Osteen and What Makes a Good Doctor

Joel Osteen was featured on 60 Minutes last night. His book, "Become a Better You." The interview was pretty good. The interviewer seemed to sharp and seemed himself to have issues with Osteen's message. The interviewer asked Osteen why there wasn't a mention of God or Christ in the list of ways to be a better you.

Challies.com has a review of the new book and Michael Spenser has some reflections on the interview.

I don't personally have the energy to get really engaged in discussions about Osteen. Whenever I have even hinted that I have issues with him, many believers who like Osteen get into "fight or flight" mode. I've had very little luck discussing his ministry in a meaningful way.

I think many baptists, for example, watch him and project upon him their own beliefs. They assume he is where they are on core issues and he is just adding his positive message to those core issues. Problem is, he never talks about the "core issues". I've seen and heard from him a lot and I have never heard him speak about the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the necessity of Christ dying for sinners, repentance and faith (in Christ not yourself), etc. Therefore, when your critique is basically about what somone doesn't say, it's difficult to make a case with someone who's a fan and isn't inclinded to hear any critique of their favorite tv preacher. A friend said criticing Osteen is like trying to "nail jello to the wall."

I rarely bring Osteen up by name, but when I am asked about his ministry. I try to be simple and say, "I think he is a well-intentioned, but bad doctor." A bad doctor identifies the symptoms, but can not or will not tell you the source of the problem, therefore depriving you of a real solution. Osteen seems to be a loving, humble person who identifies and sympathizes with real pain and struggle people encounter in life and relationships. But, due to his choosing not to be a "theologian" does not or will not equip himself with the resources to help people identify the source of it. If I have cancer, I dont' want the doctor to tell me I'm fatiqued and in pain, I know that. What I want to know the source of the problem. Pastor's who share with their congregation a Biblical world-view, tell them the bad news so that they can appreciate the good news. The bad news is that the source of what's wrong with the world and their lives is sin. This is a fallen world because of sin, and our lives are not the way they should be, our relationships with others and especially with God is not what it should be because of sin. Sin is rebellion against God. We are children of Adam, and sin is a universal problem, rebellion is universal. It doesn't matter if your watch Osteen in Texas, Tennessee, or Toledo, you have the same problem. There is no bigger problem in a person's life than to be a sinner and under the condemnation of God (Romans 1:18, 3:23, John 3:36). That's a bad diagnosis, but it is necessary.

Telling a man with cancer that he is basically o.k and just needs to be positive and to develop good habits, is not loving, but dangerous. A good doctor will tell a patient the bad news so that they will embrace the solution, the good news. The solution to the biggest problem in the world....sin, is available in Christ, the sin-bearer. We need Christ to be our substitute, to satisfy God's just anger against us, so that we can go from being enemies of God to adopted children. We need to stop being a child of Adam and become of child of God, through repentance and faith in Christ. We don't need a better us, we need a new us, we need a new heart (Ez. 36) We need a new nature (2 cor. 5:17), we need the Holy Spirit dwelling in us (romans 8). Is there a chapter in the book on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, delivering him from the power of sin in his life.

If you're goal is to make people's lives better, if you want to be a good physician, you don't hand out band-aids for bad heart, you tell them they have a bad heart and you send them to a heart surgeon for a new heart. Christ is our wonderful savior, who will not only save us from the guilt of sin and the power of sin, but ultimately, the presence of Sin. This is not advanced theology, it's Christianity 101.

Update: I couldn't post this last night because of computer/blogger issues, which gav me some time to reflect on whether or not I should post it. Then, just before bed, I came accross Osteen on t.v. telling people that he knows that God wants them to go from being on the staff to being the boss, that God wants them to have a bigger house, and so on and so .... I took that as confirmation to post it.