First Look At Conde Nast's Portfolio Article On Joel Osteen

Mr. Owens: RE Financial Crises and Osteen's "Big" Living: Perhaps we are in the times spoken of old, when great spiritual things happen. But it takes spiritual eyes to see and understand. So what of the mortgage meltdown crisis? Well, perhaps so many of us have put the cart before the horse. First of all, we are supposed to be good abodes for God. Since God wants to live in us, we can offer Him either a spiritual shack or mansion. He’s probably weary of visiting desolation shacks. He probably feels more comfortable in a spiritual mansion, don’t you think? A person with a spiritual mansion might have several splendid rooms in which God would enjoy being a welcome guest: One room might represent healing, another prayer, another physical fitness, another compassion, another excellence in a profession, another humility, another in fellowship with man, another in higher lines and precepts, and so on and so forth. But what have the people in the United States done these past several years? We’ve enjoyed taking risky loans offered to us for “Joel-Osteen-inspired-big” homes, cars and lifestyles beyond our fiscal means. So in essence, we’ve inhabited carnal “mansions” we were not worthy to occupy, based upon fraudulent lending and borrowing. These classical upended actions, based upon faulty spiritual doctrine, inevitably manifest in the carnal, then explode in the carnal, so God’s light shines on the carnal problem, so that honest seekers can finally get to see the true nature of the spiritual problem. God really wants to manifest in every man, woman and child. But with televangelists preaching some escapist topic: “Buy my book!” they say; or extreme prosperity: “Give to me, to get from Gawd!” they say; or escape machinations via second coming fear-mongering: “Tithe to me now, and when Jesus soon returns, he’ll give you a break!” they say; such wrong-doctrine messages seem to satisfy as long as preachers prosper and consciences of sheep are sufficiently stupefied. But God wants to live in purer spirits, a mansion we prepare for Him (like the saints of old) BEFORE we get ourselves that cool X,000 square foot "fancy" home.

Now Osteen is a great leader. But much of what works for him is the drool factor: What a great-looking wife (a real trophy that one,) a great-looking church, a regular feast for the eyes and ears, a great book-seller (WOW! He lives on the income and takes no salary!!!) Nothing sells like success, you know.

But the tendancy is to focus on all that success and forget to clean up the old soul, so Jesus can inhabit it and then such saintly souls so occupied, can bring heaven to earth now. Many of us have tried the borrow-easy-money-way-that-is-beyond-our-means-to-have-that- big-life-now, and we are reeling. We just believed God would help us take care of the mortgage, and now we just wonder what went wrong with believing them lucky fellas like Joel Osteen, who have a different way of income than normal mortals, God bless him. It just seems harder to get God to bless us who live on the wrong end of the Christian broadcasting video camera.

Postscript, good comment. And techincally everyone in America with a refrigerator and 100 square feet of home is rich by the worldwide standard of living. So we are there already, but where is God in all of it?

I'm not sure how to take your "Where is God in all of it?" question.

I think the key is the definition of "prosperity." Joel's "prosperity" is about "flourishing" instead of "Financially well to do."

When I'm faithful with my tithe, God wants to pour out blessings on me. It may not be additional finances, but I can say right now that I am blessed.

By supporting and encouraging my kids, God blesses me with four children who are leading Godly lives and doing kindgom work. A man is hard pressed to be "richer."

By staying faithful in adversity, I'm blessed with more than I could have asked for in the beginning.

By choosing right thoughts (a Joel classic) I don't dwell on pronography that will destroy my marriage. I don't indulge in drunkeness when an ice cold Corona with a lime sounds great on a hot summer day like today.

But I'm also out of a job right now. I'm financially in a "recession" in a big way. But the time I spend with God and family is unbelievably focused and "flourishing." I'm being prosperous.

Thanks for posting this article, Phil. After re-reading my comments I didn't want to give the tone that I didn't approve of the article. But the article did expose some frustration I've had with all the critics lately (some in my very own family). I have a copy of an old memo that Oral Roberts had sent to his executive committee about handling criticism. It articulated this point: critics always dog the train of those achieving success. We all have a right to an opinion and the freedom of speech to declare it, but we need to ask ourselves if sharing it is to be the least bit fruitful.