Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Was Osteen really that Wrong?

I was going to write a post about our new play/school room, but for some reason the pictures aren't working on Blogger right now. :( But a topic I have seen floating around on Facebook really has me thinking. It's about that Victoria Osteen video that's been going around; and I think the response to that has been less than perfect. Here are my thoughts, for whatever it's worth....


  • Know that I am NOT an Osteen fan. I have been to his church and watched them on TV, and I can say that I would never make that church my church home. The teaching is too surfacy; not enough "meat". There are theology points I disagree with as well that I won't go into here.
  • The Osteens are not, in my opinion, heretics or false prophets. To be a false prophet, you have to deny that Jesus is the Christ (1 Jn 2:22), deny the "Master" who bought you (2 Pet 2), "Teach as doctrines the commandments of men," (Mark 7), preach a gospel contrary to what's in Scripture (Gal 1). I only visited the church one time, and he preached the same gospel I've heard since I was 2 years old. If he doesn't do that much, what are the chances that he just happened to be preaching about that the one time I went?
  • I think Christians overuse the above terms WAY too much, to oppose almost anyone with whom they disagree. Just for fun, Google any popular Christian author/speaker/pastor with the word "heretic" or "critics", and you will be astonished at the disagreements, factions, and hatred between each other in the church. I mean, it's INSANE! You can find people who think just about anyone is a heretic. 
  • On the other end of that, I don't hear too many of these same Christians speaking out against REAL heresy, like that which is found in the teachings of the Roman Catholic church or the Mennonites (see "Mark 7" above), or the Mormon church. Maybe we just all take for granted that our friends know our feelings on these, but many don't, and many are being led astray by these and other similar false teachings. Let's save those words for when we're SURE heresy is actually happening, could we?
  • I have heard claims that Osteen NEVER mentions words like sin. Not true; I've heard him. I want to encourage everyone to search out these things for themselves instead of simly trusting what someone else says about something. In doing so, you will either find out that the claims weren't exactly true, or at the very least, gain some understanding into their world, understand why they believe what they believe in order to help them out of it. I would be willing to bet money that most of these bloggers condemning the Osteens have never listened to an entire sermon of theirs.
  •  
    Now about what she said...
  • Does God want us to be happy? I think so. Is God concerned with our obedience apart from our happiness? I think not. Check this out. No really, you need to read it. It's excellent. God's glory and our happiness are not only NOT mutually exclusive, they are intertwined. 
  • Is the motive for our obedience happiness or holiness? Again, you don't have to choose! Seriously, check out the link above. It explains it better than I ever could.
  • Are the Osteens leading people astray because they lack both the theological understanding and the ability to communicate that theology that the article I linked to talks about? Absolutely. People will hear a snippet like that, without the theological foundation under them, and run the wrong way with it. I have no doubt it happens all the time. 
Just some of my thoughts... Please share yours!

1 comment:

Kathy Davidhizar said...

Once I was called a heretic simply because I repeated a story Chuck Swindoll told on the radio about how hymn writer, Frances Havergal, surrendered her life to Christ and then wrote the hymn "Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated". I was shocked, but later learned that the person accusing me also thinks that Chuck Swindoll is a heretic. Sad.