Joel Osteen: Why He Doesn’t Like DEEP Theology!

Joel Osteen’s Message Versus the Gospel of Repentance

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where we bring you Christian commentary about the things that matter. As ever, please know this video isn't a sinful attack, but rather a Biblical critique.

In today's video, we're going to be talking about Joel Osteen. In a recent interview, Joel talked about the fact that he and his church are going to hold a huge sort of Billy Graham-style spiritual crusade called Night of Hope in Yankee Stadium, of all places, on August 6 of 2022.

Will he preach the truth? No. Will a lot of people show up? Yes. That's why they're going to show up. But nonetheless, he's more than happy to take your money and give you a seat. How generous. But in all seriousness, Joel's recent interview about this event was very enlightening.

For those who don't know, Joel is the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, and he's widely known as one of the most obvious false teachers in America. Basically, he gives a short motivational speech every Sunday, which apparently I hear he's calling a sermon.

And he constantly tells people that God has money and power and prestige and health and wealth waiting for them just around the corner. All they have to do is listen to him, come to his church, believe what he says.

Oh, and incidentally, it would also be very helpful if you gave him your money. So what exactly is Joel Osteen going to preach at Yankee Stadium? Will it be Biblical and helpful and truthful? Probably not.

Well, let's hear what he has to say in his own words, shall we? When talking about the audience of this event, Joel says, quote,. When thousands of people get together, and they may not all know the Lord, but they're coming there because they're drawn to God.

I believe that creates an atmosphere for healing and miracles and salvation and new beginnings, end quote. So Joel admits that much of his audience there will be unbelievers, probably thousands of them.

So essentially, this message will be designed to win them to the faith. This is evangelism, in other words. But how does Joel intend to bring them to faith? Well, he answers that question for us, too.

This is very important. Pay attention. When referring to the shutdowns that have occurred over the past few years, Joel said this about the gathering, quote,. It's God's way of saying come back to hope, come back to faith, come back to church, come back to living again.

A lot of dreams have been put on hold, but hopefully we can inspire some people to believe again, end quote. So this event will have unbelievers, and Joel Osteen intends to win them to the faith. And he intends to do this by encouraging them to believe in their dreams again.

Okay. The only problem is that this isn't the gospel, not even close. And Joel is a false teacher who's preaching total garbage. Let me explain. When Jesus began his earthly ministry, Matthew 4, 17 says, quote,.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, quote, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus said that repentance was the proper response to his ministry. In fact, it was so important that it was the first thing he ever officially preached.

This was a massive part of his message in scripture. But Joel Osteen isn't going to mention repentance. In fact, he just told us his message. And it's fundamentally the opposite of repentance. He said that his goal is to get people to believe in their dreams again.

Basically, it's a message about how good you are and what you can accomplish. On the other hand, repentance is needed because of how bad you are and what you failed to accomplish, namely righteousness.

Romans 3, 23 says that, quote, All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, end quote. So the Bible says that you're sinful, you're unrighteous. But Joel Osteen says that you're pretty awesome.

Joel Osteen doesn't tell people to repent because he wants to focus on positivity, whatever that means. Acts 5, 31 says, quote, God exalted him, Jesus, at his right hand as a leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins, end quote.

Did you catch that? Repentance and forgiveness. It's a package deal. When God grants repentance and belief in the true gospel of Christ, forgiveness of sins is the result. When you repent and trust in Christ, you inherit eternal life.

You go to heaven, not hell. So why doesn't Joel Osteen preach about repentance to the thousands of unbelievers attending this gathering at Yankee Stadium? Well, maybe it's because Joel Osteen doesn't care if all of those people go to hell.

I know that sounds awfully harsh, and it is, but that doesn't mean it's not true. In fact, we just gave you all of the biblical reasons why it is true. But wait, you might say, didn't Joel Osteen say in that quote you read that he wants people to, quote, come back to faith?

He even said that he wants people to experience salvation. How can all of this be so if what you're saying about him is true? Well, quite simply, the type of salvation that Joel Osteen is talking about has nothing to do with the salvation found in Christ in the Bible.

Joel Osteen doesn't preach about sin. He'd rather talk about healing and miracles and salvation. His words, not mine. But as we've already mentioned before, the Bible says that all have sinned. That's the problem that affects all of us spiritually.

In fact, it's our greatest problem. Romans 6 .23 says that, quote, the wages of sin is death. And of course, we know that it's not just physical death, but also spiritual death, separation from a holy God forever.

The passage continues, though, saying, quote, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, end quote. So sin is your greatest problem, and it's separated you from God. This is basic Christian doctrine.

In fact, if you've been a Christian for about five minutes, you probably already know that. Yet the only solution to your sin is to believe in Christ. To put it simply, if someone does not understand that they are sinful, they don't understand their need for the gospel.

They won't even understand what the gospel does. And even on the off chance that Joel Osteen teaches them some small sliver of the actual gospel message, which is unlikely, they won't understand the gravity of it at all.

In Romans 1 .16, Paul says, quote, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, end quote. So Joel Osteen talks about salvation, but he doesn't give the gospel, which is the power of salvation.

That's a big problem. Believing the gospel saves people. Yet Joel Osteen is actively withholding one of the greatest elements and preconditions for the gospel. But he's a pastor. Why would he do that?

Because again, he doesn't care about the souls of these people. He cares about being loved by the world and making tons and tons of money. At least that's what all of his actions show us. Finally, at the end of the article, Joel says this, quote, the message is not deep and theological.

It's theological, maybe not deep, end quote. He's actually saying the quiet part out loud, folks. He's telling you, my message isn't deep. It's extremely shallow. I'm doing this intentionally. And I just told you to your face.

How much more obvious could it be? Joel Osteen's gospel is foreign to scripture. Instead of sin, your greatest problem in life is mediocrity and negative vibes, whatever that means. Instead of repentance, the way out of this is to start dreaming big again.

Instead of Christ saving you, Christ comes to make you even more of a special little snowflake than you already are. Instead of progressive sanctification, we have instant gratification. Instead of truth, we have a big pile of unbiblical falsehood being shoveled into the ears of his audience time and time again.

Joel's message is not biblical, and he's basically telling you that out loud. All you have to do is pay attention. But there is a better way. Find a good, sound, biblical church in your area. I would recommend a Reformed church and learn there.

Learn what good biblical doctrine looks like so that you can avoid this kind of error. There is hope, my friends. There is always hope in Jesus Christ, but it will not be found in the teaching of hucksters like Joel Osteen.

A Personal Appeal for Prayer, Support, and Biblical Discernment

So I hope you enjoyed that video. And please know this, I do not offer any of this correction from a high and mighty position. I am nothing but a wretched sinner saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. So let's pray for Joel Osteen, that he would stop this unbiblical nonsense by God's grace and turn to the truth of God's Word.

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And until next time, fight for truth, never surrender, and keep your eyes open. Thank you, and God bless.