Faith is NOT a Commodity!!

I'm no friend of Joel Osteen, as I've indicated before. I'm even less of one after reading the following article, Earthly Empires, (by William C. Symonds, with Brian Grow in Atlanta and John Cady in New York, BusinessWeek Online. Here are the first two paragraphs, which I could barely get through without feeling sick:

There's no shortage of churches in Houston, deep in the heart of the Bible Belt. So it's surprising that the largest one in the city -- and in the entire country -- is tucked away in a depressed corner most Houstonians would never dream of visiting. Yet 30,000 people endure punishing traffic on the narrow roads leading to Lakewood Church every weekend to hear Pastor Joel Osteen deliver upbeat messages of hope. A youthful-looking 42-year-old with a ready smile, he reassures the thousands who show up at each of his five weekend services that "God has a great future in store for you." His services are rousing affairs that often include his wife, Victoria, leading prayers and his mother, Dodie, discussing passages from the Bible.

Osteen is so popular that he has nearly quadrupled attendance since taking over the pulpit from his late father in 1999, winning over believers from other churches as well as throngs of the "unsaved." Many are drawn first by his ubiquitous presence on television. Each week 7 million people catch the slickly produced broadcast of his Sunday sermons on national cable and network channels, for which Lakewood shells out $15 million a year. Adherents often come clutching a copy of Osteen's best-seller, Your Best Life Now, which has sold 2.5 million copies since its publication last fall.

First of all, I hadn't realized that Osteen's church is the biggest in the country. If that's true, I'm angry, but then again, maybe not so surprised. In my opinion, any church that is truly devoted to Christ, and truly preaching him is not going to be all that popular. After all, Jesus himself wasn't while he was here. Why should he be now?

But Osteen!!! Argh! I have watched his show a grand total of twice, and that's more than I could stomach. And his book! Your Best Life Now? How does that square with Jesus' teaching that his kingdom isn't of this world and that we shouldn't stock up on earthly treasures? Hmmm, well, short answer: it DOESN'T.

When I watched Osteen's show, I hardly ever heard him talk about the cross of Christ, which should be absolutely central to Christianity, but somehow has been pushed to the periphery, and in some quarters, even beyond it. And we'd better wake up and realize that this is a severe problem in the church, on far more than just a marketing level. Jesus rebuked one of the Revelation churches for forgetting her first love--have we, today, forgotten him as well?

I also hardly observed Osteen mentioning the Bible at all, except to quote an occasional verse completely out of anything remotely resembling context. I remember one particular instance where he actually used about half a verse from Acts, quoting Paul as saying "I think myself happy..." as proof that we are meant to think positively about ourselves and that will help change our lives!!! (Never mind that the quote comes out of Paul's lips while he is actually in CHAINS, a prisoner in front of a Roman government official, and he says that he thinks himself happy that he has the opportunity to talk to this Roman guy about Jesus.)

Back to the article::

Especially controversial are leaders like Osteen and the flamboyant Creflo A. Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church International in College Park, Ga., who preach "the prosperity gospel." They endorse material wealth and tell followers that God wants them to be prosperous. In his book, Osteen talks about how his wife, Victoria, a striking blonde who dresses fashionably, wanted to buy a fancy house some years ago, before the money rolled in. He thought it wasn't possible. "But Victoria had more faith," he wrote. "She convinced me we could live in an elegant home...and several years later, it did come to pass."

It seems the point is that God is there to be tapped for financial blessings primarily. And while I know from experience that financial blessings do come at times, and when they do we should be thankful, prosperity is not what something the church should ever preach--especially when some of her children are being thrown into prison in countries overseas, or even being executed simply because they love Christ. We should be ashamed of ourselves, pouring millions into our fancy worship centers, and the pockets of our fancy pastors, while far away (and therefore easily forgotten apparently), churches can barely afford the dilapidated buildings where they meet, and even fear for their lives when they come together. And yet I have felt more joy inside the walls of tiny churches in places like Bangkok and Bethlehem than I have experienced in many of the prosperous American churches.

Another quote:

"Our entrepreneurial impulse comes from the Biblical mandate to get the message out," says Willow Creek founder Bill Hybels, who hired Stanford MBA Greg Hawkins, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant, to handle the church's day-to-day management. Willow Creek's methods have even been lauded in a Harvard Business School case study.

Hybel's consumer-driven approach is evident at Willow Creek, where he shunned stained glass, Bibles, or even a cross for the 7,200-seat, $72 million sanctuary he recently built. The reason? Market research suggested that such traditional symbols would scare away non-churchgoers.

How, how can we have a consumer-driven approach to God? To faith? And Jesus--well, he was one of the worst entrepeneurs I've ever seen! I mean, the man gathered followers readily enough, but then he would turn around and ruin it all by saying something crazy-sounding like "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me" and BAM, followers dropped off like flies! Hmmm, maybe Jesus should have done more market research. Maybe he talked too much about carrying crosses and dying to self and following the narrow way. Maybe that was all too unpleasant. WHAT was he THINKING? If only he could have gotten some tips from Hybels and Osteen, maybe he wouldn't have ended up on a cross himself.

Has the church become so market-savvy and "consumer-driven" that she has become embarrassed of Jesus, and that's why she talks about him so little? God help her if that's true. And forgive her too. We shall have an awful lot to answer for.

NB: And maybe this is really all that Sharlet was getting at in his recent piece in Harper's. If that's the case, then I apologize for misinterpreting him in my eariler post.