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It seems CEO Steven Furtick has completely thrown spiritual discernment out along with Bible study groups(see this for Furtick's rant against those who crave God's Word). Now this CEO is defending Joel Osteen with his ever so loving methods of ranting against those of us who actually take the Word of God serious when it says to reprove and rebuke in 2 Timothy 4:1-3.
As in, Osteen.
Yep, I hear it all the time. Guys take one systematic theology class, a semester of Greek, and all of a sudden they’re self appointed theological traffic cops.(source)
As in, the pastor of the largest church in America.
As in, the guy that all seminary students seem to love to hate.
It seems that large numbers must mean something with the church in Furtick's world. Notice the attack upon those who truly study the Word of God in order to seek the truth.
But to all of you mean spirited name callers who have made a career of condemning celebrity preachers:
Who the heck do you think you are to criticize a man who is impacting a city like Pastor Joel is impacting Houston?
Or like Rick Warren is impacting the Saddleback Valley?
(Insert name of controversial preacher and city here… )Osteen preaches to 40,000 people weekly…
You couldn’t get 40,000 people to come hear you preach if you gave away free Escalades at the door. (source)
“Yeah, but Joel Osteen’s preaching isn’t Christ centered enough. And he didn’t make a bold stand for the exclusivity of the Gospel on Good Morning America that time. And, for crying out loud, he reads a stupid email forward at the beginning of every message before he does that �This is my Bible… ‘ thing… “(source)
It's seems that Furtick must have missed it when Osteen blessed the Mormon Church. I guess since the Mormon's have huge numbers then God must be blessing the Mormon Church!
If you’re concerned about a lack of cross centered preaching, then preach the cross yourself instead of wasting valuable time opining about how someone else should do it better.
If you think Osteen’s messages are too fluffy and lacking in Biblical content, then devote yourself to teaching God’s Word with passion and depth, and get after it. But don’t hate on a man you’ve never met and analyze the entire content of his ministry based on a 27 minute weekly broadcast. That’s illogical, narrow, and unfair, and you know it.
Don’t hurl insults at someone with a big church simply because you can’t make your church grow, and although you’d never admit it, you’re jealous.
That’s right… most of the time the motive isn’t defense of the Gospel… it’s jealousy and presumption.(source)
In other words, CEO Furtick is telling us not to let those pesky doctrines get into the way when it comes to the church. We should accept all who claim to be Christian no matter what twisted doctrines they teach as long as they are:
1. a celebrity preacher
2. have a large church
There you have it! CEO Steven Furtick's carnal knowledge at it's best.
And the pot called the kettle black...You know, I think it’s absolutely essential that Christians think critically about what is being taught in Christian pulpits. We must preserve sound doctrine. We must guard against erroneous theologies.
But we must also guard against the kind of spiritual smugness that makes the world look at us and go:
“I thought they were wearing the same jersey… ” (source)
I think you're missing the point. We are seeing with Osteen a naive good news interpretation, highlighting "ask and you shall receive" and "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" which is truth. But not the whole truth necessarily. Its the opposite of the old-school fire and brimstone methods of evangelism. I think neither is the most helpful. What Furtick wants to say is that what we KNOW absolutely of Joel Osteen is his fame and his numbers. With a cut and dry attitude about right or wrong doctrine- then there is only 1 right answer- which leaves out 99% of Churches- because each differ at some theological point along the way. I would say personally that Catholics differ almost as much as Mormonism from standard Protestant understandings of the nature of Christ and God. It may be just as wrong to say Mary was as perfect as Jesus in action and thought as it is to say Jesus was Lucifer's brother. Both dramatically tarnish the character and uniqueness of Christ. Are there degrees of blasphemy?? No- right or wrong no matter who says it. Are you the end all truth of doctrinal interpretation? No. So, while it is our job to critique and dialog (the KEY being dialog- which HAS to be a 2-way street), we have no authority to comment in the name of Christ on here-say. So, unless you have personally met and sat and discussed doctrine with Joel Osteen- what else can you critique other than fame and numbers? And what is wrong with fame and numbers? Nothing- so if you have problems with fame and numbers- I think jealousy may very well be an inherent motivation. And even public ridicule assumes inerrant personal understanding of doctrine- which I know you nor I have. While I'm not promoting relativism- other than acknowledgement of Christ as the sole means to salvation and a life dedicated selflessly to the purpose of spreading that understanding- personal interpretation takes over what's left- at which point right and wrong doctrine should be discussed with mutual respect and love. I apologize for my tendency to ramble and not proofread.....
ReplyDeleteI think you miss the point...refer to the Scriptures about false teachers/false prophets.
ReplyDelete