Joel Osteen’s newest book should not be sold in ‘Christian’ bookstores, quite simply, because it is not a Christian book.

Brent, well put. If you noticed that Osteen reluctantly says anything about ‘God’, ‘Christianity’, etc., then watch his ’sermons’. Every once in a while, I stop to watch what he says, and I have NEVER heard him speak directly about the gospel, sin, Christ, or anything remotely different from generic ‘god’. NEVER.

His message is about as Christian as Mahatma Ghandi’s.

[...] Colossians 3:16 is a great blog with a good Osteen post. Posted by: Michael Spencer @ 10:12 am | Trackback | Permalink [...]

[...] Challies has linked to another post on Joel Osteen’s new book on the Colossians Three Sixteen blog.  It’s another opponent to Osteen’s teaching. [...]

Great post. I was struck by the idea that he’s teaching us how to “live a Christian life.”

That’s what Jesus did, too. And we could juxtapose the two versions in point-counterpoint format.

[...] Why Christian bookstores should refuse to sell his book. [...]

I was rather taken aback to see Your Best Life Now, The Game while browsing in a Christian bookstore recently.

[...] http://www.colossiansthreesixteen.com/archives/1748 [...]

This seems rather suspiciously similar to Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

[...] Read Brent’s thoughts on why his newest book should not be sold in “Christian” bookstores [...]

Autographing Bibles?

Autographing Bibles?!?!?!?!?

Sorry if this is sort of off-topic, but, Brent, you wrote “…and the Bereans were commended for weighing the message of Paul himself against the Scriptures.”

I find myself wondering against what scriptures did they weigh Paul’s message? Are we talking about the Septuagint? The writtenTorah? The Talmud? How would Paul’s message be perceived to fit with rabbinic tradition?

Ok, so it’s way off-topic. Just curious about your take on it.

Dorsey,

The text itself just says: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

As we know, these would have been Jews, so I think, at least without looking into it further, all I could say with any reasonable certainty is that it would have been the OT Scriptures. Thoughts?

Brent,

While it is easily debatable as to how much Christianity the book contains, I simply can’t understand why you feel it shouldn’t be sold in Christian book stores. I wonder, would you be opposed to a t-shirt proclaiming “Think Positive” being sold in a Christian Family Book Store? The positivity of the book alone is something that the world needs more of. I personally don’t subscribe to the denominative nature of Lakewood Church, yet I have difficulty believing that there aren’t some redeeming qualities to the books content. I rely on Christian book stores to sell products that celebrate and draw attention to the raw positivity of Christ’s message. Whether he continually vocalizes it or not, the impression I get is that the underlying tone of Oteen’s message is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. That is at least one part of the Lakewood Church doctrine I can get behind.

Become a Better You
A Review by Richard Young

Has Anyone Read This Book?
Reading Joel Osteen’s new book, Become A Better You, one major question comes to mind, and it has nothing to do with Joel Osteen, have any of the critics actually read this book? I found the book to be of the best motivational Christian books I have ever read. To some this would be damning with faint praise, but what do preachers do every weekend but try to motivate people to do what they should do? When some “religious people” get on their “high horse” they want to claim special spiritual abilities in leading people to a closer walk with the Lord. Again the question begs to be asked, what is leading but motivating people to do what you want them to do? Joel Osteen’s latest book released today is an excellent example of a pastor motivating people to do whatever necessary to change their lives. The steps to the journey he describes is to follow the example established by Jesus Christ as well as many Godly people as described in the Scriptures.
One of the things mentioned by interviewers in the last day or so is the lack of Christian references in his writings. This is what begs the question, have they read the book? I found nearly a hundred and thirty scriptural references in the book. Joel himself only list sixty-six scriptural references in the book. But in reading the book he did not include many references to passages found all over the Bible. He uses the Scriptures like pastors have for centuries, as examples of a path to Godly living followed by people through all of time. Joel is encouraging people to follow seven steps that will help them live better lives through faith in God and following Biblical principles. These principles are not enunciated in the same way people have pronounced them in the past, but they are principles much like the ones used for two thousand years.
The rub between Joel Osteen and evangelicals is elaborated in the pages of the book. But Joel understands human attitudes in the twenty-first century. In times passed people were told they should draw closer to God because to fail to do so would bring them eternal damnation. This argument, however accurate, does not hold water in today’s American culture. Telling people they are going to hell will create a response of, “I’m already there, I don’t believe in Hell or Hell is whatever we make it to be.” So Joel creates a different motivation to draw closer to God. If we draw closer to God, our lives will be better in every way. He uses the seven steps of the book to elaborate on how God wants to help us have an abundant life on earth.
Joel’s new book demonstrates his maturing as a Christian leader and writer. This book is much deeper than his first one, taking the reader much deeper than previous writings. His first book seemed to be sermons with a little editing and elaboration. He could have taken any series of sermons and turned them into a book and the result would have sold hundreds of thousands of books. But he has held himself to a high standard than that. This book seems to be a writing project from the beginning. I don’t doubt there will be a series of sermons which are used to supplement and add to the book. But this time the sermons will enhance the book rather than the other way around. I look forward to future efforts by him in the future.

Richard Young
Author - The Rise of Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church

Will,

Thanks for writing. You bring up some interesting points. As a matter of fact, I would oppose a “Christian” bookstore selling a “Think Positive” t-shirt. Giving the world more “positivity” is little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

I wonder if you could maybe explain what you mean by the “raw positivity of Christ’s message?”

Richard, thank you for taking the time to read and respond. I’m glad to see people thoughtfully engaging these issues.

I think what needs to be said in light of your thoughts is that quoting Scripture and correctly understanding and applying Scripture are not always the same things. Just because Osteen quotes Scripture doesn’t mean that he’s doing so correctly. In response to the charge that his 7 Keys don’t mention God, Osteen responds (read the 60 Minutes transcript here):

I’m called to help people…how do we walk out the Christian life? How do we live it? And these are principles that can help you. I mean, there’s a lot better people qualified to say, ‘Here’s a book that going to explain the scriptures to you.’ I don’t think that’s my gifting,” Osteen says.

Osteen may not feel that it is his gifting to “explain the Scriptures,” but if he claims to be a pastor, that’s exactly what God is going to hold him accountable for (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:9, etc). Here he all but admits that he does not do this. This should be a major red-flag for any Bible-believing Christian. It is not enough to give people “principles for happiness.” Once he takes the title of “Pastor” and calls his gathering a “Church;” once he invokes the name of “Christ,” he is held to the bible as his only standard, and he clearly and greatly deviates from the Bible.

“…all I could say with any reasonable certainty is that it would have been the OT Scriptures. Thoughts?”

I would assume you are correct. It’s just that I’m trying to imagine just how Paul might have presented such a revolutionary message in such a way that it would have been interpreted by these Jews to be in harmony with the OT system. Sorry, I don’t have a point to make. I’m just wondering out loud.

dorsey:

My thought has always been that Paul took the Bereans through the OT prophesies that concerned Christ much like Jesus did the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24.

Brent,

You bring up two main points in your response. Let me address them separately:

First, the opposition of a “Think Positive” t-shirt in a Christian book store is puzzling. I see where you’re going with the Titanic analogy I think it’s important to realize that, while positivity alone isn’t enough to set this planet on the path to righteousness, it certainly is something we could use a lot more of. The world would be a better place to live if more people adopted Joel’s attitude towards life. He never has a bad thing to say about anyone, he exhibits high moral and family values and , I believe, genuinely wants to make a difference in the lives of those who come in contact with him. How can anyone be opposed to that? Further, would it be that bad if Christians read a book that talks about these things? For the most part, people that shop in Christian book stores probably have a strong relationship with God. I don’t think this book would do anything to damage that relationship. Nor would the t-shirt. Ultimately, opposition by Christians to what Joel does comes down to differences in opinion on church doctrine. History has told us time and time again that this is a slippery slope of an argument that is best avoided at all costs, especially when you consider that Orthodoxy has the only true historical claim as the church started by Jesus.

This brings me to my second point. My comment about the raw positivity of Christ’s message. Jesus taught us how to live our lives. Obviously, God’s commandments existed long before but they aren’t necessarily the instruction manual for a happy life. His message was all about hope for a better life and it all started with a change of attitude. I know it’s simplistic but Christ gave us the keys to living a full and joyous life. All of the letters in the New Testament do a much better job of breaking this down than I ever could. It’s safe to say, when that tomb was opened and it was empty Christ’s followers had a much more positive outlook on life.

Will,

You say: “I believe, genuinely wants to make a difference in the lives of those who come in contact with him. How can anyone be opposed to that?” Let me be clear. I’m not opposed to helping people. I am opposed to helping people in the name of Christ while while twisting Christ’s message. Jesus Himself, in Matthew 7:21-23, at the final judgment will say to many who thought they were “genuinely making a difference in people’s lives:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

It would be bad if Christians read a book like his because his foundation is entirely wrong. First he minimizes God’s holiness which leads to a deficient view of sin which by necessity leads to a faulty view of salvation.

In your second point, first I would challenge the implicit separation between God and Christ present but second, I am very uncomfortable when you say that “God’s commandments…aren’t necessarily the instruction manual for happy living.” First, I quite disagree and second, this was certainly not Christ’s message. First, consider:

Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 119:74: “I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.”

I wonder, Will, is God’s Law your delight? On the idea that Christ’s ministry was somehow different from God’s Law, remember that Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” To boil Christ’s message down to “a better life” and a “changed attitude” is overly simplistic at best and just plain wrong at worst. Consider some of what Jesus warned for His disciples:

Matthew 10:23-25: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

Matthew 10:34: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

And consider this in light of Osteen’s message of a better life now:

Luke 9:23-24: “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Whereas Jesus commands us to lose our lives, to become less in this world, Osteen says that we are to become more. Whereas Jesus says that we must serve (Matthew 20:24-28), Osteen says that we should expect to be served. Whereas Jesus said we should expect to be reviled, Osteen says we should expect preferential treatment. Whereas Jesus spoke of repentance (Matthew 4:17, etc.), Osteen characterizes sin simply as making mistakes. I could go on and perhaps I should, but the more I compare Joel Osteen’s message with that of Jesus Christ, the farther apart they become.

I have never met him and I certainly don’t know the state of his soul.

First of all, I, too, have been given the grace to know that Osteen is bad news. So I am with you on that brother! However, I can’t help but cringe when you confess such ignorance concerning the state of his soul. The bible speaks clearly does it not? Joel Osteen is an anti-christ, the man is lost!

Dang. Too many comments for me to read coherently at 1:30 in the morning.

In any case, I caught no more than 4 minutes of an interview (on Monday night? Tuesday) w/ Osteen on National TV, maybe the 60 minutes thing you linked to, or something else.

The network interviewer called him out on the fact that none of his seven points mention Jesus or even God.

I’m sorry, but when a network TV anchor calls you out on the depth (or lack thereof) of your religious convinctions, it’s time to take a long, hard look at yourself and your message.

I suppose I ought to read the book. But self-help books, Christian or not, put me to sleep while making me feel self-centered, guilty and lazy all at the same time. Maybe one day, it’ll click like it did w/ Harry Potter and I’ll tear through it.

[...] Brent Thomas offers some reasons Why Joel Osteen’s Newest Book Should Not Be Sold in “Christian” Bookstores [...]

I actually don’t care much for Christian bookstores. Most “Christian” books seem like kitsch to me. Even worse than Osteen, I think, are those who take a couple verses out of context and then write a whole book about it. At least he doesn’t cite particular Scriptures and thus plant a misinterpretation in the minds of his readers.

I also think that the Left Behind series shouldn’t be in the bookstores. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

NO question Joel is very inspirational and a great motivational speaker. I would say he’s a Tony Robbins on the alter. And if you understand that going in to see him - then I guess that’s ok. But my fear is I do not believe everyone understands that he is really just a motivator and gives little in terms of correct biblical ministering.

While his “positive only” message is great I do not believe you can talk about spending eternity in heaven without talking about sin and redemption. The New Testament clearly talks about righteousness and being sorry and repenting for your sins - NONE of which Joel talks about. He doesn’t use the word “sin”. He said it while on Larry King - it’s not in his vocabulary. I also have a problem with his “prosperity-only gospel”. Joel’s actual quote is “I think God wants us to be prosperous. I think he wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful in our careers”. Joel – is that really the underlying theme of Jesus teaching to the Apostles?? Does God really want us to climb up that corporate ladder and get all those promotions to make more money? To become more successful?? I know many many individuals that became very, very successful in their careers – and you know what – most of them had their marriage and personal life fall apart – you know why – they were to busy managing their careers than tending to their family. Have you EVER heard anyone on their death bed say – “Gee – I wish I spent more time at the office”?

Lets say your time on earth is represented by a ONE grain of sand. And lets also say your time after-earth (eternity) is represented by ALL THE REST OF THE SANDY beaches on earth (think about how many grains of sand that is for a moment). Joel preaches about how to happy and “be prosperous” during that one grain of sand time-frame but preaches nothing about how to make sure the time spent for eternity (all the remaining grains of sand) is spent in heaven. You see – he talks nothing about internal salvation and repenting for ones sins. Doesn’t it make more sense to make sure you make it to heaven rather than “be happy” on earth??

That is the problem I have with his teaching. I just don’t recall Jesus telling his disciples – “Go out and tell everyone how to be happy and prosperous”. The underling theme of all Jesus preached was how to have internal salvation and to save your soul so you can spend eternity in heaven. Now do you understand why some may be taken back by Joel main theme – pray to be prosperous and be happy? That is not the main message of Jesus – period – end of story.

Is God really only about praying till you get that better job, praying to you get that bigger house, praying till you become more successful in your career, pray to be more prosperous, pray till you get more money??? I don’t think so!! Positive messages are great but you better realize you are 100% accountable for your sins on earth and all of us are going to come before our maker some day. God will not ask you: Were you happy on earth? Did you have a successful career? Were you prosperous? No – you will have to answer for all your sins on earth and explain what you did for the last of your brothers. How we answer those question will determine where you spend eternity.

I just attended Joel’s Night of Hope in Baltimore and what you are saying about him simply isn’t true. He definitely preaches that we should put Christ first in our lives. His message today was full of scripture, the cross, salvation, hope and God’s unfailing love. I saw many,many people stand to accept/re-dedicate their lives to the Lord. How is that un-Godly? The Evil One is behind this criticism & it should stop!

Wow! I become so grieved when I see these charlatans man handling these goats. I just don’t understand how people can honestly think that these men are true Christians when the gospel the preach contradicts the Bible. Amazing, that God has sovereignly opened our eyes and hearts. God Bless

I agree with Richard Young. As I listen to Joel Osteen or read his books, I keep in mind that Jesus said to be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove; He also said to be a peacemaker; He also said for us to be fishers of men (meaning we as followers of His would know how to “catch” men for the Kingdom of God in a variety of ways - as led by the Spirit of God). The Apostle Paul also said that whoever was not against us, and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, are with us. From where I am sitting, Joel Osteen is being used by God to draw many in this nation and beyond to salvation in Jesus Christ, and once saved to a close relationship with the Lord that is consistent with the Spirit and word of God. I agree with you that we need to pray for Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church, and any other person or church like him/them given such a large platform to influence others.

Once again, Joel Osteen’s utter failure to uphold Christian truth in an age of apostacy only further supports what is all too clear about his teaching: it is spiritually bankrupt.

Here is a link to articles our ministry has created on Osteen’s heretical compromise that is anointed as “Christianity” today.

http://www.spiritwatch.org/behindsmile.htm

I agree with your assessment of Osteen 100 percent. I am going to go out on a limb and state that “Joel Osteen does not have a relationship with the Christ of the Bible.” Judas walked with Jesus for three years, looked and acted the part, and went to Hell. Jesus stated that in the last days many false prophets will arise and deceive many even the elect. Osteen deceives many because he’s very good at it. The apostle Paul gave a strong warning against those who preach another gospel. What is at stake here are the souls of men and women. If Osteen were truly a follower of Christ, he would care more about the souls of men than being popular. Remember that those mentioned in Jesus’ statement “Depart from me I never knew you” included those who swore they were preaching the gospel!!!! Osteen needs to repent and receive the Christ of the Bible as his personal savior before it’s too late!.

I don’t believe that Joel Osteen has done anything wrong. All I know is that I read both his books, I have his tapes and I can’t begin to tell you how much it has helped me in my life.
I don’t think anyone should be judging him for trying to help our world and the people in it better people. Isin’t judging up to the Lord?

We need more piece in this world instead of blasphemy of other people.

Mr. Osteen has brougt more people to Christ than I could ever dream of. He has shown his fruitfulness. Who are we to judge? His messages are bible based and he does use scriptures.

I Love his teaching,and i believe that we are no made to judge,ba to believe.He has done nothing wrong rather than help us.Pray and see that God will answer your questions abaut Joel.

I have all hes books and i love to read them.

I was looking at Joel Olsteen recently this was my fifth time looking at his program . And I suddenly realised that he never once quoted th bible. So I looked at him again and I realised that therte was no firm nor pointed references to Jesus or the Bible. Please note I live in the Caribbean and I did not know about the articles about him on the web and I had not even known of the Larry King interview. I just decided not to watch him again. I however cannot make light of what he is doing it is faslse teaching and he should be pretending that he represents Christ or Christianity. He in fact represents himself. I beleive however that real discerning Christians will by God’s power see the falshood as I did.