Got Power? Look in the mirror before criticizing Lakewood

I first read about Lakewood’ new facility in the New York Times. Of course I have seen Joel Osteen on tv but I did not know about his new building nor the fact that he was charismatic. Overall, I was pretty excited for him and his congregation. What an accomplishment. If you are going to do the corporate model of church (as opposed to the home church model) this guy has the model.
But not everyone agrees

This relentless focus on the positive has led critics to call him lightweight.

“The idea of suffering as a Christian virtue is not part of his worldview,” said Lynn Mitchell, director of religious studies at the University of Houston. “Some call it Christianity Lite - you get all the benefits, but don’t pay attention to the fact that Jesus called for suffering. He doesn’t tackle many of the problems of the world.”

I found the “Christianity Lite” snip kind of offensive, but more on that in a moment.

But here in another part of the article

There is no time to ruminate on theological puzzles, like why God allows people to suffer.

“The answer is I don’t know,” Mr. Osteen said. “We deal every week with someone whose child got killed, or they lost their job. I don’t understand it. All you can do is let God comfort you and move on. Part of faith is not understanding.”

Sounds like humility to me. Though I am no scholar, I can €˜t seem to remember Jesus preaching on why there is suffering in the world. It seemed to me that Jesus came and met people where they were at.

€¦ many among his congregants said he tackled their problems. Mario Cervantes, 38, said that the church had taught him to name the things he wanted, and that he would receive them. “The Bible says, speak those things that aren’t as if they are,” Mr. Cervantes said.

What do you know? The word is preached and people have hope in their risen Savior! What the Lynn Mitchells of the world do not understand is that Jesus did not come to the seminaries to make theologians. He met people in their circumstances to make sons and daughters of God. People do not need the lie that Jesus is the cause of their suffering, they need to know that he is the cure for their suffering. Many who have problems with Lakewood have a problem with that very statement and they are flat out wrong.

Pamela Newman, 62, came to Lakewood five years ago after watching Mr. Osteen on television. That night, she said, she was cured of epilepsy. “I was slain by the Holy Spirit,” she said. “I laid on the church floor for 45 minutes. I thought, ‘I’m a Baptist, I can’t lie on the floor.’ But I couldn’t move.” (Like other charismatic churches, Lakewood believes in speaking in tongues and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit.)

When Ms. Newman went back to her Baptist church to tell people what had happened, she said, “everyone walked in the other direction.”

Read this point really closely. Jesus is not glorified in epilepsy. He is glorified in the healing of epilepsy. That seems like the kind of stuff that Jesus did. Who would have a problem with that?

One blog wrote

My question is – do you think this type of model is a true church of Jesus Christ? Are the type of “seeker” sermons following the biblical model? Is this true preaching? What should pastors and church leaders do to prevent such models in their own body?

Do not worry, you will not have to deal with this problem. When Paul was preparing to go to Corinth he wrote,

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

Given this criteria how would Paul rate your church? Are the lost being drawn? Are the sick healed? Are the captives freed? Is the Kingdom being advanced? Or are there just the words of those who are puffed up? Does your church have a “form of godliness but lack the power thereof?”

The fact of the matter is that Joel does not need to condemn sinners to hell, their sin does that.

I found out through the article that he preaches the tithe but never in the tv show. Hmmm, you mean there could be more? I don’t know much about Lakewood, but I would be hesitant to criticize.

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