hatred for this false gospel is born out my love. What? That’s right, anger and hatred are the flipside of love. If I love kids, I hate child abuse. If I love justice, I hate injustice. If I love the gospel, I’ll hate perversions of it. If I love the church, I’ll hate false teachings that weaken it. If I love people, I’ll hate lies that threaten to rob them of true joy and even to shipwreck their souls. If I love the glory of God in Christ Jesus, I’ll hate anything that diminishes that glory.

So there I’ve just given you my outline for the next few posts. Before I end this one, I do want to make one comment. Anger and hatred aren’t the only emotions I feel regarding this gospel. When I heard that the most prominent health and wealth preacher grabs an audience of 73 million people per week, I cried. Literally. When I heard that that message is being sent via radio, tv and the world wide web to over 100 countries, I sobbed. When I heard that the Senator Grassley of Iowa was calling for an investigation of several televangelists and their use of the tax codes and their personal gain from their ministries, I honestly didn’t know what to feel. When I see that this is the brand of Christianity that is winning the day around the world, I get so discouraged I want to retreat from anything and everything that is weighty and of eternal significance and hide out with video games, comic books, fantasy football and a cold beer. But, I can’t.

I thank God that I have the wonderful opportunity to work with so many great saints who haven’t been duped. They are a source of encouragement and great joy, and they are one source of God’s grace in my life that keeps me from overwhelming depression.

Michael Horton on Being a Better You

Michael Horton is a better man than me. He actually read past the first chapter of Osteen's book Being a Better You. If you're interested, here's his review.

Be a Better You, chapter 1

Oh my. I realized after chapter one I will never make it through this book - not only because of the horrible theology, but also the style. It is so repetitive. It is so repetitive. Oh, sorry, it's contagious.

The introduction actually begins with a paragraph I could hear myself saying, or Bob saying. Joel reminds his readers that there is an inner voice that says to us, "you were born for better than this". I agree, but I know where Joel is going. He means, you were born for a better job, a better car, a better house or marriage. When I say it, I mean you were born for God (like Augustine meant it).

One of the most painful sentences to read was, "God never performs his greatest feats in your yesterdays". Ah, what about the cross. What about my adoption. I know I'm not finished yet, but the greatest feats have already been accomplished, and guess what, they were accomplished in my past. But again, Joel doesn't have anything of the sort in mind. He means promotions, happiness, dreams coming true, running through fields of wild flowers.

Let me get past this stuff to a much more serious issue - the way Osteen uses Scripture. For example, "The Scripture teaches that we have a valuable treasure on the inside. You have a gift". There is no citation here, but I think he is refering to 2 Corinthians 5:7. It is a great text, but Joel doesn't do it justice. The treasure, according to Paul, is the gospel. According to Joel, its your God given dreams - "Give birth to the dreams and desires that God has placed in your heart".

Here's the worst, and it really shows how Osteen's message undermines the gospel. He discusses the story of Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit and hid because of their nakedness. He writes, "I love the way God answered them. He said, 'Adam, who told you that you were naked?' In other words, 'Who told you that something was wrong with you?' God immediately knew the enemy had been talking to them". On the same page he talks about lies Satan tell us. Um, Joel, there was something wrong with them. They rebelled against the God and King. They plunged humanity and the cosmos into sin and frustration.

The implications are appalling. Joel is, in essence, denying sin. Adam and Eve, you sinned, but there's nothing wrong with you! The truth is, when Satan comes to us and tells us there something wrong with us, he's not lying. There is. We're sinners. He seems to be more Pelagian than Pelagius himself.

One last thing, and maybe you can help me with this. He writes, "Paul responded, ' What if they don't believe? Will their unbelief make the promise of God of no effect in my life?' Paul was sayin, "If other people don't want to believe God for better things in their lives, fine' but that won't keep me from believing. I know the promises of God are in me.'" Where does that come from. No citation, and I can't figure it out.

I Can't Believe I Just Did That!

I was just at Borders Books and I bought Joel Osteen's newest book Becoming a Better You. I don't know if I've ever been embarrassed about a book purchase before, but I felt compelled to explain to the cashier that I wanted to review the book on my blog, not ingest it and be a better me.

As I thumbed through the pages, deciding whether or not to buy the book, I was appalled by Joel's use of Scripture. That's what I want to focus on as I read this book and review it.

My interest in Osteen has been ongoing, mainly because my understanding of the Gospel and his are at opposite poles. I've bashed him publicly before. I almost felt bad about that, until I watched one of his sermons. Then I thought I should do it more often, if only on the sly.

60 minutes did a piece on Osteen this past Sunday night. You can watch the video on the 60 minutes site. It's 12 minutes well spent, if just to hear Michael Horton's critique of Osteen (you can read more of Horton on Osteen on the WTS California site).