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Joel Osteen comes across as a regular, down to earth kinda guy. Often laughing at himself and always with a grin, he has full dark hair that never seems to move and a nice suit. His already small eyes are made to appear tiny by the huge white smile he affects. His wife and co-pastor of their Lakewood Church has long, blond hair and looks like a poster woman for the perfect Texan wife. On stage they stand with arms around each other’s waists, bathed in blue and white light from above, at the base of a gigantic on-screen cross towering over them.
Critics of Joel Osteen fault a lack of scripture and focus on sin in his sermons. I count at least fifteen quotes from the Bible but only two mentions of sin, and both were to assure us that God had already forgiven them. Instead his ministry focuses on hope and positivity, as well as “prosperity gospel” which teaches that God rewards the pious with health and wealth.
Which probably accounts for the immense popularity of Joel Osteen Ministries. The Houston-based church sees 43,500 attendees per week and his broadcasts reach over 7 million viewers in more than 100 countries weekly. It is reported that Joel Osteen himself is worth $40 million. His positive message gives hope to his followers and his religious backing provides them entry into Heaven. Sprinkle with self-empowerment, add promises of wealth and success, put it on television, and bam! (as another popular TV persona says) you’ve got a recipe for success.
The religious and secular people I speak with, however, all agree that Joel Osteen is a swindler; after people’s money by baiting them with empty promises of riches and a secured hereafter. One agnostic even went so far as to call prosperity gospel evil, but I have to disagree.
In the old days days success and wealth meant good crops or a plentiful catch, which seem perfectly acceptable to pray for. “Give us this day our daily bread,” as the Lord’s Prayer goes. Nowadays though, everything is done with money; no one raises their own crops. So if God is going to provide his children with daily bread, money is required to go out and buy it. Praying for financial success is the new praying for bountiful crops. Prosperity gospel’s promises seem no different to this heathen than the host of other claims religious people make, regardless of their theology.
I can see where Joel Osteen’s message of a paying God could rub people the wrong way, however. Recall Matthew 19:24: “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” This is one Bible verse that needs no interpretation. Of course even those that don’t subscribe to prosperity gospel seem to ignore Matthew 19:24 and the other multiple places it appears in the Bible. We’ve all tried to make a deal with the Almighty for a raise, a good husband, to cure an illness, or just to get through the day.
The morning after “A Night of Hope” I awake in a good mood, with vague feelings of being able to start over. Start something over; I wasn’t sure what exactly. I’m in no fear of losing my atheistic integrity though. I went in with an open mind, and while my personal beliefs filtered out the theistic parts, the hopeful and inspirational portions still made it through.
Because really, if we remove the specifics from a lot of religious messages they all come down to the same things: Life is tough, bad things happen, but you can do something about it. It’ll be okay. And that’s all anyone wants, to have someone who cares tell them everything is going to be alright.
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